All roads lead to gnome…

February 23, 2022February 23, 2022 ~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ Leave a comment

Note: I’ve done this pattern several times but no one else has so if you see any mistakes or have any questions please let me know. If you don’t wish to sign into WordPress to ask a question, you could ask me on my Twitter or Instagram. My account links are at the side of this page.

For this gnome I used worsted weight wool and a 4mm hook. Size will vary with different yarns and hooks sizes.

I used a bit of black embroidery thread for the eyes.

I would classify this as an easy to intermediate pattern.

Short forms used.

MC= magic circle (see this tutorial on YouTube)

sc = single chain

INC = a single chain increase done by crocheting two single chains in one stitch

DEC = invisible single chain decrease (see this tutorial on YouTube)

*to* = repeat the instructions inside the asterisks around.

Gnome Crochet Pattern

Gnome Body

1) 6sc in MC (6)

2) Increase in each stitch around (12)

3) *sc, inc* around (18)

4) *2sc, inc* around (24)

5) *3sc, inc* around (30)

6) sc in each stitch around (30)

7) sc in the back loops only in each stitch around (30)

If you prefer a smooth rounded body with no definition, sc around as normal instead of in back loops

8) *4sc, inc* around (36)

9-12) sc around (36)

13) *4sc, dec* around (30)

14) Sc around (30)

15) *3sc, dec* around (24)

16) Sc around

17) *2sc, dec* around (18)

18) Sc around (18)

Fill with beans/weight and stuffing (see note below)

Switch to face color using an invisible stitch

19) sc around (18)

20) *sc, dec* around (12)

21) Dec around (6)

Stuff firmly and finish off.

Note: To stuff, place a small amount of stuffing lining the inside. Place a small bag made from cut nylons or scrap material inside. Fill with dried beans (available at the grocery store). Sew off the top of bag and add more stuffing until full. Gnome will tip over if there are no weights/beans inside!

Gnome Nose (in same color as face color)

1) 4sc in MC (4)

2) Increase in each stitch around (8)

3-4) sc around (8)

Add a bit of stuffing if desired or use the end string from the magic circle to plump up the nose.

5) Dec around (4)

Finish off leaving a long enough piece of yarn for sewing.

Sew on right above the color change line.

Use embroidery thread to make eyes in whatever shape you find appealing

Gnome Beard in whatever color you prefer

Note: row count does not include turning chain

1) Chain 8, ch1 for the turn (8)

in 2^nd stitch from hook

2) *Inc, sc* repeat until end of row, ch1 and turn (12)

3) *Inc, 2sc* repeat until end of row, ch1 and turn (16)

4) *Inc, 3sc* repeat until end of row, and turn (do not make a ch1) (20)

5) skip the first stitch, *3dc in the next stitch, skip the next stitch, slip stitch* repeat from * to * to end of row. This gives you a 5 scallop edge.

Finish off and leave enough yarn for sewing.

Beard will form a half circle with a half circle cut out in the top part which will fit under the nose. Place and sew. One side will be more textured than the other, use whichever side you prefer.

You could also instead make a beard with yarn bits as you would with doll hair or make braids or use faux fur or fuzzy yarn, etc. You could even alter the pattern above to use bobble stitches.

I made my gnome bald but you can add hair in whatever style or way you prefer.

There are a lot of YouTube videos on adding hair to yarn dolls that you can check out. Find something that suits your fancy or holiday and have fun with personalizing your gnome!

Gnome Hat

Do not stuff or gnome may tip over even with beans or weights inside the body.

(For candy corn hat start with white yarn)

1) 6sc in MC (6)

2-3) Sc in each stitch around (6)

4) Inc, 5sc (7)

5) sc around (7)

For candy corn hat only : switch color to orange

6) sc around (7)

7) Inc, 6sc (8)

8) Inc, 7sc (9)

9) sc around (9)

10) Inc, 8sc (10)

11) sc around (10)

12) 5sc, inc, 4sc (11)

13) sc around (11)

14) Inc, sc 10 (12)

15) sc around (12)

16) *inc, 3sc* repeat from * to * around (15)

17) sc around (15)

For candy corn hat only: switch color to yellow

18) *inc, 4sc* repeat from * to * around (18)

19)*inc, 5sc* repeat from * to * around (21)

20) *inc, 6sc* repeat from * to * around (24)

21) *inc, 7sc* repeat from * to * around (27)

22) *inc, 8sc* repeat from * to * around (30)

Leave a long string and finish off by sewing round in each stitch to make a nice edge.

Use snaps to attach to head. Sew the snaps on the head first where the ears would be. Then match up on the ones on the head and sew on.

By making a removable hat, you can interchange hats and change your gnome as you desire for various holidays and seasons.

You can decorate the hat with flowers or beads or personalize it anyway you’d like.

©Virginia Spencer, thepurpledogpaintingblog.com, 2022

Brusho, Lino carving and other ways to muck your hands up..

February 26, 2017February 26, 2017 ~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ 8 Comments

Recently I was given a gift of Brusho. I had never seen it before so I dove into it right away.

A few things you should know if you’re going to try Brusho out..

1) It stains like a stainy staining stain. I was green and blue for a good bit. Now I don’t mind being various colors and Sampson of course has a habit of being various shades of color but from what I understand some people don’t think it’s quite normal to walk around with paint and ink all over them. Be careful or wear gloves. Don’t use this over a good rug or table or what have you.

2) Don’t open the lid, tempting as it is, simply take a sharp implement, a nail or such and stab the lid with it. Do not stab yourself or anyone else.

After I punctured the top, I used little round stickers (Avery coloring coded labels for files) to close them up. It’s not necessary but for some reason I have a tonne of those stickers.

3) If you live in a humid area, you might want to get one of those silica gels things to keep in the box with them or put some rice in there. They are a crystalized salt sort of thing. I live near the Mississippi which is a muggy muddy river, I noticed within a week that it was too humid for them.

4) To activate the Brusho, you shake a bit out onto paper then spray it with water. Test your sprayer first. The first one I used was so powerful, it shot the crystals all over the place. The second was too weak and made puddles. I did find a purse sized one that had had eye glass cleaner in it and that worked well.

5) A little bit goes a long long way. Do some tests to see how much you want to use. It’s pretty vivid and of course mixing complementary colors will get you mud. Complementary colors are colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel..green and red, blue and orange, purple and yellow and so on.

6)You can use it as a fine art sort of watercolor by dropping a little bit in a palette well and adding water. I did not do that. I did watch youtube videos about it. There’s a good tutorial here for a fine art landscape. This lady’s youtube channel shows how to use it more for crafts like card making.

I used a white crayon to make a quick line drawing. I then sprinkled some of the Brusho on and sprayed it. I use the thingy that blows dust off my camera lens to move some of the colors around. The whole thing took maybe five minutes.

I also used some on a sketch that I hadn’t finished. That made for a fun effect.

It was entertaining to use but a bit of a pain in the ass.

I also decided to take up lino cutting. I did it once ages ago in high school. I remembered loving it.

Plus I had a coupon.

This is my test piece, it’s 6×2 inches.

Then I went a little crazy..

And I ran out of paper so I printed on the Brusho..

I need to get more paper.

Lots and lots of paper!

See you soon.

The heat is on..

June 14, 2016 ~ thepurpledogpaintingblog ~ Leave a comment

Recently I participated in an ATC trade. An ATC is a small card about the size of a playing card, that is 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches.

Most trades have themes, for this one the theme was “Warm Weather”.

I used ink and watercolor to make some scenes from various festivals and other warm weather activities. These will most likely appear bigger in your screen then they are in life. The color looks better in real life as well, my photography brain left me stranded when I took these.

“The Carousel”

There is a Carousel in Port Dalhousie, Ontario. The price is still only 5¢.

That carousel, has one of the five Loof lions that are left in North America. Their lion is the only left that has its head turned to look at the spectators, which for some reason has always made me happy. 🙂

“The Cherry Blossom Festival” is usually one of the first warm weather festivals and is the best smelling one to boot.

“The Flea Market”. My Dad, was not a shopping/ clothes minded guy . One day he wandered off at a flea market. He came back with a gigantic bag of factory castoff socks. He paid $2 for all those socks and it made him sooo happy. My mother who had just accidentally shrunk his pea green plaid suit by putting it the dryer fifty times was not so happy. Coincidence? I think not.

“The Hiking Trail”. With the upsurging popularity of the Parks system, it will be only a matter of time before Yeti becomes a bearded, top knot wearing hipster.. If he opens a coffee shop and hires a groovy ukulele playing singer, it could work out well for him.

“The Campground” where you go after hiking. It is also where the raccoons go. Once when we were out on a canoe trip, our campers were getting a little freaked out by raccoons who were making various.. um, love songs, let’s say. We told them to scare them off by making noise. Not too long afterwards, we heard an especially long “love song”. As soon as it stopped all our campers burst into claps and whistles. I swear that raccoon walked right into the clearing and gave a bow..

“The Strawberry Field”. I should have added a couple kids pelting each other with soft strawberries because as anyone who has been strawberry picking with my brothers knows..that happens.

“The Music Festival”. Those prices are getting out of control, man.

“The Garden Show”. I once spent a summer slightly adjusting and moving my neighbors gnomes every day. Ended up getting the whole neighborhood involved so she couldn’t figure out who was doing it. Drove her crazy….good times, good times.