Ghillie The Gnome:

In Scottish folklore, Ghillie Dhu or Gille Dubh was a solitary black-haired male fairy. He was kindly and reticent, yet sometimes wild in character and had a gentle devotion to children. He clothed himself in leaves and moss and lived in a birch wood within the Gairloch, near Lochnadraing, which is on the peninsula between Loch Ewe and Loch Gairloch in the West Highlands of Scotland. He is my inspiration for this design, though my Ghillie The Gnome is white-haired, so would be known as Ghillie Geal in Scottish Gaelic. Given his love of children, I thought he might add to a Merry Christmas for all.

Ghillie’s pointed hat is knitted from the brim up and features the leaves and thistles from his forest home and Celtic knotwork found carved on many an ancient stone in the northern Highlands. His hat is completed in colour work that has only 2 colours in each row and is knitted on a set of double-pointed knitting needles (or circular needles, if preferred). The stitches for his head/body are picked up from under the narrow brim of his hat and knitted down to finish under him. His white hair is woven through the stitches under his brim and he is completed with a red nose peeping through his hair and a pom pom on the top of his hat.
There are some long floats to the rear of the patterned hat, but these become trapped inside Ghillie, once he is filled with toy stuffing, so do not need to be caught up. Some experience of fair isle or stranded colour work would be useful for this pattern, although full instructions are given for the construction methods used.

Materials:
4 ply / Fingering Shetland wool or equivalent:
Actual amounts used are listed below, but please use this as a rough guide only, given that different brands may differ slightly. The yardage of the yarn used: 215m/236yds per 50g.
White: 137g Red: 23g Green: 17g
You will also need a small amount of contrasting yarn to use as waste yarn.

Knitting Needles:
One set of double-pointed 3.25mm / US 3 knitting needles are suggested for knitting Ghillie. Alternatively, you may use a circular knitting needle of the same size and of various lengths, if preferred.
A small crochet hook is used for attaching Ghillie’s hair.

Toy Filling:
You will need Toy Filling of your choice to stuff Ghillie with.

Measurements of completed Ghillie The Gnome:
Ghillie stands 26 ins high (66cm), is 12 ins wide (30cm) and 10 ins deep (25cm), though this will depend on how firmly you stuff your finished gnome.

Tension:
Approximately 30 stitches and 36 rows to 10cm over the pattern (unstretched).
Your tension is not crucial for knitting Ghillie, though it is still a good idea to check and adjust your needle size accordingly so that your tension is not too loose for stuffing him.

I do hope you enjoy knitting Ghillie and watching him come to life.