September Newsletter 2010

School is gearing up for the year. It's time for a regular routine again, hopefully. The days are warm, but the nights are cooling off. It has the feel of harvest season in the air. Woolly Pumpkin and Harvest Pumpkin are the patterns of the month! Create your own pumpkin harvest without ever leaving the house.

Woolly Pumpkin.

This pattern grew out of a Harvest Pumpkin class in which the students were requesting a larger-size to coordinate with the smaller pumpkins. This life-size pumpkin measures about 10-inches wide by 9-inches high. The curly cue vine is knit, but not felted, and eventually sewn to the stem. The vine creates a whimsical touch as well as texture to the pumpkin.

I like this pumpkin design because its size lends itself to embellishing. More room, more embellishing!

The photo, above right, was the old cover design for Woolly Pumpkins. The Jack o' Lantern used black felt cut into triangle pieces then needle felted to the pumpkin. The less expensive the felt, the better. Acrylic felt when cut with a scissors gives nice crisp edges. The acrylic felt is thin. Thus adherance to the pumpkin's wool with needle felting is quick and easy. Large round black buttons sewn to the pumpkin create a mouth. Why not sew a yellow star button to the top of one of the eyes, giving it a bit of twinkle?

The pumpkin, below, has falling Autumn leaves that were needle felted to it. Leaves were traced from various cookie cutters then cut from colored felt. The felt leaves were then needle felted to the pumpkin, adhering them completely. Embroidery, using wool sport yarns, was used on top of leaves to give further detail and textures, see close up photos below.

Leather Leaves.

These leaves were purchased from Homestead Heirlooms in Wisconsin. A perfect addition to any pumpkin!

The leaves come in two sizes: mini and large. The mini leaves measure about 2-inches wide by 2-inches tall. The large leaves measure about 4-1/4 inches wide by 4-1/2 inches tall. They can be purchased as a set of two wired leather leaves. The leaves come either with or without the hand-painted lady bug on them. The mini set retails at $7.50 and the large set, $9.50.

The larger leaves fit perfectly on the Woolly Pumpkin and the mini leaves, the Harvest Pumpkin. The pumpkin below is the Woolly Pumpkin with the larger leaves.

The leaves are simply attached to the pumpkin using green floral wire. One end of the wire is inserted through the pumpkin stem. Then looped through the hole of the leaves, securing them to the pumpkin. The ends of the wires are finally wrapped around a pencil several times, creating the curly cue effect you see here.

Woolly Pumpkin vs. Harvest Pumpkin.

The two pumpkin designs are shown side-by-side, so you can compare the size differences visually. The Woolly Pumpkin is a more life-size pumpkin.

Both pumpkins were knit using worsted weight yarns. You can see if you used sport weight yarn to knit the Harvest Pumpkin it would be even smaller.

Harvest Pumpkin.

This pumpkin was my very first pattern as a designer! It took forever to create, writing and rewriting the directions again and again. But I discovered that once you had the round, ball-like shape down, then the snowmen design was not far behind.

This pumpkin measures about 5-1/2 inches wide by high. What I love about this pattern is its versatality. So many variations come from experimenting with different yarn weights and colors. There simply isn't enough time in a day!

White Pumpkins.

These pumpkins were knit using the Harvest Pumpkin pattern. The differences came in the yarns and needle sizes used to knit each pumpkin.

To see further photos and more specific knitting directions, click on photo.

Variegated Pumpkins.

This pumpkin was knit using Malabrigo worsted weight yarn, Snowbird #228. I knit the whole pumpkin, stem and all, using the same color. Felting blends the colors and fibers creating a soft to the touch pumpkin.

A piece of wired-ribbon was sewn to the stem, creating both leaf and curly cue. An added length of green florist wire gives further detail and personality.

Textured Pumpkins.

The pumpkin below was knit with Nature Spun worsted, Orange You Glad, and novelty yarn Trendsetter Yarns Aura, orange. No Aura yarn was used on the stem though. I used seed beads to accent the pumpkin's warts, giving it texture. I added a 1-inch green wire ribbon, folded in half then sewn to the stem. I then wrapped it around my finger for a curly cue effect.

Embellished Pumpkins.

These pumpkins were embellished using buttons, beads, and embroidery! The spider web is one continuous piece of 2-ply yarn wrapped around and around. The spider is a bead kit bought from a bead store. The possibilities are endless!

And don't forget the Candy Corn.

Candy Corn completes the harvest scene you have been creating atop your diningroom table. For more Candy Corn ideas, click on 'Woolly Newsletters' then 'February 2010'.

HINT: I was told by a retailer that candy corn is a hot item this Autumn season!

Recipe Corner

I like to include a recipe at the back of most of my patterns. I've found over the years that knitters, like myself, cook and bake, and are quick to share their recipes with one another.

The recipe inside the Woolly Pumpkin pattern is 'pumpkin butter'; and the recipe within the Harvest Pumpkin is 'roasted pumpkin seeds'. But I'm changing it up this month, substituting the recipes. Here is one of my favorite fall recipes: the recipe from my Woolly Candy Corn pattern. Enjoy!

halloween party mix

1 cup roasted pumpkin seeds

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup candy corn

1 cup roasted peanuts

1 cup Corn Chex cereal

1 cup pretzel sticks

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well with your hands. Store any leftovers in a plastic container with a lid. The mix will keep up to 3 weeks.

Makes 6 cups.

I usually triple this recipe because it goes that fast!