A Christmas Cardy and all the gnomes

/ wolfberryknits

A quick post given the time of year. I am surrounded gnomes. And gingerbread Moomins and pigs. And by lists. The latter is not in itself anything new, I am a major list maker, so here I shall make yet another list. 🙂
This week:

   
 I got a little excited making my strings of gnomes, based on the one I bought at the Women’s Christmas Fair in Helsinki. I used sparkly yarn for mine. They’re everywhere throughout the house now, and a few are presents. I think I like the windswept biker beards the best. That’s leg hair from my old alpaca, Wally.

  
2. Worked on my very first glitter house. I am aiming at a village for next year, all illuminated.
3. Made a few more bags and stitch markers.
4. Made a few gift boxes
5. A few more recycled tea light Christmas stars

   
    
 6. Discovered we had agapanthus growing! They have never flowered before, but this year has been weird weather wise. The crucifix orchids are still flowering too.

   
   
7. Made a big knitting decision. Stop being so bloody impractical. I will be foregoing knitting the heavy cable jumpers and cardigans from now on. 😦 Despite the fact I love making them, they go largely unworn here, apart from about 3 hours every winter and the occasional trip to the other side of the world. My woollies cupboard is full. 
I’ll get through using up the current stash of wool and alpaca yarns, then it’s fingering weight wools, cotton and linen, silk, microfibre, bamboo…there are plenty of fibres that will get more use. It makes me kind of sad, but I want to wear what I make! 
8. In that vein, cast on a Quick Sand for myself, a nice pattern by Heidi Kirrmaier, in Drops Bomull-Lin, a cotton linen blend. Then, thinking I might wear it Christmas Day, unexpectedly finished it in record time… 

   
   
and promptly started the finer gauge version, Fine Sand, in this gorgeous linen I got from Finland.

  
9. Made a rainbow crochet scarf out of Drops Big Delight.

  
10. And finally a photo shoot. If anyone else has tried to put a hat on a cat, you will understand. Most of the time you end up with pics like this.

  
Or this.

  
Or this.

  
Atticus Finch didn’t actually mind the hat that much, but he wouldn’t get the perpetual Grinchy look off his face.

  
Douglas Maguire was a little more cute and cheerful. 🙂 He isn’t really bright enough to notice that he was wearing a hat.

   
 Wishing everyone a lovely Christmas and/or holiday and/or whatever you’re celebrating this time of year, hope you stay safe, drive carefully, laugh a lot, and see you on the other side! 🙂
B 🙂

38 thoughts on “A Christmas Cardy and all the gnomes”

    • Thank you! :)) do you know, I was quite sure I followed you but I just checked outside of the WordPress reader and it said I wasn’t… annoyed at WordPress for missing some of your posts, your stuff is VERY cool, and you look mighty prolific to me!! :)) (and trust me, my pile of WIPs could sink the Titanic!)

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • Lol thanks Lisa! 🙂 those gnomes are quite addictive, I’m already planning stringing them onto fairy lights instead of wool for next year, so you well could be right! Sneaky gnomes taking over the world! 🙂

      Like

      Reply

  6. Your post made me happy on this gloomy day. To Kill a Mocking Bird is one of my all time favourites so I know Atticus Finch but who is Douglas Maguire? 🙂

    Oh you must have such fast needles. The cardigan is beautiful, ditto the scarf and everything else:) Have a happy holiday.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks Mary, sorry about the gloomy day, glad I could cheer you :)) Dougal is named after a character in the nineties TV series Father Ted, which was a dark Irish comedy about three Catholic priests living on an island off the coast of Ireland…not everyone’s cup of tea but I loved it…Dougal was the ‘dumb’ priest….:) the cat was briefly called Cerberus when we first got him, but M quickly decided he wasn’t worthy of the name and changed it :))
      Thank you, I even surprised myself with the speed of that cardy knit but I was into a great audiobook and I think that helped it fly off the needles!! 😀 very happy holidays to you too! Bx

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

    • Hahaha thank you, I will be honest and tell you I nearly knit them matching Christmas hats this year…. I’m pretty sure that pushes me way over into crazy cat lady territory…:D I didn’t in the end because there’s always far too much other good stuff to knit!! 🙂 the gnomes are pipe cleaners (1 for each gnome) bent to shape, wrapped in yarn, then a wooden bead for a head and then a little sewn felt hat…I would have liked to do a tutorial but of course it isn’t my idea so I can’t…but they were really fun to make!! Hope you have an awesome Christmas! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • Thanks Yvonne! I always wanted to be one of those people whose needles go ‘click click click’ because they knit so fast, and M tells me mine do ‘sometimes’, so I’m pretty stoked with that lol! 😀 have a brilliant Christmas, absolutely loving your photos!! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  12. Love the gnomes..and their strings…the flowering plants are a real beauty..m sure you will look fab in that beautiful cardigan..its really amazing and so is the crocheted peice.. so much patience os really admirable..As for the kitties..ha ha ha they look good..Here’s wishing you a very very merry Christmas in advance..have fun. .😊💞💞💞

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  14. What a clever clogs you are and how gorgeous are those gnomes? Alpaca wool eh? Is $20 for an alpaca fleece good value? I can get different coloured fleeces around here for that price (saw it on Gumtree yesterday). I found a tutorial on Instructables for making those lovely decorations out of aluminium cans as well as little boxes out of them as well. I might have to hunt out the instructions again and have a go (at cutting my finger off…) Those bags are scrumptious and we both have agapanthus growing and flowering at the same time. It has to be one of the most tenacious plants around. I used to hate them with a passion but now we live on 4 acres out in the shrubbery equivalent of the Gobi desert, agapanthus, who can take care of themselves and don’t need watering EVER are my new bestest ever friends in the war against migrating sand. I love your new cotton jumper. It’s going to be 30C here tomorrow in Tassie for Christmas Day so I won’t be wearing a cardy and I will most probably not be wearing very much at all after guzzling all of the rum punch to escape the heat and you might even see me on the news nude, and loudly singing The Marseilles whilst the emergency rescue try to coax me down from the roof…That linen yarn is SO tasty I could eat it for breakfast. Can’t wait to see what you make with it. Atticus Finch is going to wait till you least expect it and dump in your yarn stash…just sayin’. We are predicting snow on Christmas Day. Earl and Bezial are each getting a large bag of thrift shop stuffed toys and treats and we predict that within 10 minutes of opening those bags we will have “snow”! (sigh). Have a really fantastic Christmas and here’s hoping that 2016 rocks. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks very much narfie! 🙂 hope u and stevie-boy had a GREAT Christmas filled with rum punch and nakedness and the dogs enjoyed their toys :)) ours was lovely 🙂 $20 is great value for a fleece if the quality is good…there can be pretty big differences among alpacas…for spinning you mainly want the saddle, the rest is good for crafts though (gnome beards etc :)) ) personally I spin the fleece dirty as i find it ‘grips’ better, but everyone is different. Haha I always used to hate agapanthus too, my mum used to plant them EVERYWHERE, but now I’m like ‘yay for purple flowers that don’t need any watering!!!’ 😀

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • Isn’t it amazing how your viewpoint changes as you get older (and wiser). What you used to scoff at your mum doing, you inevitably find yourself doing it later on in life. I have caught myself doing things I once rolled my eyes at my mum doing and think “what the HELL am I doing that for?” Seems there is something to that nurture thang after all. We are doomed to repeat the crazy ways of our parents ;). I might go check out those fleeces. Cheers for that free advice by the way. They are very local (within 5 minutes drive from us) and are all different colours. As you say, even if they are dirty, I can use them. Are they easier to spin dirty? I am signing up to learn how to spin as soon as the Christmas period is over and the ladies start meeting again at a local hall. I have the spinning wheel, the will to learn and the accouterments. I just need to learn how. Here’s to a plethora of purple flowers for the new year and a host of excellent possibilities and the ability to recognise a good thing when we see it 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  15. Hahaha! Oh, those cat photos really made me laugh! I love that one of your furry friends is named after Father Dougal as well… Nearly 20 years on (eeeek!), the Christmas special is still required watching at this time of year for me and my family! Hope you and M had a super Christmas, and that gnomes haven’t conquered every corner of your home just yet 😀

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Lol I know right, 20 years?? Where did that go??!! I feel the same watching Seinfeld now, it’s ‘retro’! Geez. 40 next year for me, but I still think I’m 20 😀 hehehe we watch the father ted Christmas special too, cracks me up (the passion of st tibulus is still my favourite episode ever though :D) must put visiting Ireland on my bucket list!! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • Hahaha, that sounds familiar! 90s TV was great though… I’ve been revisiting some favourite shows this year, like “The X Files” and “Twin Peaks”… Oh, and Buffy! I’m loving every minute 😀 As for visiting Ireland, you definitely should… We can’t guarantee you won’t get rained on (although I’d recommend visiting in October, which is a good compromise of pretty, not too touristy and “hey, it’s raining less than usual”) but there are crafts aplenty, excellent pubs and you can even visit the island where they filmed some of Father Ted! 😀

        Liked by 1 person

  16. I love the gnomes! I’d say they were all-seasons decorations. Gnomes are for life, not just for Christmas? Your cats are too cute, and what great names! Poor little Dougal looking cute in his hat. My friend and I bought shared hamsters once, and named them after our favourite artists. One was called Captain Kolowitz and the other Count Egon. Captain Kolowitz eventually killed Count Egon so we had to rename him Captain C***. No one wanted to play with him after that…sadface. I’m following you now 🙂 and I look forward to your future creations, Happy New Year! Hannah

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • LOL oh man that made me laugh inappropriately, what a little bastard! I’ve actually never seen a hamster, we had a geriatric guinea pig until recently who was almost old enough to break records….when her sister had died a few years previously we thought she’d be shattered with grief but instead she got a whole new lease on life, full of energy and eating heaps and bouncing around happily…you just never can tell hey… 🙂 yep I’m with you on the gnomes, all year round and everywhere!!! 😀

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • I know right, I was thinking after I wrote that…why is it that I have never seen a hamster?? So I looked it up (because I am that kind of nerd) and they are prohibited in Australia, classed as ‘exotic rodents’. 😁 shame cos they look cute! Apart from the whole cannibalism thing anyway…😉

        Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment