A couple of months ago, I decided I wanted to knit a good friend of mine something for him and his second grade class.  I decided to make him a jumbo gnome – a pattern from my old favorite mochimochiland.

I made Mr. Gnome with two strands of Plymouth Encore worsted weight.  Stuffed animals and little gnomes can be fiddly with the double pointed needles, but since he was so large, it was much like casting on for a pair of socks.  The color work is a nice touch and was great fun to do as well.   I loved the Encore; it was a good choice of yarn.  Holding it double was not any trouble except it was a little unwieldy during the color work.  Not too bad though. He was really a lot of fun to knit.

I got him all finished, and then at the beginning of February we told him goodbye.  Davey really wanted to keep him for his very own.

After some goodbyes, he agreed to part with him, and so we mailed him off.  Well turns out, I mailed it to an address where my friend has not lived in SIX years.  You’d think I’d know that my good friend had moved wouldn’t you.  Maybe I did know at some point but forgot?  I myself have moved about four times in the last six years so I have enough trouble remembering my own address!

So the gnome never arrived.  Unfortunately, I’d also lost my tracking slip.  My postal carrier told me that if the recipient put “Return to Sender” on the package that it should get back to me in a week or so.  I had high hopes, but it didn’t come back!  We had about given up, and I’d even started knitting a second one when finally last week, a month later, it came back!  We were thrilled!

He’s truly been a traveling gnome.  I mailed him back – to the correct address this time, and he has arrived safely.