Quick Knitted Pumpkins Patterns

Hello! So last month I listed my Autumn Wishlist and mentioned that I wanted to knit some pumpkins. I had a look around online and picked a few different patterns to try out.

 

 

 

The first pumpkin I tried was this mini one using DK yarn. It’s from Curly Purly and I liked it but I should have maybe stuffed it more as I’d have liked it to look more defined.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up I did this yellow pumpkin using some chunky wool (left over from a Gryffindor scarf I made for Sharon from Behind Green Eyes). I used the Autumn Pumpkins pattern from Jan Lewis on Ravelry. I liked this one, especially because I could use my circular needles with the chunky wool.

 

 

 

Next I knit this big chunky pumpkin, which is probably my favourite because it’s such a chunkster! I used some super chunk yarn that Sarah from Cashmere and Clouds gave me (and that I used before to make a pumpkin hat for my baby cousin). I used the Great Pumpkin by Rebecca Fox pattern found on Ravelry.

 

 

 

Finally I did this small white one using DK yarn, using no particular pattern, incorporating a few of the elements from above. I liked how it gave a bit of brightness and colour!

 

 

 

I meant to knit one or two more but haven’t gotten around to it. Though I might over this weekend, they are pretty fast to knit up, especially if you use chunky yarn. You could definitely get a a few done before Halloween! These are great to bust out for autumn season and if you celebrate Thanksgiving you can keep them around the place after Halloween for that. They’re quite addictive to knit, I’ll have a massive pile of them for next year!

Handmade Christmas Presents

I know we’re probably all a bit jaded about Christmas by now but I wanted to share some of the presents I made this year. I mainly knitted hats (me and bloody knitting hats!) but I made a handful of other things too.

Lemon Meringue Cupcake Beanie was made for my youngest sister, from the The Knit Guru’s pattern

The Yellow and Blue Striped Beanie was made for my sports mad brother in the Clare colours. I put a pom pom on top but didn’t take a picture of that yet. I winged the pattern using DK yarn.

Blue Chunky Hat for Chelsea supporting brother, made from Super Soft Merino Hats for Everyone by Purl Bee.

Creeper Beanie for youngest brother, made using Minecraft Inspired Hat by Jenna La Due

This hat was made for Sarah from Cashmere and Clouds. She loves space and galaxy stuff and I had this planned for months. It’s probably not the best (it was my first time using multiple colours) but I’m proud of it and love the colours I finally picked! The pattern I used was Siouxsie Stitiches Celestial Fair Isle Hat that I modified slightly.

I made this cowl for my best friend using Aran yarn and reverting to my beloved Seed Stitch pattern. I love the off white creamy colour! It was a pattern I made up myself.

I made two fleece Pusheens, one for my brother and one for his friend. They were both double sided, so happy Pusheen on one side and an angrier Pusheen on the other side. This was the biggest time suck, having to hand stitch on all those facial pieces took hours. I thought I’d fly though the sewing up of the body with my sewing machine but I didn’t have the correct needle! I had to handstitch them closed but overall I’m happy with how they turned out. I shall make one for myself, once I stop hating the sight of Pusheen’s face!

For my baby cousin, I knew she’d get loads of presents, so along with one present I got her I made these postcard frames. ‘Made’ being a close term to be honest! Anyway, I bought some wooden frames, trimmed off a small amout of the Puffin Postcards I had chosen and added them to the frame. They’re going to be hung up in her nursery.

Themed subscription boxes are all the rage (like Loot Crate and My Geek Box) so I decided to put together one for my boyfriend. I got the logo of his podcast printed on a mug, made some Lego chocolates, knitted a Cthulhu hat and bought other bits and pieces like socks, keyrings and t-shirt.

            

Here’s a close up of the hat, made using this Cthulhu’s Unspeakable Hat by Finlay Logan

I was also lucky to receive some handmade gifts!

Sarah knitted me some socks!! I loved them, I always thought knitted socks would feel weird and scratchy but these are lovely.

The friend I made the cowl for not only bought me a much needed bookcase but she decoupaged some of my favourite books along the sides and inside! I love it so much, I finally filled the shelves after having to wait a few days for landlord to do work in the house.

And that’s it! I still have a hat to make for my sister, I just didn’t have the time thanks to getting sick for 2 weeks. I also have another project to finish, would should have been done on time but I didn’t order enough material and then the local shops didn’t have it either.

You can find more of my knitting from my Ravelry page if you’re interesting. I’m hoping in the next day or two to start another project (for myself this time!).

(Not so) Unusual Hobbies #BEDN

Today's theme for Blog Every Day in November is Unusual Hobbies. And because I'm boring I don't have any of those. And I never have!

My first proper 'go out and do something' hobby was Irish Dancing. Something most Irish kids will experience in some degree in their life! I had 3 different teachers at certain stages of my life but I never stuck to it. I also tried Set Dancing when I was in secondary school and while I picked it up fast enough, I was made dance as a boy and wasn't happy to do so as a beginner so I stopped going. At the age of 16 I also did modern hip-hop dancing but again didn't stick to it.

Also as a child, I played the tin whistle. Again, most Irish kids come up against the mighty tin whistle at some stage of their life. I remember my cousin started playing it in 2nd class and because I was in 1st class I had to wait a year. I did use her tin whistle though and worked out how to play a song or two before going into 2nd class. From there, I played it up until I was 15, using it as part of my Junior Certificate Music exam and then stopped (are you sensing a theme here?!). I asked in a music shop in the Trafford Centre whether they sold tin whistles as I was really itching to play again earlier this year, The guy said no but 'it's a cool instrument'. I shook my head, it's not really a cool instrument but nice try music guy. I do however want this Hairy Baby t-shirt!

As for other hobbies I've picked up over the years, they include reading (probably my first ever hobby), baking, and knitting. I learned how to knit when I was 7, in school and also by my grandmother. I've knit on and off over the years but it wasn't until I started going to a knitting group in Manchester early 2014 that I've learnt to love knitting again and progressed from knitting just a square shape! I have touched needles since July though and I have tons of knitting projects I want to do for Christmas so I need to get my act together. I'm proud of what I've made over the past 2 years and love updating my Ravelry to show my progress.

Just some of my completed projects on Ravelry!

As for unusual hobbies, I don't know what I'd like to do that is unusual. I once tried fire spinning! A group of friends and I saw some people dancing on the local beach, thought it was the circus that was in town at the time and went down to have a closer look. Turns out a few of us knew one of the people as a customer in our summer job at the time. We got chatting and they let us have a go, first without it being on fire and then it being lit. It was so cool spinning and twirling around. And speaking of twirling, my sister once got a gymnastics ribbon as part of our her Christmas present from an uncle and I found that I loved pretending I was a gymnastic. Maybe I'll start that up, new career for me?!