Pumpkin Knit FLAT!
YouTube Tutorial Coming Tuesday, September 10th, 2024 @ 11 AM EST!
Project Overview
In this step-by-step knitting tutorial Madeline from Knitting House Square will show you how to knit and assemble a simple pumpkin! These pumpkins make the perfect fall decoration and look especially adorable when made in different sizes and stacked.
What is great about this tutorial is that the pumpkin and stem are knit flat - meaning that to create this project you never have to knit the round!
This video is perfect for beginners who are just learning all the way up to advanced knitters. If you are looking for a more advanced pumpkin pattern check out my Cable Knit Pumpkin video, which will be available this Thursday.
Skill Level: Beginnger
Skills Taught in YouTube Tutorial:
Increase methods (knit front and back, and make one)
Decrease methods (slip slip knit, and knit two together)
Mattress stitch for seaming
I-cord
Materials
Yarn: Worsted Weight (also called Medium or #4)
Orange: 75 yds (69 m)
Brown: 15 yds (14 m)
Needle: US 8 (5 mm) 24” or longer Circular Knitting Needle for magic loop (or double pointed needles) Amazon
Additional Materials
Disclaimer: Some links provided are affiliate links and I receive a small commission when used. These commissions help to support the free content I offer!
Pumpkin Yarn Combinations
Heavy Worsted Weight (#4)
Pumpkin Yarn: Sunset Fiber Company in the Sweet Potato colorway
100 Yards (91.4 m)
Stem Yarn: N/A this pumpkin was part of a stack of pumpkins so I did not knit a stem
Finished Measurements
Diameter: 7.75” (19.7 cm)
Height (excluding stem): 3.5” (8.9 cm)
Photographed with a Cable Knit Pumpkin - you can find the tutorial for that HERE!
Worsted Weight (#4)
Pumpkin Yarn: Vannas Choice in the Terracotta colorway
112 Yards (102.4 m)
Stem Yarn: Vannas Coice in the Chocolate colorway
8 YARDS (7.3 m)
Finished Measurements
Diameter: 7.5” (19.1 cm)
Height (excluding stem): 3.75” (9.5 cm)
Fingering Weight (#2)
Pumpkin Yarn: Unknown - from my yarn stash :)
60 yards (55 m)
Stem Yarn: Unknown - from my yarn stash :)
6 yards (5.5 m)
Finished Measurements
Diameter: 4.25” (10.8 cm)
Height (excluding stem): 2.25” (5.7 cm)
Abbreviations
KFB: Knit into the front of the next stitch on the left knitting needle, then before sliding the stitch off of the left knitting needle, knit into the back of the same stitch (turns one stitch into two stitch)
M1: Put the left needle underneath the bar in between the stitch just worked and the one about to be worked from front to back, knit into the back of the picked-up bar
* Repeat the pattern displayed between the *s
SSK (slip, slip, knit): Slip one stitch as if to knit from the left to right needle, slip another stitch as if to knit from the left to right needle, pass the two stitches back over to the left needle, knit the two stitches together through the back loop
K2T (knit two together): Insert the right knitting needle through the next two stitches on the left needle as if to knit, knit the two stitches together
P2T (purl two together): Insert the right knitting needle through the next two stitches on the left knitting needle as if to purl, purl the two stitches together
Cast-On & Increases
Cast-On
Cast-on 14 stitches using the backward loop cast-on.
Increase Set-up Rows
Increase Set-Up Row 1: K1, *KFB* repeat between *s until 1 stitch remains, K1 (26 stitches)
Increase Set-Up Row 2: Purl across the row (26 stitches)
Increase Set-Up Row 3: K1, *KFB* repeat between *s until 1 stitch remains, K1 (50 stitches)
Increase Set-Up Row 4: Purl across the row (50 stitches)
Increase Rows
Increase Row 5: K1, *K1, M1, K5, M1, K1, P1, Place a stitch marker* repeat between the *s 6 times, K1 (62 stitches)
Increase Row 6: P1, *pass the stitch marker, K1, purl until the next stitch marker (or the end of the row for the final section)* repeat between the *s 6 times (62 stitches)
Increase Row 7: K1, *K1, M1, K7, M1, K1, P1, pass the stitch marker* repeat between the *s 6 times, K1 (74 stitches)
Increase Row 8: P1, *pass the stitch marker, K1, purl until the next stitch marker (or the end of the row for the final section)* repeat between the *s 6 times (74 stitches)
Increase Row 9: K1, *K1, M1, K9, M1, K1, P1, pass the stitch marker* repeat between the *s 6 times, K1 (86 stitches)
Increase Row 10: P1, *pass the stitch marker, K1, purl until the next stitch marker (or the end of the row for the final section)* repeat between the *s 6 times (86 stitches)
Increase Row 11: K1, *K1, M1, K11, M1, K1, P1, pass the stitch marker* repeat between the *s 6 times, K1 (98 stitches)
Increase Row 12: P1, *pass the stitch marker, K1, purl until the next stitch marker (or the end of the row for the final section)* repeat between the *s 6 times (98 stitches)
Increase Row 13: K1, *K1, M1, K13, M1, K1, P1, pass the stitch marker* repeat between the *s 6 times, K1 (110 stitches)
Increase Row 14: P1, *pass the stitch marker, K1, purl until the next stitch marker (or the end of the row for the final section)* repeat between the *s 6 times (110 stitches)
Repeat Rows
Repeat Row A: K1, *Knit until 1 stitch before the stitch marker, P1, pass the stitch marker* repeat between the *s 6 times, K1 (110 stitches)
Repeat Row B: P1, *pass the stitch marker, K1, purl until the next stitch marker (or the end of the row for the final section)* repeat between the *s 6 times (110 stitches)
Continue working Repeat Row A and Repeat Row B a total of 7 times (14 rows total).
Decrease Rows
Decrease Row 1: K1, *K1, SSK, Knit 11, K2T, K1, P1, pass the stitch marker* repeat between the *s 6 times, K1 (98 stitches)
Decrease Row 2: P1, *pass the stitch marker, K1, purl until the next stitch marker (or the end of the row for the final section)* repeat between the *s 6 times (98 stitches)
Decrease Row 3: K1, *K1, SSK, Knit 9, K2T, K1, P1, pass the stitch marker* repeat between the *s 6 times, K1 (86 stitches)
Decrease Row 4: P1, *pass the stitch marker, K1, purl until the next stitch marker (or the end of the row for the final section)* repeat between the *s 6 times (86 stitches)
Decrease Row 5: K1, *K1, SSK, Knit 7, K2T, K1, P1, pass the stitch marker* repeat between the *s 6 times, K1 (74 stitches)
Decrease Row 6: P1, *pass the stitch marker, K1, purl until the next stitch marker (or the end of the row for the final section)* repeat between the *s 6 times (74 stitches)
Decrease Row 7: K1, *K1, SSK, Knit 5, K2T, K1, P1, pass the stitch marker* repeat between the *s 6 times, K1 (62 stitches)
Decrease Row 8: P1, *pass the stitch marker, K1, purl until the next stitch marker (or the end of the row for the final section)* repeat between the *s 6 times (62 stitches)
Decrease Row 9: K1, *K1, SSK, Knit 3, K2T, K1, P1, pass the stitch marker* repeat between the *s 6 times, K1 (50 stitches)
Decrease Row 10: P1, *pass the stitch marker, K1, purl until the next stitch marker (or the end of the row for the final section)* repeat between the *s 6 times (50 stitches)
Final Decrease Rows
Final Decrease Row 11: K1, *SSK, SSK, K2T, P2T, pass the stitch marker* repeat between the *s 6 times, K1 (26 stitches)
Final Decrease Row 12: P1, *pass the stitch marker, K1, P3* repeat between the *s 6 times, P1 (26 stitches)
Final Decrease Row 13: K1, *SSK, P2T, remove the stitch marker* repeat between the *s 6 times, K1 (14 stitches)
Cast-Off
Cut yarn leaving a longer (24” (61 cm) +) tail. Using the tapestry needle, thread the tail loosely through the 14 stitches on the needle starting on the opposite side of the work. (see Figure 1)
Stem
Cast-on 8 stitches. When casting-on leave yourself a longer (18” (46 cm) +) cast-on tail that we will use later for seaming.
Stem Row A: Knit
Stem Row B: Purl
Continue repeating Stem Row A and Stem Row B until your work measures 1.5” (3.8 cm).
Stem Increase Row 1: *K1, M1* repeat between the *s until 1 stitch remains, K1
Stem Increase Row 2: Purl
Stem Increase Row 3: *K1, M1* repeat between the *s until 1 stitch remains, K1
Stem Increase Row 4: Purl
Stem Increase Row 5: *K1, M1* repeat between the *s until 1 stitch remains, K1
Cast-off all stitches. Cut your yarn leaving a longer tail (18” (46 cm) +) that we will later use for seaming.
Stem Seaming
Thread the stem cast-on tail onto the tapestry needle and seam up the side of the stem.
Finishing
Step 1: Cut a strand of yarn approximately 20” (51 cm) long. Use the tapestry needle and strand of yarn to work mattress stitch connecting the two sides of the pumpkin.
Step 2: Cut 3 strands of yarn, each approximately 24” (61 cm) long.
Starting at the cast off side, use the tapestry needle to weave the strand of yarn down one column of purl stitches all the way down to the cast on edge, then weave the strand of yarn up the opposite column of purl stitches (cast on to cast off edge). Repeat this process 2 additional times through the other columns of purl stitches.
Step 3: Use the tapestry needle to weave the cast-on tail through the stitches around the cast-on edge, pull tight to close the circle, tie a knot to secure, and weave in the end.
Step 4: Fill the pumpkin with poly-fil to your desired firmness.
Step 6: Use the cast-off tail of the stem to sew the stem to the pumpkin. To get the stem to bend a little, thread the stem’s cast-on tail down through the stem and pull tighter. Tie a knot to secure and weave in the ends.
Step 5: Tighten the cast-off tail to close the top circle and tie a knot to secure.
Tie each of the three strands at the cast off edge together tightly, creating the lines in the pumpkin.
Weave the pumpkin cast-on, pumpkin cast-off, and added tails to the inside of the pumpkin.
