For those of you who don't know yet, my big sister Rae has a knack for a) producing cute offspring and b) convincing me to knit things for them. She stumbled across the Gnomey Hat a while ago and before I knew it I was signing up to knit a couple for the Rae-spawn.

this is the angelic profile shot.

Since I generally dislike knitting with bulky yarn, the stash didn't turn up much (I just checked. I have a whopping...4 skeins). So I grabbed a couple hanks of Stonehenge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool I'd already designated for an Elliot-hat and decided I'd make it work*.

Even with the yarn held doubled my gauge was way off, and I wanted to make the hat a skitch larger than written. So I did some dodgy math and cast on 53 stitches (because it's always a good idea to cast on a prime number of stitches when making a hat???) and just knitted something resembling a Gnomey. Most importantly, I did a garter band at the bottom and approximately followed the instructions for making the top pointy, which is all that really matters anyway.

Yep, that's the Tomten. Click to slightly embiggerate

Once I plunked the proto-hat on Elliot's noggin at Thanksgiving it was pretty obvious that I'd made it way too long for a toddler (it fit me nicely though!) so I folded up the garter brim and attached the earflaps under that. Never one to refuse an opportunity to include a pom or two, I happily made a couple nice puffy ones and threw in some braided ties for good measure.

Not counting patience highest on her list of virtues, Rae also showed up at Thanksgiving with a partially knitted Gnomey, which she finished over the weekend as well (though I would like to point out that I finished mine first...because I am competitive like that).

So now Rae can tool around town with two intriguingly behatted children in tow, which I do believe is what she wanted all along.

this is not the angelic profile shot

Vital Stats
Pattern: Gnomey Hat, by Adrian Bizilia (Hello Yarn).
Yarn: Stonehenge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool, held double (lakeshore and antique rose). This yarn is amazing…all soft and cushy and lovely. I'll definitely use it again.
Needles: 10.5 DPNs
Raveled here

*Rae had given me one of the colors a while back on the condition that it be used for woolies for her children..see how she operates?