Little Pumpkin Man

Just a happy little pumpkin. 

Near the beginning of October my manager told our group of four that she wanted to do a pumpkin decorating contest. She mentioned this about a week ahead of time, so we had a bit of time to plan. But, I kept forgetting about it. A few days passed and I still hadn't gotten a pumpkin.

I didn't know what I would do once I did have a pumpkin. I started mentally going through my craft box. What did I have to decorate a pumpkin. I have some teal paint and a lot of wasabi tape. My manager only had one rule. We were allowed to decorate in any way we wanted, but we could not carve or cut into the pumpkin in any way. It just makes a mess and speeds up the decomposing process.

I had my own rule. I was not going to spend any money on this contest, other than the cost of the pumpkin. I have enough art supplies that I figured I could come up with something.

 The Thursday before the pumpkins were expected I had a idea. I could make a pumpkin hat and sit it on a little pumpkin. It would be simple, yet cute. I started searching online and on Pinterest and quickly found a few pumpkin hat patterns. I settled on this pattern for a pumpkin hat from DROPS design®. I still didn't have an actual pumpkin, but I figured I could start on the hat and then use the pattern measurements to find a pumpkin the size of a toddler's head. I found some orange yarn and cast on my hat.

Yes this sketch was on a napkin. 

The next day when I woke up I did a quick sketch of what I wanted the finished pumpkin to look like. I guess it had been in my mind all night as I slept. On my lunch break I got a little pumpkin from a shop near where I work. I don't know how many people bring their own tape measures when looking for pumpkins, but no one seemed to question it.

 I found one close to the size that I needed and took it into the office. I drew a little smile on it and told everyone that my pumpkin was half finished. I knew they would be confused and I thought it would be funny. This was my plan to confuse  the competition.

We were expected to have the finished pumpkins by Monday, so all weekend I knitted like a mad woman. As I was starting on the stem I realized that this pattern did not have the curling vine that I wanted. So I went back to looking for pumpkin patterns. This time I extended it beyond hats. I found this pumpkin decoration at www.allfreeknitting.com and loved the way that the vine twisted on the top. The pattern called for pipe cleaners, which I didn't have. But, I do have paperclips which my husband and I twisted. He had the idea to use more than one to give it a longer vine.

Hanging out with his pumpkin pals. 

Surprisingly I had a bit of time left, so I made a couple leaves using this large leaf pattern that I found on Pinterest. It may have originally been from a site called webmail.meta.ua, but I'm not even sure what language that site is in. Thankfully the whole pattern is on Pinterest, so I was still able to use it. Although it was not planned these leaves curl up and I ended up liking that look. It looks more natural. I don't know about you, but most of the leaves than I've seen are not flat.

I ended up winning the contest, but that was mostly by default. Some people didn't bring a pumpkin in and the only other pumpkin didn't last until Halloween. But, a win is a win no matter how it happens.

My little guy doesn't mind that he won by default. He is just happy that some people thought he was cute. He is still going strong and continues to be a work decoration. Maybe I'll bring him home around Thanksgiving.       

Fall is Here

As fall was approaching I kept noticing patterns for leaves. Some were simple and some were more complex and required charts. Since I was already working on a project I decided to make a Pinterest board just for fall decorations. Otherwise, I would never have been able to find them when I was finally ready to start another project.

A couple of weeks ago I had a long weekend and decided to take advantage of it by starting a new project. I sat down to look through some of the patterns that I had saved. I quickly realized that I would have to pay for some of these patterns, that narrowed down the options for me. At this point I didn't have a firm idea of what I was using these leaves for and I was definitely not paying just to goof off.

Finding a couple of free patterns that I liked I downloaded one to start. Then I went on a yarn search. I decided that this would be a way for me to use up some of the yarn that I already have. So, this hunt was through my own yarn. I say hunt because my yarn is in several different containers. Some of which have to be dug through and untangled while searching. I found several balls and skeins of yarn
in what I dubbed fall colors.

The first pattern that I downloaded was "Woodland Wreath, Oak" by Frankie Brown. You have to check out Frankie's Knitted Stuff on Ravelry. He has over 500 free downloadable patterns. He has a lot of knitted Christmas ornaments that I am going to have get started on. This pattern also included some adorable little acorns, so of course I was going to have to make those as well.

I had thought to make a long cord and string the leaves along it. It would end up being a fall garland. Maybe I would hand it along the top of a window. But, now I had an acorn. I couldn't picture the little fellow just hanging around with the leaves. Back to square one I was sitting on the floor with my yarn spread out around me. I took a quick break from knitting and just looked around the room thinking of how my little leaf and acorn could be incorporated into a larger project. Some people might call this "day dreaming". I prefer the term "idea gathering". In a couple of minutes I had a new idea when I saw my dinning table.

For a bit of a backstory, I am big on decorating based on the seasons. Nothing big, usually just a centerpiece of fake flowers that I change every few months. Right now I have a vase of orange, red, and yellow flowers and a few small plastic pumpkins.

Throughout most of the year I have a blue and white vase, but I recently changed it out for a clear vase. That change has been bothering me for a bit because I didn't like being able to see the flower stems. At times fake flowers can look almost real, but those stems will always be a dead giveaway.

Now I had an idea that could solve two of my problems. I could use the leaves and acorns I was currently making and also hide the stems of those flowers. I was going to make a vase cozy. Teapots can have them, so why not vases.

I measured the vase and found a neutral color that would allow the leaves to be the stars. I cast on fewer stitches than I thought I would need and started in a knit two purl two ribbed pattern. After the ribbing I added a couple of stitches. I adding the ribbing hoping that this would help to keep it up on the vase. I figured if it works for socks then it could work for a vase cozy.

Once I was done with the cozy itself I was able to go back to the fun part, making the leaves. The leaves allowed me to be creative. Making different color combos and sizes. The pattern includes two different sizes. However, I was able to make more sizes by using different yarn weights and sometimes using two strands at once.

Now it was time to assemble everything. My first step was to stitch up the cozy to be a tube. I folded the rectangle in half inside out and did a quick whip stitch. I don't love how the seam ended up looking. If I were to do this again I might use a different method to stitch it up. One that would produce a smoother seam.

Once I had the tube it was time for me to add the decorations. I decided that I wanted the leaves to look organic. One of the ways that I did this is by having them at different angles and positions around the vase. I also only attached the leaves in two places. This allows them to almost look like they are floating. It gives some depth and looks better than if the leaves were all flat. I made sure that the leaves were all around the vase because I did not want one area to be the focal point. People sit around the table and I want it to look interesting from every angle.

Leaves are falling all around. 

Overall, I think it turned out well for not knowing what I was doing when I first started. I might even be tempted to make more cozies for different seasons. I'm envisioning a winter one. It would be in the same cream color, only I might include some cables. Maybe I should stop calling it a vase cozy and start calling them vase sweaters.

Let me know what you think of my little sweater. Keep experimenting and having joy with yarn.