Spool Knitted Pumpkin

I like decorating for all holidays (I go crazy over board at Christmas) but for some reason I really like putting out pumpkins and Jack O’Lanterns for Halloween and Thanksgiving.

Since I have been talking about spool knitting in this blog, I decided I needed a new pumpkin decoration.  This also give me a chance to show how to change colors while spool knitting.

So I pulled out my bigger spool knitter and started knitting with green yarn for the stem of the pumpkin. Now I could finish off the knitting (as described in the blog post ‘Spool Knitting Tutorial’) and then later sewn it to the orange cording for the pumpkin body. But I wanted a continuous cord for this ornament. 

Making the pumpkin stem

This means I have to change color while knitting.  It is easy to do.   When you have the amount of color cording you want ( I knitted about 1 ½ inches), cut the yarn coming from your skein about 3 inches.   Make sure the yarn doesn’t come off the pegs.  

Cut green yarn to add orange.

Lay your next color next to the yarn you just cut and tie the two colored yarn together with a simple over hand knot .  Now continue knitting as before. 

Lay colored yarns side by side. 

Knot the yarns together.

When the knot gets to the knitting, I usually take my knitting tool and push the knot into the center of the cord so it is hidden.

Knot knitted into the coil  

Knot hidden in coil.

When I think I have enough cord, I usually make whatever shape I am planning just to make sure I have knitted enough but I don’t sew it yet.  If I need to do a little more, I do.  I finish off the cord and remove it from the knitter.

Check the size of the shape before finishing cord.

To make my pumpkin, I start making a round shape starting with the end of the orange part of the cord. I fold the edge over maybe ¾” and start stitching at the fold.  I do use a pin to hold the fold together and once I have it stitched, I remove the pin.

Starting the shape.

You can sew the cord together with the yarn you used or regular sewing thread that matches the color of the yarn.  For me the thread is easier to control and if it matches the color, it will blend in with the yarn. (For these pictures I am going to use a darker thread so you can see how I stitch it.) 

I don’t sew right along the edge but try to hide my stitches in the area between cords.  As I stitch I just keep rolling the cord in shape until I get a nice round shape.

Hide the stitches inside the shape. 

Make sure your needle goes through both sides of the area being sewn.  In other words catch with the needle the cord already sewn in the shape you are making and then in the cord being added to the shape.

Put needle through both sides of the sewing area.

Put needle through both sides of the sewing area.

 Continue sewing until you come to the end of the orange part of the knitted cord.  The green part I started with will be the stem of the pumpkin so that won’t be sewn down as with the orange.  This needs to stick up.  If for some reason the stem doesn’t stay up, you can sew a couple of tack stitches right at the base of the stem to stabilize it (right where the pin is.) But remember not all pumpkin stems are straight. J

The pin shows where to tack the stem so it is upright. 

                          

So here is our finished pumpkin.  It is about 5” wide by 5”  high (6 ½” if you include the stem.  It can be used as a coaster or just a table decoration or string some yarn though the stem and hang it from a Halloween tree (if you do that) or on the wall.

The finished pumpkin 

    ©2016 Cheryl Fillion