Now that we’re past the official first day of autumn, I figured it would be a good time to break out the fall-themed decor! I’ve seen a lot of makers selling handmade pumpkins in fall markets, so I thought I would try to track down a pattern. Luckily, I found two, one for knitting and one for crochet! This week will be about the knit version.

• 1/20 skeins of Estelle Yarns Superwash Merino DK – a DK weight (3) yarn (colour: Gold)
• 2g Regular Cotton Balls
• 2.75mm needles (I used ChiaoGoo 23cm circulars)

Pattern by Hannah at Knit Picks

I had actually always avoided trying pumpkins as I had assumed that the shaping technique would be something complicated. I’m a ninny, and it’s not complicated at all. It turns out that the pumpkins are really just a sphere with the shaping done at the end. You create loose loops that run through the middle of the sphere and then bring it around the outside of the gourd and cinch tight after you have six or eight such loops. That’s it. The moral of the story is that things that look hard aren’t always tricky, but you’ll never know until you are brave enough to give it a try.

I also never brought my fiber fill up from Edmonton, and I haven’t (yet) found a place that sells it locally, so I’ve been using cotton balls as a substitute. This is actually only my second (and third) amigurumi project since moving, isn’t that crazy? I feel like I used to make them all the time. Anyways, cotton balls get the job done, as long as you remember to pull the ball apart prior to stuffing to give it a lighter, airier feel. I’m not entirely sure how they would hold up to washing though, whereas I know fiber fill is polyester and meant to be washable.

Personally, I preferred the look of the knit pumpkin over the crochet version, but that might just be my bias and excitement in creating a knit stuffie for the first time ever! I’m actually not sure if it still counts as amigurumi, but I’m thrilled about the whole new world of crafting that knit stuffies offers up. I could imagine them feeling ’smoother’ on the outside, since knit doesn’t have the same texture that crochet does. That being said, I can’t wait to show you the crochet version next post.

Until next time, happy crafting!