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.

Pumpkin Man

Since I do the holiday boxes each year I'm always looking for new patterns to try. Pumpkin man was on my pattern birthday list and I was very pleased the pattern arrived on my birthday. You can purchase the pattern here.

The pattern calls for Yarn Art Jeans. I've been working on the goal of using up yarn on hand when ever possible. This isn't a huge hardship as I've got a large yarn supply but I often find I don't have the specific brand and colors called for as I begin new projects. I chose Omega Sinfonia cotton sport yarn for this project and used a B hook. The buttons are some of the new ones I've purchased to use with Barbie's outfits.

One change I had to make to use safety eyes rather than sewing on beads for the eyes as suggested was to not have the eyes sit in the pumpkin ridges. I love the look of the ridges but they are made after the pumpkin is stuffed and I needed to place the safety eyes before closing the pumpkin. It was the right trade off for me, others may make a different choice.

This ami is onn the edge of being small enough to fit into last year's Halloween Village that I'm hoping to add on to for this year with additional houses and Halloween villagers.