in a mad rush toward this weekend's school festival craft stall we made gnomes ~ gnomes galore! loads of teeny tiny gnomes in matchboxes and in pendant pouches some simple standing gnomes and even some knitted gnomes Here is the little pattern I made up for the knitted gnomes ~ Use size 4 -5 knitting needles – 8 ply wool scraps Head – Cast on 18 stiches in your choice of skin colour Row 1: knit, row 2: purl. Repeat for a total of 10 rows Body – Change wool to main suit colour and knit 16 rows (26row total) Legs – Knit across first 9 stitches; place other 9 stitches on a small stitch holder Knit a further 9 rows, cast off leaving a tail of about 6 inches. For the second leg pick up the other 9 stitches and knit 10 rows. Cast off leaving a tail of about 6 inches. Gather up both feet and stitch up the legs/body to the head section. Arms – Cast on 8 stitches in skin colour Row 1: knit, row 2: purl Change to main body colour and knit a further 6 rows, cast off leaving a tail of a few inches (8 rows in total). Repeat for second arm. Gather hand end and stitch up arm seam leaving top open for stuffing – stuff. Hat – Cast on 24 stitches in your choice of hat colour Rows 1 and 2: knit Row 3: purl Row 4: knit two together at each end Row 5: purl Repeat rows 4 and 5 until 16 stitches remain Then only decrease every second knit row until only 10 stitches remain Then knit two together every knit row until only one stitch remains – cast off leaving a 6 inch tail and sew up the seam. To make up – Gather head and stitch up head seam – leave a 1 inch opening for stuffing – stuff legs, body and head. Close the seam. Use body colour to weave in and out around neck. Pull fairly tightly to form neck and wrap around twice, tie a knot and bury it inside to finish the neck. Stitch arms to body and attach hat to top of head. My 100 post giveaway is still open til Sunday night. If you would like to put your name in the hat you can do it here