Meet Gnorm the Gnome! The latest in my Tales of the Tonttu series of patterns, Gnorm lives in the forests of North America. Like many on the continent he is very proud of his Scandinavian heritage and, in particular, of his ancestor Thorfinn Tonttu who crossed the ocean long ago. 

Method:

Featuring a cute tonttu and autumnal motifs of sunflowers, pumpkins, and leaves these stranded colorwork socks are knit in the round from the cuff down. With a heel flap, and gusset decreases placed on the sole they can be worked in two or more contrasting colors (socks shown use four). The colorwork is charted to minimize pattern jog and the start of the round is placed at the side of the leg and the center of the sole.

These socks can be knitted on dpns, by magic loop, or on a short circular (in which case you will still need dpns for the heel and toe decreases).

Please note the colorwork design in this pattern is charted not written out. You need to be prepared to read and work from charts in order to enjoy knitting this design.

Sizes:

This pattern is written in 4 sizes. Each pdf contains the written instructions and charts for one size. The length of both the leg and the foot are easily adjustable, notes for doing this are included.

Size Sock Circumference Approx. UK Sizes

S 7” 18 cm Children’s 13-4, Ladies 1-4

M 8” 20.5 cm Ladies 5-8

L 8⅞” 22.5 cm Men’s 8.5-10.5

XL 9¾” 24.5 cm Men’s 11-13

Yarn:

You can use any 4 ply (fingering) sock yarn that you like and with which you can get tension/ gauge.

Please note I do not recommend using yarns with a high cotton content as cotton doesn’t stretch as much as other fibers and this will affect the fit of your socks.

This pattern works well with two (or more) solid colors, socks shown use four. This is a great pattern to experiment with color and use mini skeins or any leftovers lurking in your stash. Be creative, have fun, but keep in mind changes will affect yardage and number of ends to weave in. The amounts of each color required will depend on how many colors you pick, where you choose to use them in the socks, and which size you are knitting. As a guide for the pair pictured (size M in four colors) I used the following:

MC – Paintbox Yarns Socks 1410 Coffee Bean approx. 95 metres (104 yards)

CC1 – CoopKnits Socks Yeah! 117 Almandine approx. 150 metres (164 yards)

CC2 – West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 ply 1001 Sunflower approx. 50 metres (55 yards)

CC3 – Novita Venla 606 Sandy Beach approx. 60 metres (66 yards)

Gauge:

9 stitches and 10 rows per inch (2.5cm) over colorwork pattern.

Needles:

3mm dpns

2.5mm dpns / short circular or size needed for gauge.

Other Materials Required:

5 Stitch Markers

Tape Measure

Scissors

Darning needle for sewing in ends