How the Christmas Gnome story came to be…
When my younger sister and I were little, we believed that little gnomes lived in the forest. We would go on these grand adventures through the woods where we hiked and picnicked, placing lettuce (they either really loved lettuce, or we did not), at the roots of trees. You see, the most perfect of gnome homes was a well rooted tree with a beautiful patch of moss at the roots. Sometimes, the doors could even be seen perfectly! But have you ever wondered what happens if you cut down the home of a gnome? What if you took the gnome’s home for a Christmas tree?! What if…that was the job of the Christmas gnome?
What if that’s exactly what the gnomes want you to do? They have been preparing that tree for this moment their whole lives! They consider themselves blessed; chosen if you will, to be a part of your holiday traditions, and if you look closely, you might catch them peeking out to enjoy your decorations!
Materials:
Soft Plush–
- Bernat Blanket Brights, Racecar Red
- Bernat Blanket Yarn, Almond
- Bernat Blanket Yarn, Vintage White
- Bernat Blanket Yarn, Coal
- Crochet hook K, 6.5mm
- Polyester fiberfill for stuffing.
Christmas Ornament–
- Any worsted weight yarns in red, beige, white, and black
- Crochet hook F, 3.75mm
- Yarn scraps or polyester fiberfill for stuffing. (I love little projects for using up yarn pieces!)
**Optional: 6mm safety eyes
Terms and abbreviations to know:
Magic ring
rnd, rnds – round, rounds
st, sts – stitch, stitches
ch, chs – chain, chains
sc – single crochet
inc – increase, work 2 sts into same st
dc bobble – double crochet bobble
- Yarn over, and insert hook into designated st.
- Pull up a loop.
- Yarn over, and pull through 2 loops, leaving 2 loops left on hook.
- Yarn over and insert hook into same st.
- Pull up a loop.
- Yarn over, and pull through 2 loops, leaving 3 loops left on hook.
- Yarn over, and insert hook into same st.
- Pull up a loop.
- Yarn over, and pull through 2 loops, leaving 4 loops left on hook.
- Yarn over, and insert hook into same st.
- Pull up a loop.
- Yarn over, and pull through 2 loops, leaving 5 loops left on hook.
- Yarn over and pull through all 5 loops. (if changing color after the bobble, pull next color through all 5 loops on the hook)
dec – decrease, connecting 2 sts together to make 1 st
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Notes: This pattern is worked from the top, down, in rnds, with no joining. Both variations can be made using either the super bulky (6) yarn with the K hook OR with worsted weight yarn and the F hook. (scroll to bottom to find bearded version of the pattern) If you are making an ornament, be sure to begin with a very long tail. I used about a 2 foot tail. Then follow the instructions below for making the chained loop, BEFORE you close up at the bottom. The basic gnome pattern does not have the beard. Look below for the beard variation. For the beard variation, the feet are placed farther apart to keep a centered look. 6mm safety eyes will NOT work for your plush, and I haven’t tried larger sizes. Too big, and they might look strange; too small, and they will fall through your sts. **First 17 process pictures were taken making the basic gnome pattern with Bernat Blanket and K hook. All text and images copyright ©2017 by Erin Greene of ekayg, all rights reserved. No pattern, image, or writing may be reproduced or distributed in any form by any method without written permission. Poem, The Christmas Gnome, is for personal use only, and may not be copied, redistributed, or sold at any time. Finished crocheted products made from this pattern may be used for sale. Please credit back to ekayg. Please direct any questions about the pattern to my email, ekaygcrafts@gmail.com. I will respond as quickly as I am able.
The Christmas Gnome Pattern
Begin with red, at the top of the hat.
**If you are making the ornament, begin with a long tail; 1 ft, for short loop (to be hanged on tree with a hook), or begin with a 2 ft tail to later chain for the long hanging loop.
Begin in red, with magic ring.
Rnd 1: 6 sc in magic ring; 6 sts
Rnd 2: sc in each st around; 6 sts
Rnd 3: (inc, sc in next st)3x; 9 sts
Rnd 4: sc in each st around; 9 sts
Rnd 5: (inc, sc in next 2 sts)3x; 12 sts
Rnd 6: sc in each st around; 12 sts
Rnd 7: (inc, sc in next 3 sts)3x; 15 sts
Rnd 8: sc in each st around; 15 sts
Rnd 9: (inc, sc in next 4 sts)3x; 18 sts
Pull skin color through to complete last st of rnd 9. Drop red, but do NOT fasten off.
Rnd 10: sc in next 8 sts, dc bobble, sc in next 9 sts; 18 sts
Rnd 11: sc in each st around; 18 sts
Pull red back through, to complete the last st of rnd 11. Fasten and knot off your skin color. *Note: Rnd 12 has color changes and bobbles for both the arms, and the beard. You can omit the beard, simply by doing the whole rnd in red and replacing only the white bobbles with ordinary single crochet sts.
Rnd 12: in red sc in next 4 sts, dc bobble (arm), sc in next 2 sts, in white dc bobble in next 4 sts (beard), in red sc in next 2 sts, dc bobble (arm), sc in next 4 sts; 18 sts
Fasten off the white, and knot inside the gnome. Continue in red.
Rnds 13-14: sc in each st around; 18 sts
Rnd 15: in red sc in next 7 sts, in black dc bobble (leg), red sc in next st, black dc bobble (leg), red sc in next 8 sts; 18 sts
Fasten and knot off black. Be sure all loose ends are knotted securely inside the gnome, and stuff gently. If you are making the ornament, now is the time to create your chained loop at the top, so that you can neatly knot it off inside your gnome. Pull your tail back through the top of the hat, and ch about 20-25, and fasten off. Then, using your yarn needle, sew your end back through the hat, and knot off on the inside.
Continue with red to close.
Rnd 16: BLO dec 9x; 9 sts
Fasten off, leaving long tail. Use tail to sew closed by weaving through each of the last 9 sts, and pulling gently to close. Knot and weave in end.
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When making stuffies with Bernat Blanket, it is important to be able to recognize the sts. They can be hard to see, if you are new to crochet. Be sure to count your sts carefully at first, so that you don’t miss any.
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When changing colors, pull the next color through to complete the last st.
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Then just continue on in your new color.
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This is the beginning of the first dc bobble. Yarn over, and insert hook into next st. Pull up a loop, as though you’re about to do a dc.
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Yarn over and pull through 2 loops, just like the beginning of a dc.
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Instead of completing the dc, leave two loops on the hook. Yarn over and insert back into the same st, to repeat the steps.
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Continue making only parts of each dc, leaving an additional loop on the hook each time.
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Make one more.
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With 5 loops left on the hook, yarn over, and pull through all 5 loops.
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Bobble nose!
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For the shoes, you are ONLY using the black for the bobbles.
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To complete the bobble, pull the red through.
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For the basic gnome, only work one red st in between the feet.
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Bobble feet!
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To close, use your yarn needle to weave in your end, through and around each st.
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Weave in and out each st, and pull gently to close. Then weave in the end.
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When making your ornament, make sure you start with a very long tail, depending on how large you’d like your hanging loop to be. I started with about 2 feet, I was able to ch 25, and my loop is approximately 2 inches high above the head.
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Before closing your gnome, pull your beginning tail through the top of the hat, and begin chaining to make your loops.
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Once you believe it is long enough, use a yarn needle to pull the end of your chain back through the top of the hat. Knot it off securely inside the gnome, and then continue with stuffing and closing.
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I hope you enjoyed the Christmas gnome pattern! Looking for another quick and easy Christmas design? Check out the Nesting Christmas Tree here on the blog! If you loved making any of these patterns, and show them off on Instagram, please be sure to tag @ekaygdesigns to let me know, and I will share in my stories!
Really loved this Christmas Gnome and made 7 or 8 of them for the girls at work! I was wondering how to make the beard for some of these little fellas as I couldn’t tell how you may have done it from the pictures and haven’t experimented to try it myself yet! I did all of mine in worsted weight yarn so they all came out about 2 inches or so tall and didn’t try any of them with the eyes. Just tried a couple with different colors and turned out really cute also if you want a more traditional gnome look!
Thanks for your help and blessings for the day!
Helen F.
Well, I guess I missed out on the beard info. in my printing as I only had the Basic Gnome pattern printed out and not all the other info. with the pictures also!
Thanks again!
Helen F.
Thanks for your comments, Helen! I’m so glad you enjoyed the pattern! I will have to be sure to add, at the beginning, that you can scroll down for the beard part of the pattern. 🙂