Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Make a Lil' Pumpkin Pin!




Lil’ Pumpkins Pattern

I made up some cute little pumpkin pins for some fall fun! This is a great pattern for using up your little leftovers!

The Goods: Worsted weight yarn, size 5-7 needles, either circular or DPN’s
Yarn used: for smallest pumpkin, some Malabrigo and green handspun; http://www.handpaintedyarn.com/ – I used their Colonia yarn for the larger pumpkins.

This pattern is pretty adaptable to just about any yarn. I recommend a worsted or heavy worsted, I like the way handspun gives it more ‘character’, though any commercial yarn will be just fine. Once you’ve made a couple of these, you can vary the pattern as you see fit, make them bigger or smaller! With this pattern (the Malabrigo pumpkin) the pumpkin came out to be about 2 1/4" wide and 2" high not including i-cord.

Directions:
CO 7 sts. on either a circular or DPN’s.
Row 1: (K1, P2) twice, end K1.
Row 2: Work sts. as they lay.
Row 3: Inc. in first st., P2, Inc.1, P2, Inc. in last st. – you now have 10 sts.
Row 4: K1, P1, K3, P1, K2, P1, K1
Row 5-6: Work sts. as they lay.
Row 7: Inc. in first st., K1, P2, K1, P3, K1, Inc. in last st. – you now have 12 sts.
Row 8-11: Work sts. as they lay.
Row 12: K2tog, P1, K3, P1, K2, K2tog – you now have 10 sts.
Row 13: P1, K1, P2, K1, P3, K1, P1
Row 14: K1, P1, K2tog, K1, P1, K2, P1, K1 – you now have 9 sts.
Row 15: Join green yarn (or yarn you want to use for top), K across.
Rows 16-17: BO 2 sts., K to end.
Rows 18-19: BO 1 st., K to end.
You should now have 3 sts. left.

Now you can make a little i-cord with remaining sts. You can also make the i-cord smaller by binding off one more st. When you decide the i-cord is long enough, BO remaining sts. and pull yarn through. Tie a little knot at the top and cut yarn. Weave in ends. Give a quick lukewarm wash and pull into shape. Lat flat to dry.

At this point you can make the pumpkin into a pin if you like. What I did was cut a piece of green felt to fit the back. Then with an invisible thread, I hand sewed the felt to the back and added a flat backed pin. If you do add a pin, place it close to the top of the pumpkin so it doesn’t ‘hang’ over. You could also just sew it onto a hat or sew one onto a tote for a cute little Halloween candy bag! Wear it on your sweater for Thanksgiving. Enjoy!
Please let me know if you have any difficulty with the pattern.

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