pumpkins – The Lyf So Short

As I mentioned yesterday, pumpkins have long been one of my favorite motifs to recreate in fabric, fiber, floss, murals, poetry slams, bronze, slime, skywriting, performance art pieces… whatever. And every year I have plans to stitch up a bunch of pumpkins to celebrate this time of year. I’ve managed to stitch a few Halloween-themed pieces, but I’ve never been able to commit the time to fully indulge my pumpkin love. But, if I were, it would look a lot like this:

Heart’s Content’s, “French Harvest: Cinderella’s Pumpkins” is probably first on my “To Stitch” list. The main thing keeping me from stitching it right now (besides my sad, uninsured, middle-aged eyes) is cost. For some reason, Heart’s Content only releases its patterns in kit form, and I just can’t bring myself to buy more fabric and floss that I already own. Maybe one day… or maybe I’ll just wait for a used version to show up on Ebay.

French Country is not usually one of my favorite styles, but I could definitely make an exception for this adorable petit modèle de citrouille: JBW Designs, “French Country IV: Pumpkin”.

JBWDesignsFrenchCountryIVPumpkin — If I stitched this, I’d stitch “Citrouille” instead of “Pumpkin,” ’cause I’m fancy.

This little gem is tied for first on my “To Stitch” list, and I actually own this kit (is it OOP?) so I have no excuse. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present the gloriousness that is “Itty Bitty Trio of Pumpkins” by Twisted Threads:

Itty Bitty Trio of Pumpkins

And this classic from Bent Creek, “Autumn Row.” I love the entire “In a Row” series and I have a dream of completing one for every season–you know, right after I finish stitching the entire “In My Garden” series by Mirabilia (see progress bar on right if you want a good chuckle). I’ll let you know how that goes, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Autumn Row by Bent Creek

I love Bent Creek’s “In a Row” series so much, I designed and stitched my own tribute, “Celtic Alphabet in a Row”:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — I think we can all agree that my photography skills have improved since then….

And finally, this little gem is tied for first place on my “To Stitch” list (hey, a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds). I’ve seen so many beautiful variations of “Pumpkins Three” by La-D-Da online that I just can’t decide what colors of fabric and floss I would choose. Indecision, thy name is Kate! Here are just three of the many possibilities:

Pumpkins Three Official Version — “Pumpkins Three,” the official Twisted Threads version

Pumpkins Three from Stitching by the White River — “Pumpkins Three” from Stitching by the White River (blog)

"Pumpkins Three" from the La-D-Da Lovers Blog (laddalovers.blogspot.com) — “Pumpkins Three” from the La-D-Da Lovers Blog (laddalovers.blogspot.com)

And, last but not least, no tribute to stitching pumpkins would be complete without a shout-out to my friend (and the first person who made cross stitch seem cool), Stitch Bitch, whose August 1, 2007 blog post originally inspired this one. You can see her collection of pumpkin patterns here–she’s got great taste! And I suppose, by extension, I should give a shout-out to Adrienne Martini of martinimade.com for inspiring her.

Have fun stitching those gourds, my friends!

Pumpkins have long been one of my favorite things to recreate in fabric, fiber, floss, paper, wood, crayon, papier maché, goo, interpretive dance… whatever. And every year I have plans to knit up a bunch of pumpkins to display at this time of year. But the closest I’ve ever come is making pumpkin hats for my nieces and the babies of some of my friends:

Pumpkin Hat for Lolo

Pumpkin Hat for Ella

Pumpkin Hat for Ronan

Pumpkin Hat for Ronan – Top

You’ll have to take my word for it that the Jack o’ Lantern hat is a lot less creepy in real life. Jinkies!

Anyway… in the meantime, here are five pumpkin patterns on my wish list of knitting patterns (and the first three on the list are free!). Someday, I will knit these up and they will be mine. Oh yes, they will.

These Pumpkins by Jordana Paige from the Fall 2005 issue of Knitty are really simple to make and bonus — felting!

Pumpkins by Jordana Paige

I also really like this variation on the standard pumpkin pattern. “Fall Pumpkin” by Sarah Hawkins of Lavenderlime Knits calls for variegated, chenille, and novelty yarns, and then you add actual cut-off stick as the stem. Finally a way to combine gardening and knitting–I know we’ve all been waiting for that! Lots of possibilities here, and a great way to use up that oddball yarn (or odd ball of yarn) you can’t figure out what to do with.

Pumpkins Fall

And then there’s this adorable little Pumpkin Pie Amigurumi by Miss Dolkapots Krafties.

Pumpkin Pie Amigurumi

This “Pumpkins on a Vine” stranded colorwork cowl by Thea Eschliman is gorgeous and I love the variegated orange yarn. The pattern calls for an inside sleeve which you can do in any contrasting color you want, which is like having a reversible cowl. For sale on Ravelry.
And, finally, a twofer from Erin Black: Chevron Pumpkins and Cable Knit Pumpkins (for sale on Ravelry and Etsy). These are my absolute favorites.