Happy Sunday friends! In this post, you’ll learn how to crochet the Night of the Witches Pumpkin – a Halloween striped crochet pumpkin. If you are a lover of all things Halloween, this is a cute decoration to add to your collection. It also doubles as a stash-buster project, so win-win! I hope you enjoy crocheting your Halloween pumpkins.
About the Design Process
I don’t consider myself much of a Halloween person, but this year I felt the urge to decorate. Last week, I made my first pumpkin – the Great Striped Pumpkin – and then had the brilliant idea of crocheting a Halloween-themed wreath. I thought long and hard on the design, bought the wreath form, and got to work.
My plan was to make a long striped rectangle that I would sew around the wreath form, before adding a crochet ghost and witch’s hat. Good idea in theory, but my pumpkin obsession took over.
Before I knew what was happening, I turned my partially finished striped rectangle, into a Halloween-themed pumpkin. That is how the Night of the Witches Crochet Striped Pumpkin was born.
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About the Halloween Striped Crochet Pumpkin
Now that you know how the Night of the Witches Pumpkin came to be, it’s time to talk about the construction of the pumpkin. This Halloween striped crochet pumpkin uses the half double crochet stitch and scrap yarn to create a striped rectangle that is seamed together, stuffed, and shaped. Green, purple, and orange yarn are used for the Halloween-themed stripes, while charcoal grey is used as an accent colour.
You will need a total of 80 yards of yarn for this project, depending on the size of your pumpkin. This is a super quick and fun project that you can make while watching your favourite Halloween movies. You can never go wrong with some crochet and Hocus Pocus.
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Materials:
- Approximately 80 yards of any medium 4 worsted weight yarn!
- 6.0 mm crochet hook
- Scissors
- Yarn Needle
- Stuffing
- Small, thick stick for the stem! This can be found in your yard.
Yarn and Yardage:
- A: 1 Skein of Yarn Bee Soft and Sleek – Dark Grey Heather
- Approximately 40 yds
- B: 1 Skein of Red Heart Soft Yarn – Cinnabar
- Approximately 20 yds
- C: 1 Skein of I Love This Yarn Solids – Mixed Berry
- Approximately 10 yds
- D: 1 Skein of Yarn Bee Soft and Sleek – Green Apple
- Approximately 10 yds
Pin this Halloween Striped Crochet Pumpkin – Here!
Abbreviations:
- St(s) – stitch/stitches
- Ch – chain
- Hdc – half double crochet
Gauge: 16 Hdc Sts x 7 rows = 4″ x 4″
Pattern Measurements:
- Height: 3″ Tall from Base to Tip
- Diameter: 4″ from one end of the pumpkin to another
Customizing the Size of your Crochet Pumpkin:
To customize the size of your crochet striped pumpkin, there are a couple of things you have to know:
- #1: The length of your rectangle must be double the width of the rectangle. For example, the original pattern makes a rectangle that is 5″ wide by 10″ – 10.5″ long. Therefore, the length of the rectangle is twice the size of the width of the rectangle.
- #2: The height of the finished pumpkin is 2/3 the size of the width of the rectangle. For instance, the width of the rectangle is 5″ wide, while the height of the finished pumpkin is 3″. Therefore, 5″ (width) x 2/3 = 3″ (height). This means that your pumpkin will lose about 1/3 of its height during the shaping process.
Now that you know some of these mathematical pumpkin principles, you can easily customize the size of your crochet striped pumpkin. The original pattern calls for chaining 20, which works out to a height of 3″ and a diameter of 4″. This is a small sized pumpkin.
To make your pumpkin smaller/larger:
- Chain until you are happy with the width of your rectangle. The initial chain will determine the height of your pumpkin.
- Remember that you will lose about 1/3 of the height when you begin to shape your pumpkin.
- Crochet the first row of your pumpkin/rectangle.
- Measure the width of your rectangle.
- Multiply the width by 2 to determine how long your rectangle needs to be.
- Continue to repeat Row 2-3 of the pattern below, until you have reached the desired length. Make sure to end on Row 2. It is okay if the length of your rectangle is slightly longer than it needs to be; however, it is not okay for the rectangle to be shorter than what it needs to be.
Carrying the Yarn Through Technique
Crocheting a striped pattern is fun, but there are usually a million ends to weave in at the end of the project. To minimize the number of ends to weave in, you can use a technique called “carrying the yarn through”.
Step 1:
At the end of each row, we will be changing colours to create a striped pumpkin.
- To do this, work a half double crochet in the final stitch of the row.
- Before pulling through the 3 loops on your hook, drop the current yarn (white).
- Yarn over with the new colour (grey).
- Pull it through the remaining 3 loops on your hook to close the stitch.
- Turn your work and chain 1.
Step 2:
Now that we changed colour, we need to carry the second colour through the row, so that we can change colours again at the end of the row.
- To do this, make sure that you work each half double crochet stitch over top of the yarn strand that you are trying to carry.
- When you get to the end of the row, drop your current strand of yarn, and gently tug on the new colour to get rid of any bumps in your work. Repeat Step 1 to change colours.
Pattern:
Notes:
- The beginning ch 1 does not count as a st.
- To minimize the number of ends in this project, try carrying the yarn through the project. There is a tutorial for carrying yarn and changing colour above.
- This Halloween Striped crochet pumpkin is worked as a rectangle, before it is seamed together and stuffed to give it shape.
With Colour B, ch 20
Row 1: Hdc in second ch from hook, and in each ch across. Turn. (19 hdc)
Row 2: With Colour A, ch 1, hdc in each st across. Turn. (19 hdc)
Row 3: With Colour B, repeat Row 2.
Rows 4 – 24: Repeat Row 2, but continue to alternate between each colour shown below in the colour chart.
Fasten off, and leave a long tail (approximately 30″) to seam the pumpkin together. Weave in all ends except the long tail.
Seaming the Pumpkin Together
To sew the pumpkin together, we will be using a technique called the whip stitch. If you are unfamiliar with this stitch, there is a great tutorial by Wool and the Gang to help you here.
Fold the rectangle in half, making sure that the rectangle is facing wrong-side up. Thread your yarn needle with the long tail, line up the edges of the rectangle, and begin whip stitching across the edges. You should have a total of 19 whip stitches – 1 whip stitch for every half double crochet stitch.
Shaping the Crochet Pumpkin
Bottom of the Pumpkin:
Stand the “pumpkin” up, so that it resembles a cylinder. Insert your yarn needle into the nearest row and pull the tail through. Continue to weave your yarn needle and yarn tail through every other row, until you reach the beginning of the circle. Pull the tail until the circle scrunches up and closes. Weave the needle through to close the tiny hole and secure it with a knot.
Insert the needle into the center of the bottom and pull it through until the tail comes out the other side (top of the pumpkin).
Top of the Pumpkin:
Stuff the pumpkin with Polyfill until you are happy with the amount of fluff inside.
Insert your yarn needle into the nearest row and pull the tail through. Continue to weave your yarn needle and yarn tail through every other row, until you reach the beginning of the circle. Pull the tail until the circle scrunches up and closes. Secure it with a knot.
Shaping the Halloween Striped Crochet Pumpkin:
- To shape the pumpkin, insert your needle into the top center hole, and pull the tail through to the bottom of the pumpkin. Pull tight.
- Insert your needle and yarn tail from the bottom center out of the top center hole. Pull tight.
Repeat Steps 1 and 2, a total of 3 – 4 times, or until you are happy with the look of your pumpkin. Play around with your pumpkin and fluff to achieve an imperfectly perfect pumpkin look.
Adding Dimension to Your Crochet Pumpkin:
To add dimension to your Halloween Striped crochet pumpkin, so that it isn’t a solid sphere, move the yarn tail along one row of grey (Picture #1). Insert the yarn needle in the bottom of the pumpkin and out through the top of the pumpkin to secure the tail (Picture #2). Pull the tail and watch the pumpkin take shape (Picture #3)! Repeat this process 3-4 more times, so that there are a total of 4-5 shaped sections (Picture #4).
Final Touch to the Halloween Striped Crochet Pumpkin:
Add a small, thick stick through the small hole you’ve left in the top of the pumpkin. If the hole is too large, sew it closed with the remaining yarn tail, and secure it with a knot.
Tip: If your stick isn’t completely secure, use a bit of hot glue to hold it in place!
And You’re Done!
Congratulations! You’ve made your first Night of the Witches, Halloween striped crochet pumpkin. I hope you have fun decorating with it for Halloween. If you loved this pattern, please share it, so that others can make it too!
Disclaimer: You are welcome to sell items that you’ve made from this pattern; however, you are not allowed to use my pictures or sell my pattern as your own (Copyright @ ThisPixieCreates).
As always, thank you so much for following along with me. I hope you have a great rest of your day, and I can’t wait to see what you create!
Love, Dayna
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