Gnome sweet gnome

 

I finished the flat headbands for the high school boys and male staff members. I passed quite a few out on Monday, and I meant to pass the rest out yesterday. However, I was called in to sub in the middle school and didn't get the chance. I hope to pass the rest out today.

Christmas gnomes are on my to-do list this year, and I took a break from headbands to make my first one. I made so many mistakes, but I learned a lot about the process. The first one took me about four and half hours to make. 

My second gnome only took about an hour and a half to make. I love the way his beard turned out!

I guess I'm stuck at an hour and a half per gnome right now. I think it's because I have to keep correcting mistakes.

Some gnomes just need to look scruffy.

Others need a more groomed look.

I have plenty of supplies, so I think I'll keep on making gnomes. After all, Christmas is coming!

For the boys

 

I'm done cranking all the headbands for the high school boys. Now I'm busy finishing them. I have four more wide ear warmers to finish, and then I'll work on the narrow ones. My hope is to pass them out next week before Thanksgiving break begins.

Yesterday, one of my favorite middle school students asked if I would make him a hat. Who can resist a request from a 7th grade boy? I was his dad's 4th grade teacher, so I have a special connection with him. I was ready for a break from headbands, so I started Micah's hat last night and finished it this morning. He said it fit perfectly, and I could tell he loved it by the huge smile on his face!

Focus

My focus is still on headbands. 

I'm still cranking out twisted headbands. Daughter Joanne will be taking boxed set orders through November 10, so I'm trying to keep ahead of her orders.

The high school boys prefer solid colors, so I've been working on flat ear warmers for them. They want dark colors, but they're going to have to choose from what I have available.

I've still been trying a variety of yarns. This one is Big Twist Aqua Ombre. It worked pretty well, no stickiness, but my machine was pretty loud.

This is another Big Twist yarn, Unicorn Magic. Again, it went through the machine, but it was rather noisy.

The twisted headbands are made on a 40 pin machine with 90 rows. The wide flat headbands... oops! ear warmers (the boys won't take them if I call them headbands)... are made on a 32 pin Sentro machine with 80 rows. It's amazing to me that 8 fewer pins and 10 fewer rows could make the process seem to go so much faster. The flat headbands actually take a little more time to finish than the twisted ones.

The four headbands on the right are a size experiment. There's a lady who works in the cafeteria who has three little girls. Using my 32 pin machine, I cranked out headbands with 60, 65, 70, and 80 rows. The 80 row headband is for Ashley, and her little girls will try on the other three sizes to see what fits them. Hopefully, I will have a better idea of what works best for children. 

The yarn is I Love This Yarn Winter Flowers. I've used this one before on my 40 pin Sentro machine. Yesterday, the yarn would not crank through the machine. I decided to try it with my 22 pin Addi machine, and it worked beautifully.

I have so many things I want to work on. I have some lovely new thread from Marilee Rockley and some beautiful shuttles from Rita Richmond. I have ideas for what I want to make with them, but I need to stay focused and finish these headbands!