Ok, I really am going to try to knit something other than gnomes before the people that know me IRL check me into some kind of gnome rehab, but before they catch me and cart me off, I have a few random things to say.
The day my gnome yarn came in the mail, I couldn’t resist a picture before I got started. I love the colors!


Doesn’t this gnome remind you of Ivan Vanko from Iron Man 2?


If all of a sudden while you are weaving in the ends, a gnome is suddenly missing a leg, don’t despair. You can use the brown yarn you’re weaving in to kind of create a couple of loops that look like part of an i-cord and then make a loop through those to create the end of his leg, and then weave in the yarn you have left, then bippity boppity boo, you’ve created a leg after the fact. (This is much more clear when you have a leg there to try to match.) Ask me how I know.

Also, don’t worry if same gnome happens to look like Hellboy from some angles. This particular gnome had a bit of an identity crisis. He wanted to be different than all the other gnomes, so I let him be, although I did sew in his eyes.

Ps. Check out what others have finished at Tami’s Amis and Wisdom begins in Wonder and Natural Suburbia

I had almost finished the blue cowl and was working on the final border. I glanced at the pattern and worked 4 rows just like the first border and then read the directions for binding off. “Bind off loosely purlwise on the wrong side.” I sent Alicia a quick email about how I would need to bind off on the right side after completing the border.

She graciously responded that I should bind off on the wrong side so the number of rows would be the same before the first shell and after the last one. She was kind enough to write that it wasn’t that big a deal if I’d bound off on the right side. She was even more kind not mention that it sounded as if I had no idea what I was doing and was actually not qualified to be test knitting at all and maybe even should have my needles confiscated.

I looked at the knitting and looked at the pattern. um. HOW does one bind off on the wrong side after the border? I don’t get it. I’m not proud to say that I sent her a second email asking how I should bind off on the wrong side after the border. I know how knitting works and after a wrong side row, you have to do a right side row when knitting flat. It’s like gravity. That’s how it works.
That’s how it works if there are supposed to be four rows in the final border.


But.

If the pattern actually says that there are only THREE rows in the ending border, well, then, my knitterly friends, then, I think we all know, you can in fact bind off purlwise on the wrong side just as the lovely Alicia suggested from the beginning.
Yes, I bound off on the wrong side and sent her an apologetic email to tell her what an arse I am.

Ps. I’ll post a link as soon as she has this pattern out. This is a fun quick perfect for gifts knit and I want to share the love.
Pps. Check out what others have finished at Tami’s Amis and Wisdom begins in Wonder

…the sheep’s in the meadow and the dog’s in the kitchen….’cause every time the camera comes out, she thinks “treats!”.

I bought these buttons specifically for Turtle in NYC when she was newly pregnant. So, I put them to use on this cute baby kimono. Behold, my first sweater!

Pattern: Seamless Kimono by Carina Spencer
Yarn: Madelinetosh Tosh DK Fig
Fastenings: Buttons are sewn on and have snaps behind them because button loops now give me nightmares and you need to knit the garter border if you want button holes. I figured that out a scoach too late. Scottiegirly suggested the snaps and The Husband consulted on button placement. I may have asked him where to put the turtles 50 times. may have.

Overall, I loved this pattern; it’s great for a first sweater…and I’m feeling pretty good about my decision not to try matching the green on the buttons.
Ps. Check out what other folks have finished at Tami’s Amis and Fiber Arts Fridays