I’ve been seeing a lot of knitted pumpkins at the store this year and I have to admit: I love them! What is more cozy than a soft, knitted pumpkin? There are a lot of different knitted pumpkins available to buy, but why buy one when you can just make it yourself?
This free knitting pattern has all the steps you need to make a cute pumpkin of your own. If you use the suggested yarn, you can actually get two pumpkins out of one skein. These took me less than 40 minutes each to make, so feel free to whip them up in one afternoon.
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@orangegrovehome Day 2 of 7 days of DIY pumpkin decor: chunky knit pumpkins. This is a super simple knitting pattern for making a soft, squishy pumpkin. Full instructions can be found over on my blog! #pumpkin #knitting #knitpumpkin #falldecor #pumpkinseason #homedecor #knitters ♬ Say So (Instrumental Version) [Originally Performed by Doja Cat] – Elliot Van Coup
Free Pumpkin Knitting Pattern
Materials:
- 1 skein of Wool-Ease Thick and Quick in the shade Oatmeal OR any bulky yarn
- Any DK/worsted weight brown yarn (I used old scrap yarn)
- Size 13 (9.0 mm) 24-inch circular needle
- Size 8 (5.0 mm) double pointed or circular needle
- Fiberfill stuffing
- Stitch marker
- Darning needle
- Tape measurer
Pumpkin Pattern
- Using the bulky yarn, cast on 40 stitches on the size 13 circular needle. Make sure to leave a generous tail so that you can use it for sewing later. Place a stitch marker and join to work in the round.
- Knit 7, Purl 1. Repeat pattern all the way around.
- Continue in the round until piece measures approximately 7 inches.
- Bind off in pattern leaving a generous tail.
- Using a darning needle, take the end of the bottom piece of the tube and start gathering the fabric together with a running stitch. If you’re unsure of how to do a running stitch, check out this video tutorial to see exactly how.
- Continue gathering until you’ve closed the bottom of your pumpkin. Once closed, weave in the bottom yarn and begin stuffing the pumpkin.
- Once pumpkin is 80% stuffed, gather the top of the pumpkin as you did with the bottom using a running stitch.
- When pumpkin is almost closed, insert the last bit of stuffing. In my opinion, it’s always better to over-stuff rather than under-stuff, so don’t be stingy with your stuffing!
- Close top hole with your final running stitches. Using your long tail and darning needle, stretch the yarn over the purl ridges in the pumpkin and pull taut.
- Thread the yarn through the bottom of the pumpkin and up through the top. Repeat with all of the pumpkin ridges until you have a puffy, pumpkin shape.
- Secure ends and weave in.
Make the Stem
- With your worsted weight brown yarn, cast on 5 stitches on the size 8 DPN/circular needle.
- Knit I-cord (tutorial HERE)
- Knit cord until it is about 1.5 inches long.
- Bind off and use darning needle to sew the ends to the top of the pumpkin.
If you’re more of a visual person, I also have a video on my Instagram and TikTok pages that will walk you through the whole thing!
