Dwellings & Furnishings

The other day I saw the most adorable wee stockings at Little Cotton Rabbits. If you've never been to Little Cotton Rabbits, you are in for a real treat. Julie Williams is a gifted designer and knitter. She makes the most a.dor.able little creatures that she sells. The demand for her work far exceeds her ability to keep up, so periodically, she announces that she has a new gaggle of lovelies to sell, and you can place a comment, hoping that her random drawings will give you the privilege to purchase one of her creations. When you look around here blog, you will understand why her work is so highly sought after!  To learn more about Little Cotton Rabbits, visit her SHOP and her BLOG.

Now, onto my Gnome Christmas Stockings. I saw no reason to reinvent the wheel, and decide to use the pattern for Mini Christmas Stockings Julie graciously shared. The pattern is available HERE. These are the only changes I made:

I used a single ply yarn instead of a worsted yarn. I had some beautiful Mini Mochi Rainbow yarn (it is Crystal Palace - Mini Mochi, #101 - Intense Rainbow) that I had left over from a pair of Rainbow Mittens I knit last year.

Then, I used size 1US (2.25mm) dpn needles, instead of the size 2US (2.75mm) called for in the pattern.  Finally, instead of adding a pattern to the stockings (Fairisle, zig-zag or trees are available), I simple continued the stockinette stitch through the patterned section, and let Mini Mochi's natural striping do the work for me!

And, there you have it!

Although Mini Mochi is a washable wool, using warm water, dish soap, agitation, and a tumble through the dryer, I was able to felt the stockings to make them even smaller. The only thing left to do was to add a loop for hanging the stockings.

I really wish to thank Julie Williams for sharing this adorable pattern. Because she knits the stockings flat instead of in the round, even beginners should be able to work this pattern, although using the small needles can be a little more awkward.

You have a little over 1 week to until the gnomes will need stockings. Collect up some scrap yarn, and get knitting :)

Photos - 12-5-12

I've had many requests for photos of our winter gnome house. I still need to get our Starry Night silk draped behind it and add lots of snow... aka... cotton balls! Of course, I can almost guarantee you that somewhere between now and Christmas, I'll make something new for the gnome's holiday celebration... I always do!

The first thing I do whenever I change out the season is to clean and polish the wood. This is one of my favorite things to do!

Many of the gnomes and furnishings shown here are shared as tutorials. Check out our Gnome Home offerings in our Gallery. A few of the items are also shown in our toy section.

BTW... If you have a blog and have featured photos of your holiday gnome home, please feel free to share a link. I'll try to remember to post a photo when our gnome home is all done :)

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Photos 12-5-12

It's summer... time for camping under the moon and stars. Whether you throw a sleeping bag on the grass in the backyard or trek into the wilderness, there is nothing like lying on your back, on a clear night, and looking up at the wondrous night sky.

Naturally, our gnomes also enjoy star gazing. Here are our latest gnomes and there sleeping bag, perfect for a night under a blanket of stars and the moon!

To complete this project, you are going to need to do a little scavenger hunt through our site. You will need:

The Waldorf Inspired Gnomes found HERE.

The basic Sleeping Bag Directions found HERE.

The directions for how to make the woven stars found HERE.

And the actual pattern for THIS sleeping bag found HERE.

And, in the event you want to set up your own campfire scene you will need:

The campfire found HERE.

The felt trees found HERE.

And the mushrooms found HERE.

Okay... I think that is everything :)  To embellish your gnomes, simply add some woven stars on their hats and capes before you sew them together. And for all of you that accuse me of flawless crafting... just know I make mistakes ALL the time. I'm just a master of covering them up. For example, when appliqueing the moon and stars on the blanket of the sleeping bag, I appliqued them on sideways by mistake. So, when you look at the pattern, it will look wrong. I meant to do it like the pattern, but after spending the time, I was not going to go back and redo the silly thing. So, I left it. And, if anyone in the future questions the look of the moon, I'll just tell them I was striving to create a lunar eclipse!

NOTE: On the pattern you will also find an applique to make a sunny sky sleeping bag. I was going to make both and ran out of time. If you would like to make one, and the design on your pattern is too light, I simply took our Sunburst Applique Block and reduced it to 40%.

On a completely different topic... you guys will be on your own for the next 10 days as Michelle's family and mine are vacationing. Although we will have access to computers, we will only be using them to check-up on things from time to time. If you need to talk with us, best way to contact us is through email at weefolkart@yahoo.com. We will be checking emails daily. So, have a wonderful week, and if you are really missing us, great time to thumb through past posts and projects. BTW... if you ever find a mistake, i.e., a broken link or an incorrect photo, please email us with the link and problem. We would really appreciate it. We will see everyone back here on Monday, July 18. We well :)

The gnome home is finally all decked out for Spring and our wee ones have been busy on adventures with our friends that dwell there. We thought we'd take you on a tour, floor by floor. (BTW... we are in the process making several ladders and an elevator to make getting around in the house easier :)

After cleaning and polishing all the wood, and tucking in roving for foliage, (see HERE) we lay down the rugs.

Crocheted Rag Rug

Spring Rag Rug

Flower Fairy Carpet

Next, using florist tape, we secure flowers to the branches.

Level 5: Sleeping Under the Stars Deck

Spring Sleeping Bags

Felt Flower Garland

Level 4: Dining Al Fresco

Waldorf Style Gnomes

Honey Pot

Level 3: Family's Co-Sleeping Chamber

Little Wooden Birdies

Gnome City Bed and Bedding

Level 2: Family Living Area and Kitchen

Larder Sacks

Gnome and Fairy Books

Flower Fairies

Quilt

Felt Poppies

Level 1: Community Gathering Area

Wooden Pine Forest

Campfire

Wooden Mushrooms

So, if you know me at all... if you've read my blogs for at least a year... you know I don't "do" Spring Cleaning. If you are so inclined, and haven't done so already, you can read my sage words on the topic HERE.

Having said THAT... I do help Britta spring clean the gnome house. We are a couple weeks behind schedule, but yesterday we got a crew of wee folk together, and they completely empty the gnome house, so we could do a thorough job. Over the weekend the house will don its spring apparel, but this is our simple, general purpose cleaning and prep we do first.

After removing everything from the house, we give it a good dusting.

Then, 4 times a year, with the changing seasons, we go over the entire wood surface, including the underside of the floors and the supporting branches, with our Olive Oil and Beeswax Wood Finish. The recipe can be found HERE.

We simply break off small pieces and rub them over the surface and let it sit for an hour. We then go through and buff it off. It renews the wood, gives it a lovely scent and beautiful patina.


Finally, it is time to add foliage to the branches. We have a collection of different colors of green roving. We simply take pieces, wrap it around branches, and tuck in the ends. The green will stay up for spring and summer, followed by oranges, reds, golds and browns for autumn, and finally, scatterings of white roving in the crooks of branches for winter snow.

You can see the beautiful sheen of the wood! The gnome house is now clean, fresh and ready for spring. Ah... if only it was so easy to clean my house :)