Waldorf Inspired

The children in The Thicket always look forward to the approaching summer months. This means the days themselves grow like weeds, with more hours of daylight allowing for more hours of fun. But this also means, that at the close of the day, the wee ones are often allowed to sit around the campfire with their elders, and hear tales as old as The Thicket itself. There are tales of extreme heroics, tales of warning, tales of wild shenanigans, and their very favorite, tales of the unexplained, and often spooky, happenings in The Thicket. Often they fall asleep while listening and mysteriously find themselves safely tucked in their beds come the morning.

Making your own campfire is very easy and an important mainstay in the life of your gnome.

WARNING: There are small pieces in this project which can be a choking hazard. Not for children under 3 years of age or children that are likely to place small objects in their mouth.

Materials:
1/8" Masonite or dense cardboard
small pebbles
little twigs
raffia, small wood shavings, or dried grass
red food coloring
crafting glue

1] Cut out a 4" circle from 1/8" Masonite using a scroll saw or by hand with a coping saw. You may also use thick cardboard. It must to dense enough to support the weight of the rocks.

2] Place a thick bead of crafting glue around the edge of the circle. Note: I originally used hot glue but the pebbles fell off over time. I found the crafting glue held them in place much better.

3] Fit a ring of pebbles in the glue, pressing them in place. Add additional glue around the rocks to insure a tight connection. The glue will dry clear.



4] When the rocks have thoroughly dried, cover the entire bottom of the circle with glue.

5] Sprinkle coffee grounds on the glue, making sure you have good coverage. Let dry. When dry, turn the campfire over and gently shake to remove loose grounds.

6] Build a fire by breaking thin twigs to size. Generously use crafting glue to hold together.




7] Before the glue dries, cut grass, wood shavings or raffia into small pieces and dye with red food coloring to make flames.


8] Sprinkle "flames" on campfire. They will adhere to the wet glue.

9] When the glue has thoroughly dried, turn it upside down and gently shake to remove loose flames. You are now ready to gather the gnomes around the campfire and begin spinning tales!

If you haven't done it already, it's time to get your gnome home ready for the warm days of spring and summer. Below are some of our past gnomey spring things. Just click on the picture to take you to the tutorials. I have a few other warm weather accents I'll be adding soon!

Felt Flower Garland

Flower Fairies

Flower Fairy Carpet

Spring Gnome Sleeping Bag

Spring Rag Rug

Waldorf Style Gnomes

Wooden Apple Orchard

Crocheted Rugs

I have always been fascinated by unique collective nouns. For instance, did you know a group of mice is called a "mischief"? Sounds about right, doesn't it?  Or that dolphins travel in pods? Other names are band, horde, tribe, and coalition. (For a bunch of animal collective nouns, check out this list.) When I went to post this tutorial, I began to wonder what I should call a gathering of gnomes. Since nothing brilliant or witty came to me, I settled for a Cluster of Gnomes. Any ideas?

EDIT: One of our readers, Cami, suggested calling a group of gnomes a Whimsy of gnomes. I love the idea so much, from now on I will always referring to a group of gnomes as a "whimsy". Thanks Cami!!!

Here is the hat pattern that will allow you to turn our Basic Knit Dolls into Gnomes. The pattern for the Basic Knit Dolls can be found HERE. Decide which size doll you would like to make and follow the directions. 
 

3" dolly
4" baby
5" toddler
8" child
10" mother
12" father

Make sure you read about gauge, materials and stitches. When you have completed the doll, use the directions below to knit and attach the gnomey hat.  The 3 dolls in the photo at the top of this tutorial are the 5" toddler. The lone green gnome at the bottom is the 8" child. Directions are given for the 3" doll with sizes 4", 5", 8", 10" and 12" in parentheses. The gnome pictured in the directions is the 8" child.

Using size 6 needles, or a size that obtains the gauge, cast on 10 (15, 20, 30, 40, 50) leaving an 18" tail for sewing.

Working in a stockinette stitch (knit one row, purl one row) knit 2 (4, 6, 6, 8, 8) rows for hat rim.

Odd rows: (the right side) Knit 2 together. Knit across the row to the last 2 stitches. Knit 2 together.

Even rows:  (the wrong side) Purl.

Continue until you have 1 stitch left on your needle. Clip the yarn leaving an 18" tail for sewing and pull it through the last loop .  

Pin the side seams together, with the wrong sides together.

Beginning at the top of the hat, sew the side seam using the yarn tail at the top of the hat. Catch only I piece of yarn on either seam.

Gently pull the yarn on the first few stitches causing the top of the hat to curl.

Continue sewing the seam. Tie off and clip the yarn.

Lightly stuff the hat with fiberfill. You just want enough fiberfill to prevent the sides from caving in. Do not overfill or it will look like a clown's hat.

Before beginning to sew the hat to the gnome, on the inside, weave the yarn tail along the seam up 2 (4, 6, 6, 8, 8) rows. Poke the needle through to the outside.

Note: You will be sewing the hat to the gnome several rows above the hat edge. When you are done sewing on the hat, you will roll the rim upward. When positioning the hat on the gnome, remember that the first several rows will be rolled. Take that into account when deciding on placement.

Position the hat on the gnome so that the beginning of the hat, excluded the rows of rim, are touching the gnome's body in the back. Make sure the body and hat seams are lined up.

Slant the hat at a pleasing angle, remembering that part of the hat will be rolled up. Pin in place.

Sew the hat to the gnome using a running stitch. This stitch should be 2 (4, 6, 6, 8, 8) rows up from the bottom edge of the hat. You should go in and out of each stitch, making sure to catch the head beneath.

When the hat has been attached, tie off and clip the yarn.

Gently roll up the rim. It will stay in place without sewing it down.

Three selfish frogs learn a valuable lesson about sharing from a toad and a very scary thunderstorm in Leo Lionni's It's Mine. I created the pattern for the Water Lily and the Lily Pads to extend the story but you can certainly use these for decorating or adding to a nature table. I made 3 lily pads and 1 water lily and laid them on a blue play silk, but you can make enough lily pads to cover an entire pond :) These have become a favorite with the grandbabies. Enjoy! 

LILY PADS

Materials:
green felt
embroidery floss
It's Mine Pattern (pattern includes lily pads for felt and  frog and toad for wood)

Directions:
1] Print the It's Mine Pattern.

2] Cut out 2 pieces for each lily pad. I made 3 lily pads using 2 different greens. (How to Cut Out Felt)

3] Using a blanket stitch, sew the 2 pieces of lily pads together using a blanket stitch.

WATER LILIES

Materials:
white/off white roving
embroidery floss
balls for wrapping 2", 3", 4"

NOTE: I planned to make 3 layers of petals, thus I used 3 balls. When I was done, I felt the water lily was too big for my project, so I wound up using only 2 balls; the 2" and the 3". The more you use though, the fuller the flower will be.

1] Choose the balls you are going to felt over. Think graduated sizes.

2] Follow steps 1 - 10 of our Felted Eggs for general directions on how to felt around a form. Note: I LOVE to hand felt in water. If you prefer, you can felt in the washing machine.

3] Using string or yarn, wrap the string around the ball, dividing it into 8 equal sections.

4] Using a disappearing marker, mark along each string from the top down about 2/3 the way.

5] Remove the string.

6] Using very sharp scissors, cut along each mark. Remember, do not cut the bottom third of the flower.

7] Using a fingertip or thin rag, dip in water and gently tap petal edges removing disappearing ink.

8] When you have cut your petals, place the smaller one inside of the larger one. (If using 3 sizes, place the small and medium petal in the large petal.)

9] French knot the 2 or 3 petals together using 6 strands of floss. Make one French Knot in the middle of the bottom, and 6 more knots circling the center knot.

To display:
Arrange the 3 lily pads in a circle and place the water lily in the middle.

The other day we shared our pattern for the Basic Knit Doll Pattern. It has become an overnight success! I think the reason is twofold. First, it has the potential to be utilized in many ways, and second, it is lovable in its unadorned, simple state. I love gazing at the faceless, hairless doll and trust me, it even looks lovelier when cuddled by a cherub faced child! I then got to thinking (which usually winds up costing me time, if not money) how adorable this sweet little baby doll would look embroidered or appliqued on something, thus the birth of the Basic Doll Applique Block.

As with all of our blocks, it was designed to fit on a 6" x 6" block, but it can be reduced or enlarged to meet your needs. Think bibs... onesies... t-shirts... or what I'm considering, the center block of a baby quilt. And like the Basic Knit Doll, this applique can be embellished with a face, hair or clothes. And, of course, you can make them in multiple sizes to create a whole family. The pattern for the Basic Doll Applique can be found HERE or with our FREE Applique Patterns. Enjoy!