Itty Bitty Pumpkin Pattern and Link Up

I've had several requests for a pattern for the little pumpkin featured in my last blog post.  It was so easy to make, and turned out so cute!  So here it is. :)  (I apologize for the slightly blurry phone pictures, but I think they are clear enough for you to get the general idea.)

Itty Bitty Pumpkin

Materials:
Scraps of orange and brown worsted or dk weight yarn
US #3 dpns or circulars
Yarn needle

Cast on 30 sts with orange yarn and join in the round (Be sure to leave a good amount of "tail", around 6 inches or so.)
Round 1: K
Round 2: [K2, M1] to end  (45 sts)
Rounds 3-20: K
Round 21: [K1, K2tog] to end
Round 22: K

Cut yarn, leaving a good long tail of about 20 inches.  Put this long tail on a yarn needle, and pull it through all the remaining stitches.

Pull as tightly as you can to gather these stitches together.

There will probably still be a bit of a hole; just oversew across the hole a few times to help close it up.  Pull your long tail to the inside of your pumpkin and back out the top.

Next we need to close the top of the pumpkin.  Using your shorter tail, sew through the bottom edge of your cast on but don't pull these stitches closed yet.

Stuff your pumpkin!  I like to use plain old polyfil, but you could use yarn ends, too.  The more you stuff the firmer your pumkin will be.  I like to stuff it pretty firmly.  Just be sure not to overstuff.  Make sure you leave your long tail poking out of the top, too!

Now you can close the top, by again pulling as tightly as you can and then oversewing the hole.  You can go ahead and tie off the shorter end and burry it into the pumpkin.

To make the pumpkin look like a pumpkin, and not an orange tomato, you need to give it ridges.  Put your long tail (that you left poking out, right?) back on your yarn needle, and sew through the top center and out of the bottom.

Bring your needle back up the top, and again sew down through the top and out of the bottom.  How tightly you pull here will determine how deep your ridges are.

Repeat as many times around as necessary to make your pumpkin sufficiently pumpkin shaped.  I like to use the bottom bumps formed by the cast off to help line up these ridges.

Now for the stem

Cast on 9 stitches in brown yarn and join in the round
Rounds 1-2: K
Round 3: [K1, K2tog] x 3
Round 4: K
Round 5: [K2tog] x 3 (at this point you should have only 3 stitches remaining, and you can switch to i-cord)
Round 6-7: K

Cast off by breaking the yarn and pulling it through all the remaining stitches.  Pull the tail down through the top of stem and out the bottom.  Pulling on it slightly will help give it a little bit of a curve, like a real pumpkin stem.

Use the tails to sew it to the top of the pumpkin, and hide the ends.

Ta da!  You now have an itty bitty pumpkin!  I told you they were easy!  Really, you don't even have to follow the exact stitch or row counts given here.  This is more like a general jumping off point to get started.  Real pumpkins are never the same size or shape, so experiment and have fun!  Even some with textured stitch patterns or cables would be cute!

In fact, I'd love so much to see how creative you can get with this pattern I thought we'd have a little Pumpkin Patch link up party!  And how about a little prize to make it extra fun?  Show me your best pumpkin and I'll pick my favorite one at the end of the link up!  I don't know what the prize will be yet, but I'll be sure to make it something good!  I'll leave the link up open until Saturday, the 27th, so that everyone has a chance to get their pumpkins in.

Happy knitting!
Sparrow

Pumpkin Patch Party Link-Up

An InLinkz Link-up