Pumpkin House

I saw this pattern last year after I'd sent out the Halloween box and had it on my list as a canidate for this year's additions to the Halloween Village I'd begun for last year's box. The pattern is Elisascrochet and I purchased it from both Annie's and Etsy. I returned it to Annie's after working with customer service and not getting it to print. I tried again with Etsy hoping for better luck. I was able to download the pattern which is how I made it working off my laptop. However, even with the amazingly helpful designer who sent me a PDF of the pattern for some reason I just can't print it. Others may have better luck or do as I did.

Since I needed to work from my laptop this became an Olympic viewing project for me. As my DH and I were streaming the Olympics I'd open my pattern on my laptop and work on the pumpkin. This actually worked well because the directions are clear and it made a wonderful viewing project.

I used a light worsted yarn and a c hook as I wanted to keep this pumpkin smaller so it wouldn't overwhelm the other houses I'd made. If I'd had lighter sport yarn in orange I might choose that next time as this is still a good sized pumpkin.

This was actually one of the easier stem constructions I've made to date and I'd use it again, possibly as a substitute as it works up and attaches better than others I've used.

Scarecrow

I finished off the houses for this year and now my task is to make as many villagers as I can before the deadline to send the Halloween box. While Halloween isn't until the end of October I want the kids to have plenty of time to enjoy the toys before it is time to put them away after the holiday is over. So there will come a time when it is important to close the box and send it on its way.

The scarecrow is made from a collection of Holiday Little People than can be purchased here. I've been slowly collecting her Little People patterns as they are fun for little hands to play with and she has a variety of themes. I made the Candy Corn girl in cotton sport weight yarn. Do to color choices and yarn on hand I went with acrylic sport weight which is a little heavier for the scarecrow..

While the pattern calls for an H hook and worsted weight 4 yarn I went with a D hook to match my lighter yarn and the size of the other little people in the village.

Frankenstein

For a village to be fun to play with someone must live there. So far we have a Pumpkin Witch and a Candy Corn villager. Now Frankenstein moves to the Halloween Village.

Frankenstein was created using the Halloween minis pattern which can be purchased here. This is one of the most detailed pattern sets I've ever purchased. I will warn you the set is 47 pages. The directions and pictures that accompany them are amazing.

Lately it appears my hobby has been yarn hunting. This designer uses Schachenmayr Catania Originals yarn. The only place I was able to get most of the colors, the orange appears to be unavailable, was Love Crafts. I hit them at a crazy 50% off sale and items were disappearing from my cart as fast as I could order. However, I did get most of what I needed for the set. That being said while I will finish up the yarn I ordered I think I'll be sticking to the Sinfonia from now on. This yarn splits more than other and I found it more frustrating to work with over all. My ami's may end up being slightly larger but that isn't a huge issue for me.

I will be picking up more patterns from this designer. In fact she has a new book coming out in December Mini Kingdom: Crochet 36 Tiny Amigurumi Royals! that will be on my Christmas wish list. I'd love to see a collection of her holiday patterns in book format.

Halloween House 2

I've been writing for some time now about my quest to create a starter Halloween village to go out with the Halloween box at the end of this month. I've only seen a few Halloween themed crochet house patterns and I've already made one of them. The other 2 I have require more construction than I have time to commit to this year. I have hopes that they might become part of next year's offering. However, with some creativity I realized Christmas actually is more promising for crochet houses than I'd realized.

One of the reasons I make such a point of noting where I find patterns when possible is I'm so grateful when someone leads me to a solution to a pattern hunt. Recently I came across a reference for a different pattern from repeatcraftme and thought I should check out the website. While there I came across something I'd never seen before a free pattern for a gingerbread house made all in one piece. If you read my blog at all you know I love to limit the amount of sewing I have to do so this really intrigued me.

As I realized I was looking for more simple houses to add to the Halloween village I wondered if this could be converted to a more Halloween style house. The is not only one piece but one color. I wanted a different color roof so I wanted to see how easy it would be to figure out where to make the color changes for the roof. It is actually fairly simple. The roof pieces for the slants are created through increases there is also a rectangle section of roof. What they all have in common is they all start with increases. If you change color at these areas and follow the really great pictures the designer has included of the one piece flat house section prior to being sewn together it is amazingly easy to figure out where to change colors.

To create the look I wanted I pinched the roof and house edges sewing them in place. I also crocheted a door and windows. The gingerbread pattern uses holiday buttons. I actually wanted more Halloween themed buttons but I just haven't been out to find them. I did add a few pumpkins I had left over from previous projects. I also crocheted a chimney to add to the roof. It seemed to need one.

I found another free Christmas house pattern I'm hoping to convert. We shall see what happens.

The Pumpkins

I'm going to finish off my Halloween posts with my last two pumpkin projects. The first was adapted from Crochet Village's Fall Visitors pattern pack. I got creative and added the Turkey's hat to the pumpkin's head. The witch was an extra pattern I received free when I ordered the Fall pack. I'm not sure if it is still available.

I am not sure I will have any Thanksgiving projects to post this year. I'm already at work on December birthday and Christmas gifts. I have one ready to post as soon as I get the pictures taken and the post up. However, I was pleased to hear that the kids were very excited when their Mom took out the previous years Thanksgiving ami's out so they could have them to play with this holiday season.

If you arrived here looking for free holiday or toy patterns please see the following pages:

Dinosaurs and Dragons

Knit and Crochet Food Patterns Great for Play Food

Hello Kitty

Crochet and Knit Puppets

Crochet Amigurumi Animals and Stuffed Animal Free Patterns

Knit Amigurumi and Stuffed Toys

Crochet and Knit Amigurumi and Other Dolls

Knit and Crochet Toys

Teddy Bear Patterns and Clothes

Halloween Page

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Valentines

Easter

Graduation

Patriotic

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