12 Days of Christmas: Gnome for the Holidays

Four days and 4 blog post in a row!  Who am I?  Is my house falling down around me?  I guess I should go check =D

But, I actually did NOT get completely done with this post and will update it with more photos later.  I had a bunch of household chores to do in between gnomes today and I also lost the good light fairly quick today with our dark and cloudy weather – so, I have a few more variations to photo.  As soon as I get pictures tomorrow I will upload the rest of the family with better pin-worthy pictures.

Gnomes are HUGE in my neck of the woods – maybe for everyone this season – so, how could I not whip some up?  I wanted to make a fairly easy pattern that was not too time consuming because I know the holidays can be super busy.  I have actually tried to make all 4 days so far projects that are fairy quick to make requiring only hours instead of days or weeks.

Did you see Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3?  All of these post have a different pattern and fun information. And I have 8 days to go!!  I don’t even know my plans for all 8 days yet.  So, save this post and come back and check.

UPDATE: Get the ridiculously low priced 12 Days of Christmas Pattern in a Downloadable PDF right here.  You can ALL 12 Days of Christmas for one super low price.  Merry Christmas!  (Etsy only right now – I will try to get this over on Ravelry soon)

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These gnomes were so much fun! They are quick and easy and I give you several modifications for you to adapt them to your taste.

I work in continuous rounds for most all of my crochet and this pattern is no different. A note on that:

Working in the CONTINUOUS Round:
*I do not join and chain, but continue to work in the next stitch. Use a stitch marker for this so you don’t lose your place. When you get back to the first stitch on your current round and are ready to start the next round you just place your first stitch of the next round into the first stitch of your previous round. You will have a seamless project when you are finished.

For most of these gnomes I used a regular 4-ply worsted weight yarn and my H/5mm hook, but I crochet tight. You may need to use your 4mm/4.5mm hook if you crochet loose so that your stuffing materials will not show through. In addition to this, I have used some glue (either fabric glue or your glue gun will do), marbles to weigh down the bottom, stuffing, some fur pieces/fuzzy yarn for “beards”, and some pompoms.

Starting/Increasing:

Chain 2.

Single crochet 6 in the second chain from the hook and work over your starting tail.
Starting in the first sc make 2 sc in that stitch and in each stitch around. (12) *Still work over the starting tail.
After getting done with all 12 sc for that round, pull the starting tail to cinch up the opening. You can now trim that tail or weave it in or just leave it if it will be on the inside of your work.
You want to move your stitch marker to the last stitch of each round so you know when you get to the end.
Round 3: (Make 1 sc in next stitch, make 2 sc in the next stitch) repeat around (18)
Round 4: (Make 1 sc in next 2 stitches, make 2 sc in the next stitch) repeat around (24)
Round 5: (Make 1 sc in next 3 stitches, make 2 sc in the next stitch) repeat around (30)
Round 6: (Make 1 sc in next 4 stitches, make 2 sc in the next stitch) repeat around (36)
Rounds 7-16 (10 rounds) work with no increases – so, 36 stitches for each round = 360 stitches for working in the spiral.
These next rounds start decreasing.
Round 17: (Make 1 sc in next 4 stitches, make an inv dec over the next two stitches) repeat around (30)
Rounds 18-20: sc in each stitch around (30) – that is 90 sc if working in the spiral.
Round 21: (Make 1 sc in next 3 stitches, make an inv dec over the next two stitches) repeat around (24)
Rounds 22-24: sc in each stitch around – that is 72 stitches working in the spiral.
*at this part I bagged up some marbles – the kind you can get from the $1 store into a little mesh baggie and put in the bottom to weight down and help the gnome sit easily. As an alternative you can use a old piece of pantyhose or sock or even a bean bag. Anything like that to help you gnome sit.

You will also want to start stuffing about now and stuff as needed as you work up.
For the next rounds of decrease it is NOT necessary that you do invisible decreases – if you have been doing them – because they will be covered by the hat.
Rounds 25: (Make 1 sc in next 2 stitches, make a dec over the next two stitches) repeat around (18)
Rounds 26-30: sc in each stitch around – that is 5 rounds of 18sc = 90 stitches if working in the spiral.
Round 31: (Make 1 sc in next stitch, make a dec over the next two stitches) repeat around (12) – check your top stuffing.
Round 32-33: make one sc in each stitch around – that is 24 stitches if working in the spiral.
Round 34: (dec over the next two stitches) repeat around (6) – cut yarn and sew top shut.

The nose is a simple oval and just a few rounds.
Chain 4.
Sc in the 2nd chain from the hook and in the next chain. Make 5 sc in the last stitch and work around the other side of the chain with 1sc in the next chain and 4sc in the last chain. That gives you 12 sc around your chain.

Now, still working in the spiral do the following stitches for round 2: sc in the next 4 sc, 3sc in the next sc, sc in the next 5 sc, 3sc in the next sc, sc in the last sc. (16)
Rounds 3-5 – work one sc in each stitch around – that is 16 sc per round or 48 sc if working in the spiral. When you are done slip stitch in the next and pull up a long tail to sew onto the head.

Weave your yarn tail in and out so you can gather up the base of the nose a little and insert a small bit of stuffing. Don’t overstuff the nose. Cinch your yarn up a little and position on head and sew on. I sewed mine between rounds 12-16.

Stocking cap: use your I hook and 4-ply yarn. *I am still working in the continuous spiral like above for all of these rounds.
Chain 2.
Round 1: Single crochet 6 in the second chain from the hook.
Rounds 2-5: sc in each stitch around (4 rounds x 6 sc =24sc)
Round 6: Starting in the next sc, make 2 sc in that stitch, sc in the next, (2sc in the next, sc in the next) *repeat around (9)
Rounds 7-12: sc in each stitch around (6 rounds x 9sc = 54sc)
Round 13: (Make 1 sc in next 2 stitches, make 2 sc in the next stitch) repeat around (12)
Rounds 14-18: sc in each stitch around (6 rounds x 12sc = 72sc)
Round 19: (Make 1 sc in next 3 stitches, make 2 sc in the next stitch) repeat around (15)
Rounds 20-23: sc in each stitch around (4 rounds x 15sc = 60sc)
Round 24: (Make 1 sc in next 4 stitches, make 2 sc in the next stitch) repeat around (18)
Rounds 25-28: sc in each stitch around (4 rounds x 18sc = 72sc)
Round 29: (Make 1 sc in next 2 stitches, make 2 sc in the next stitch) repeat around (24)
Round 30: (Make 1 sc in next 3 stitches, make 2 sc in the next stitch) repeat around (30)
Round 31: sc in each stitch around (30)
Round 32: (Make 1 sc in next 4 stitches, make 2 sc in the next stitch) repeat around (36)
Round 33: sc in each stitch around (36)
Round 34: (Make 1 sc in next 5 stitches, make 2 sc in the next stitch) repeat around (42)
***On the last stitch above join some fun fur yarn if you want for the last round. I used some fuzzy white yarn on the last round.
Round 35: sc or hdc in each stitch around (42) – I did one row of hdc on my green gnome and 2 rows of hdc on my purple gnome.
Finish off and weave in tail.

You can now embellish your hat like you want. Add some bling, pompoms buttons etc. or leave plain.
I secured my hat down with some fabric glue around the bottom so that it would not come off.
Also, 4-ply yarn can be “stiff” – I took my hat to my ironing board and steamed it to relax and soften the fibers to help it curl down and be soft. There is a big difference before and after steaming so give it a try if you’ve never done this part. Just hold your iron with steam setting hovering just over your hat and watch/feel it soften up. You can also stretch and maneuver the fabric while it cools to shape.

My Sweet girl gnome here uses the exact same pattern as above, but on round 15 I changed to skin colored yarn and placed safety eyes on with 6 holes in between them after I completed round 24 on the body. As I mentioned above she also has an extra hdc row on the end of her hat and I attached some “tassel” hair to the back of her head under her hat.

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These are the same exact eyes that I have used for her:

I know they look purple, but these are the pink ones.  I have also used these purple ones for my Sugarcane the Sheep:

Okay, as I mentioned above, I still have a few variations coming, but I ran out of light to take pictures, but here are some “beard” options that I am using.  I had a few pompom kits that came with a round patch of fur and the white pompom – but, I knew that I would not use them so I sewed the white pompom to the ends of the hats and am using the fur circles to make beards.  I am also using this big tassel made with Red Heart Light and Lofty – but Homespun yarn would also be super cute for this part – these “beards” will have gnome bodies attached to them tomorrow so come back and check out those variations. Update 11/17/19: I have finished the two with the fur patch beards.  You can see them below.  The large one with the tasseled beard is in the works still with another modification. So, check back with me on that post.

Update for Nov 18, 2019:

“A House is Not a Home without a Gnome”

Using the same pattern above, but holding two strands throughout you can make this larger gnome. He is the one wearing my tassel beard. The other guys are around 9-10” but this one is around 13”. For this pattern and my two strands of worsted weight yarn, I used my J/6.0 hook. If you find that difficult, try going up one size.

I also added some simple double crochet arms and legs to this guy. For this type of arms and legs just chain the desired length you want and double crochet back along your chain. After you are finished sew them on. For the legs I have done two rows of double crochet and for the arms just one row. On the arms if you leave a tail before and after you can easily just tie the arms on and then weave the ends into the body. Knot the ends of the arms and legs for “feet” and “hands” and you are finished. Cute, simple and quick.

See above photos of the arms and legs. For the legs, I make one long piece and then I fold them in half and sew under the body. If you prefer you can make individual pieces like the arms and sew on instead.