April gnome for the Year of Gnomes KAL

Gnewt is becoming St. Olga of Kyiv. I chose this fierce saint to pray with the people of Ukraine as they defend themselves from attack.

St. Olga of Kyiv

St. Olga is a fitting saint for Ukraine right now - fierce, defiant, and strong. After her husband was killed, she lured and slaughtered all their enemies, both securing the safety of her son and getting revenge for her husband. It reads like a chapter from Game of Thrones. It’s not the kind of story I immediately associate with saints, but she is a saint nonetheless. She shows the extremes that our grief and desire to protect someone we love can take us to.

St. Olga was canonized for her work in bringing Christianity to medieval Russia. She bears the title “Isapóstolos” (equal to the apostles). She is the patron saint of widows and converts.

https://theconversation.com/amp/saint-olga-of-kyiv-is-ukr...

https://www.thecollector.com/olga-of-kiev-russian-saint-o...

Colors:
Body - Midnight sky & Delphinium
Nose and hands - peach
Hat - white and yellow
Cloak - tart
Accents - yellow

Hat - knit round 1, skipped to round 21 and continued from there
Added in yellow colorwork in last repeat of 4 knit rounds - allusion to crown
To continue the white down: placed live stitches on the back half onto scrap yarn, picked up stitches on the inside in the row immediately below the live stitches, knit the body in read all the way around, then placed the saved stitches back on the needle to knit loose fabric draping down (see picture)

Body - I added an extra 3 knit rows after row 71 to make her a little taller.

Red cloak - size 2 needles, picked up stitches a couple rows down from hat, increased on edges and near middle, blocked by pinning to the bottom of body

Use either colorwork or duplicate stitch to add the gold accents and designs.

On body, duplicate stitch fabric pattern with lighter blue.

Crown - made from faux tin tile (flexible and cuttable material), rhinestones glued on

Building - made from craft wood and dowels, painted, left sitting next to her instead of in her hand so that the body design isn’t obscured