It all began back in February when, after months, maybe years, of seeing my friend knitting gnomes, I decided to take the plunge and do the Imagined Landscapes Mystery Gnome Knitalong. I told you about that one in a previous post; how it actually brought a real joy of knitting back into my life. I was actually excited to pick up the needles and it came naturally instead of feeling forced.
So Gnome Is Where You Hang Your Hat was my first gnome. I love him and his sweet little pullover. But once I finished I found that I'd enjoyed knitting him so much that I was a little sad it was over. What's the best way to combat that? Why, knit another gnome of course! You just can't ignore the call of the gnome after all...
So I set to work on Here We Gnome Again, which I think is the cutest little cable-y gnome ever! He knit up pretty quickly even with the cabled pattern. He's a lovely little fella with a fancy beard and a bobble nose and I adore him! Once finished he and his companion sat happily guarding my house plants.
But then every thing hit the fan in the world, and I was having trouble focusing on anything. Impending school closures had been announced the Friday before, so work was absolute chaos on the Monday, then on Tuesday, both boys woke up in the morning sick with sore throats and colds. We had just had T at his ortho specialist appointment at the big hospital in the city two weeks earlier, so although I knew rationally that it was most likely just a run of the mill cold, I was incredibly stressed out. It wasn't my finest moment of calm, rational thought, I can tell you that much! I was in the end reassured by the fact that T spend countless times on the treadmill downstairs running for half an hour at a time as fast as he could because he set himself a goal that he "would become the fastest kid around" and within a day D's mild cold was gone and within three days there was no trace of sniffles, sore throat or cough from T either.
But on that Tuesday evening when I was slowly coming unglued over worry about the boys, stress about work that I wasn't at because I was home with the boys, but was trying to do as much from home as possible still and feeling guilty that I'd basically abandoned ship when things were so insane at the school, along with general anxiety about the pandemic, my husband had told me, "Go knit a gnome. It'll help. Gnomes fix all."
So I took his advice and cast on another. While a gnome can't really fix all, they do offer a sense of order and calm to the mind and soul with their simple little patterns that can be done easily in small chunks of time. This time I cast on Oh Gnome, You Didn't.
He's a fun little gnome that normally has a jester hat and a scarf, but the boys and I decided he need a beard instead of scarf. And when I found the fiery yellow and orange ball of fun fur deep in my stash from sometime around 2003, I knew it was the perfect beard yarn for my St. Patrick's Day green gnome. He might actually be my favourite... (Shhh. Don't tell the others!) But would you look at how he has his little hands in his little pockets? Love it.
My gnome collection was a good size, but I felt I still needed to knit another. Gnomes are also a bit like potato chips. Once you start, you just don't want to stop, once a Gnomemaker, always a Gnomemaker perhaps. So I cast on a fourth gnome in the span of a little over a month. This time the chosen gnome was Gnome de Plume.
Funny thing with this one, is that I just assumed she would be the same size roughly as the others. So as I was knitting her hat, I kept thinking it was one epically large hat for a little gnome. Finally, I checked the finished measurements and realized she was not a little gnome at all. She was so much bigger than I was anticipating. So much so, that when I was in between stuffing and finishing her I had to find my tallest mug to rest her in because she was just a little too unwieldy to just set down in my lap.
Even though she's not a little gnome like the rest of the collection, she is perfect in my opinion with her leafy hat and leaf shaped beard. (Do all lady gnomes have beards? I wasn't sure but her's is a delicate leaf shaped one, so I thought that it would be as feminine a beard as one could ask for...) I have decided she is to be crowned queen of the gnomes and she has joined her much smaller loyal subjects in guarding the plants!
I'm taking a break from gnomes for the moment and working on a different project right now, but the important thing is, thanks to these magical little gnomes, I have found the love of knitting again, and it has come at a time I need it the most.
If you're looking for something that doesn't take much yarn, doesn't take a whole lot of focus and doesn't take much time I suggest taking a look at Imagined Landscapes collection of patterns. There's several gnomes to choose from (although there's not just gnomes! There's plenty of other beautiful items to knit if gnomes aren't your thing of course). The patterns I've done have all been very well written, and lovely to knit! If you're not up to knitting right now, you could always check out their podcast! I've really enjoyed listening to the two sisters chatting. (plus they are fellow Manitobans and I'm always excited to support someone local to me!)
Until next time, I wish you all good health and a hope that you are still finding joy and happiness in the small, simple pleasures in life.
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