Crochet Pumpkins

I love trolling Pinterest for craft ideas and I found an easy pattern to crochet pumpkins.  I made these pumpkins in one day.  The pattern is free from Caron and the pumpkins come in 3 sizes.  I made two medium and one small one, so the big one is probably pretty big.  You need about 1 skein to make the body of the pumpkin and then just a bit of brown for the stem.  I stuffed mine with Fiber Fill.

The pattern starts with a circle which is the bottom of the pumpkin.  I am making a small pumpkin here.

Row two begins the expand.  See how it looks like a flower?  This pattern creates channels of single crochet that make the finished product look more like a pumpkin than a big beach ball.

By Row 4 you see the upward curve of the sides.  Keep in mind there are only a few stitches involved in this pattern so it works up quickly.

By the time you work around to Row 6, the pattern starts to vary based on the size pumpkin you are making.  For a small pumpkin, Row 6 is the round that gets repeated 5 more times to form the sides of the pumpkin.  The first picture is Row 6 and the second picture is Row 6 repeated 5 more times.  

Now the rows start the decrease with the Dc2tog stitch.  After 2 rows of decrease, it looks like this - ready to stuff! The second picture shows the pumpkin with stuffing - doesn't it just shape beautifully?

The last two rounds decrease the opening even further.  Notice, however, the pumpkin does NOT close completely.  That will come with the addition of the stem.  Here is it before adding the stem. (sorry for my legs in the picture)

Now with the brown yarn and just a few short rows, you form the stem.  This stem gets folded in half long ways and you can either sew it closed with thread or even yarn and a darning needle.

The last step is to hand sew the stem to the pumpkin.  It seems scary at first because the stem is so small and narrow and pumpkin still has an open hole on top.  But sewing crochet pieces together is easy because the yarn has so much give and the thread allow you to tighten everything and close the hole around the stem. 

I had a bit of ribbon to tie around the stem and found some artificial leaves in a little garland at Dollar Tree.  I just stuck the leaf stem into the pumpkins and instantly had a cute fall decoration for my fireplace hearth.

I'm thinking about making some of these to sell in my Etsy store, Pretty Home Threads.  If you make your own, post a picture on the "pin" of this post at Pretty Home Threads on Pinterest. While you're there "follow" me!

cindy