Gnorse and Gnilla the Gnomes

Gnorse and his sister Gnilla are nisses or tomtes or to me gnomes.

A nisse (usually Norwegian) and a tomte (usually Swedish) are similar characters. They are both solitary, mischievous domestic sprites responsible for the protection and welfare of the farmstead and its buildings. Tomte literally means “homestead man” and is derived from the word tomt which means homestead or building lot. Nisse is derived from the name Nils, which is the Scandinavian, form of Nicholas.

As Gnorse and Gnilla are “shelf sitters” I used poly pellets to weight them, full directions are included in the making up guide. If Gnorse and Gnilla are to be toys there is no need to weight them, just stuff as you would normally stuff a toy.

Gnorse and Gnilla are knitted flat and assembled, full directions with photos are included in this pattern. I used mattress stitch throughout simply because the feet and legs are a fiddle to turn.