Gnome-ish Stuff

SaraR Nov 21, 2022

Took a break from more utilitarian knitting projects to knit this cute gnome (pattern is ‘All work, gnome play’ by Imagined Landscapes). Now back on socks again.

The spiralling bit of cord is a knitted i-cord that was knitted from the top of the hat until about 45 cm long and then sewn in place using a hidden running stitch.

I-cords are super simple to make! Cast on the desired number of stitches on double-pointed needles (DPNs, easiest) and knit all stitches. Then don’t turn the work, just slide the stitches to the other end of the DPNs and knit all stitches again. Keep doing this over and over, never turning the work. The working yarn will be carried across horizontally on the back, but as you keep working the knitted fabric will form a tube and the horziontal bar will be hidden inside the tube. At the end, give it a tug and roll it between your hands and it will be a smooth knitted tube.

The spiral for the hat was worked over 3 sts, the arms were worked as 6-stitch i-cords and the tiny decorations on the hat were made from tiny 2-, 3- and 4-stitch i-cord pieces tied into circles /doughnuts.