Halloween Pumpkin Ornament (free) Knitting Pattern

There's an autumnal feel in the air, early morning mists, hazy sunshine, pumpkins ripening in the veg plot, all of which have set me thinking about Halloween. I love Halloween! Even though my own kids are grown up, I still get in a good store of treats, put out a lit pumpkin to encourage Trick or Treaters and always give the best goodies to those who have gone the extra mile when putting together their costume.

My kids and I used to have great fun making Halloween related art and crafts projects, and I look forward to when (maybe!) I can do the same with grandkids.

All these Halloween thoughts reminded me that this time last year I designed a little knitted pumpkin pattern and posted it on the blog. I then realised that no-one is going to find it way back in the archives, so I posted it as a free pattern on Ravelry and Craftsy.

This little pumpkin is just 3" diameter if knitted in double knit yarn (a bit bigger if knit in aran or worsted) and would be great addition to a costume. You could attach one to the brim of a witches hat, temporarily sew them to the back of some mittens or dress up a Trick or Treat bag with them.

The pattern had only been on Ravelry a matter of hours when a lady contacted me to show me what she had knitted. PRINCESSSANDY had already knit about 8 pumpkins!! and she is going to knit a total of 21 as Halloween gifts for her son's Junior Kindergarten class. How wonderful is that!!

Unfortunately her photo was very low res, so I can't make it any larger for you, but you can see how great they are all going to look together, and her son's class are going to be thrilled!

These pumpkins are very quick to make, use only tiny amounts of yarn and are beginner knitter friendly  so if you want to make some too, the free pattern is here

                                       

If you do knit some, please share a photo on my Facebook page (the link is in the sidebar) and let us know what you are using them for.

Knitted Pumpkins for Halloween

The shops are full of Halloween paraphernalia. It's bright , it's cute, it's scary, but it's plastic and tacky!

So in order to rectify that just one eentsy, teentsy, tiny bit, I spent yesterday evening designing a little knitted pumpkin. This is so quick to knit (look, I made two already!) and has a multitude of uses. They can decorate a table, hang in doorways or be tied to trick or treat bags. I think they would look really great sewn or pinned to the back of a pair of gloves. I know I would be especially generous to anyone who knocked at my door Trick or Treating if they were wearing gloves with pumpkins attached! Or why not pin one on a witches hat or a headband. The possibilities are endless.

The pattern uses 10 grams (20 yards) of double knit yarn, and the finished pumpkin measures 3" (7.5cm) across the diameter. If you wanted to make it just that little bit bigger, just use aran/worsted weight yarn instead.

If you want to get the kids involved, let them cut out eyes and mouth from black felt and glue them on rather than embroidering the facial details. These are so simple to make that any new knitter - young, or not-so-young could make them.

I've created a pdf document of the pattern which you can download for free, here so go grab some bright orange yarn and have some spooky fun!