This week, I chat with Myra Wood and share my Cutie Pie Pumpkin pattern.
This little pumpkin is about 3" across and 2.5" high, including the stem. You only need one ball of the main yarn, but you will need two strands of it, so either work from the center and outside of the same ball or wind off part of a ball to use as your second strand.
I stuffed mine with cosmetic squares. That's just what I had in the house, to be honest, but you could use cotton balls, polyfill or beans. Really whatever you happen to have.
A change in gauge will change the size of the piece, but the only really important thing is that your stuffing doesn't show through. My gauge came out to about 7.5 stitches to the inch, but don't be scared. A lot of that comes from the structure of the stitch pattern.
The puffed look of the garter stitches come from stranding two yarns across the work, similar to fair-isle knitting. Unlike fair-isle knitting, the desired look here is achieved by pulling the floats (the strands that run behind the work) as TIGHTLY as possible. This is a variation of what is sometimes called corrugated ribbing or cartridge ribbing. Although, both of those terms are also used for many other kinds of two-strand (or even one-strand) ribbing.
Now, it's not easy to make the level of "puff" on each pull exactly the same. I think that works here, because pumpkins aren't perfectly symmetrical, either. I used double-point needles. I suspect that smaller needles or some sort of circular needle would make it easier to create puffs of equal size. But, I do like the somewhat random effect I got, so I didn't try too hard.
Chat
Myra was so much fun. We talked a little more about our pets and "string art" than is usual, but had such a good time, I wanted to share it with you.
