Crochet

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A Crochet Beauty

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cro wendy blanket 1113

 

When I read about Wendy’s adaptation of an older pattern, I was intrigued.  Then, I asked and she sent me this picture of her work.  While Wendy does not assert that this is her original design, she did adapt and improve an older pattern to create this masterpiece.

For a long time I was not a fan of the popcorn stitch.  It seemed to me that it was quite a waste of perfectly good yarn to create dimension that could be more easily achieved with a simpler cluster stitch of some sort.  But, the more I examine work that contains popcorn stitches, the more I see their benefit.  The degree of depth and the dimension achieved with the popcorn stitch can be amazing.  It’s an easy stitch to learn and, in the hands and eye of someone like Wendy, can provide a lot of visual interest with only a single color of yarn.

Wendy has created a visual pattern (otherwise known as a chart or graph) that she has kindly agreed to share with you.  I am including some of her tips that will add to your ease in duplicating her results.  I especially like that she can lay down the project and resume exactly where she left off by using a simple coloring technique.  So, print off a copy of this for yourself (with Wendy’s permission), grab some pretty yarn, and get making one of these beauties for yourself.

Clicking on this link should give you a better version of Wendy’s chart.

cro wendy chart 1113

Here are Wendy’s tips:

I have different shades for different stitches and sections to make the pattern easier to see. Mine was done with a repeat of the sections.
Border – Triangle – Border – Triangle – Border – Triangle – Border which made 192 Foundation Half Double stitches. I marked my foundation as I worked round one. So at the end of the border section I placed a marker in the foundation, at the end of the triangle section I placed a marker and so on. Once the sections are set then the pattern takes shape. I printed off the pattern for the full length of the afghan and hi-lighted the rows as I completed them. This took a lot of confusion out of the pattern. When I walked away I had no problem picking it back up and knowing where I was. The X indicates single crochet.

In response to a couple of queries, Wendy adds this information for you:

I used a J hook and approx. 7-8 skeins of red heart super saver ( I started with 2 partial skeins so it is hard to tell).

Thanks to Wendy for sharing her lovely pattern with us!

Comments

  2. What are the other abbreviations?
    HDC – half double crochet
    DFP – ???
    TR – ???

    Also about how much yarn and what size hook? I would love to make this, but don’t know where to start.

  3. DFP = Double Crochet Front Post
    TR = Treble

    Hook would be suitable for yarn as this pattern will work with almost any yarn. Refer to the yarn label of the yarn you choose for hook size suggestions. Sizing up your hook will make the popcorns easier to make. As to the amount of yarn, I can’t comment. I’ll ask the designer for you.
    jd

  4. So pretty! These one-color popcorn afghans have a lovely vintage feeling, like those old-fashioned chenille bedspreads.

    Popcorn stitch does tend to take a lot of yarn, if I recall correctly… Maybe check out some other popcorn-heavy patterns to get a rough idea of yardage?

    I may try to use just part of the pattern to make a large throw pillow for the couch…

  5. Thank you JD for such a wonderful article. I am shocked at the attention this piece is getting. I had no idea when I shared it that everyone would enjoy it so much. Your abbreviations are correct. I used a red J hook and approximately 7 or 8 skeins of the RedHeart Super Saver (I started with 2 partial skeins). I do apoligize for the lack of some information. This is my first time for someone asking me for my pattern. I hope you enjoy it.

Have you read?

16 Big Halloween Crochet Projects You Need to Start Now

There are Halloween crochet projects you can start at 7pm and proudly photograph before bedtime.

These are not those projects.

These are the big Halloween crochet projects. The blankets that eat several skeins of yarn. The C2C graphs that slowly reveal a haunted house one square at a time. The giant Halloween totes that actually hold an impressive trick-or-treat haul.

Basically, these are the projects that make you look at the calendar and realise that if you want them finished for Halloween, you probably need to start now.

And I rather like that.

There is something very satisfying about having one proper seasonal project sitting beside the sofa for a few weeks. You can work a few rows at night, tackle another square over the weekend and gradually watch the whole thing come together.

So save the tiny crochet ghosts for October.

These Halloween blankets, afghans, large bags and statement crochet projects deserve a head start.

Crochet Halloween Haunted House Blanket

If there was ever a Halloween blanket worth starting early, it is a haunted house.

This striking graph-style blanket features a spooky house silhouetted against the moon, and there are versions with either a full moon or crescent moon. You can work it using corner-to-corner crochet or follow the single crochet version, depending on the style of graph crochet you prefer.

This is exactly the sort of project I would keep in a basket beside the sofa and slowly work through during September.

The best part is watching that haunted house gradually appear.

Crochet Halloween C2C Blanket

Corner-to-corner crochet and Halloween really do belong together.

Pixel-style crochet makes it possible to build pumpkins, ghosts, bats, cats and all sorts of spooky shapes without having to crochet dozens of separate appliqués.

This free Halloween C2C design uses a downloadable pixel graph, making it a great project if you enjoy following charts and watching an image slowly emerge from your stitches.

It is also one of those wonderfully repetitive projects that works well when you want something to crochet while half-watching television.

Jack-O-Lantern Crochet Blanket

A giant pumpkin face on a blanket?

That is October sofa décor sorted.

This free Jack-O-Lantern blanket was designed in collaboration with Yarnspirations and uses classic pumpkin orange with black facial details.

I love that it is unmistakably Halloween without being covered in dozens of different motifs.

Make this one now and you have a blanket that can live permanently on your favourite chair for the whole of October.

Bats And Cats Afghan

Now we are talking proper Halloween afghans.

The Bats and Cats Afghan combines repeating Halloween motifs into a full crochet blanket and is rated intermediate. It uses smaller crocheted squares, so it is a particularly good long-term project if you prefer making individual components rather than dragging an ever-growing blanket around the house.

Make a few squares at a time and suddenly the pile starts looking suspiciously like an afghan.

This is also a brilliant stash-planning project because you can organise all your Halloween colours before you begin.

Spooky Spider Afghan

If your decorating philosophy is more spiderwebs, this free Lion Brand afghan should keep your hook busy.

The finished afghan is approximately 40 inches square and is made from individual spider-inspired squares before edging is added. Interestingly, Lion Brand rates this one easy rather than intermediate, so it gives you a substantial finished project without requiring extremely advanced crochet techniques.

It would make a fantastic Halloween lap blanket for the sofa.

Add horror movie. Add snacks.

Done.

C2C Death Head Moth & Skulls Afghan

This one is for the crocheters whose Halloween style leans more gothic than cute.

The design has a large death’s-head moth as the centrepiece surrounded by skull imagery, creating a blanket that feels almost like textile wall art.

There is a free crochet graph available for the design, and you can use it for C2C or another graph-based crochet technique.

I can see this one being made in black, cream and taupe rather than traditional Halloween orange.

It is spooky enough for October but cool enough that someone is probably leaving it on the sofa all year.

C2C Skulls In A Row Blanket

Sometimes one skull simply isn’t sufficient.

This blanket repeats pixel-style skulls across the entire design, creating a bold geometric pattern rather than one giant central image.

The crochet graph is available free on the designer’s site, making this a particularly tempting project if you already enjoy C2C crochet.

And because the design repeats, once you settle into the pattern it becomes one of those projects where you keep saying:

“I’ll just finish one more skull.”

An hour later you’re still crocheting.

C2C Black Cats Blanket

Black cats are practically compulsory in a Halloween crochet collection.

This free graph features repeating black cats and is 100 squares high by 80 squares wide, so this is definitely not something I would suggest starting on October 29.

Depending on your yarn, hook and crochet technique, the graph can be used to create anything from a smaller throw to a substantial blanket.

This would look particularly good in black and mustard, black and burnt orange, or black against a deep plum background.

Black Cat Jack-O-Lantern C2C Blanket

Can’t decide between black cats and pumpkins?

Have both.

This C2C Halloween blanket combines a black cat with a Jack-O-Lantern design in one large graph-style project. The pattern is designed as an intermediate C2C project, with a printable PDF option also available.

This is a lovely choice for a child’s Halloween blanket because it lands more on the spooky-cute side than genuinely frightening.

It is also exactly the sort of design that gets more exciting as the picture becomes recognisable.

Baby Boo Halloween Blanket

This one may technically be called Baby Boo, but I would make it purely because the construction looks fun.

Rather than sticking to one crochet technique, the free blanket pattern combines character granny squares, tapestry crochet, stripes, swirls and appliqué. The finished width is approximately 33½ inches.

That means you get plenty of variety while making it.

If endless rows of the same stitch make you lose enthusiasm halfway through a blanket, a sampler-style Halloween design like this could be the answer.

Halloween Granny Square Cardigan

A Halloween cardigan containing 45 eyeball granny squares is absolutely the sort of ridiculous seasonal project I can support.

The free pattern originally fits approximately XS–M, with instructions suggesting that additional squares can be added when adapting it for a larger size. Each eyeball square measures around five inches.

This is unquestionably a start-now project.

Make the squares gradually, stack them somewhere satisfying, then have one big joining session once you have enough.

Imagine wearing the finished cardigan to answer the door to trick-or-treaters.

Worth it.

Free Patchwork Halloween Bag

Now for the bigger bags.

This is not a tiny treat pouch. The Halloween Patchwork Bag is assembled from 13 crochet squares, featuring skull, ghost, candy corn and jack-o’-lantern designs.

The squares are joined into an hourglass-style arrangement, folded, seamed and finished with crocheted straps.

It is exactly the sort of project that looks incredibly impressive when finished because there is so much going on visually.

And if your children are serious trick-or-treaters, they will appreciate the extra carrying capacity.

Halloween Treats Tote

This free crochet tote gives you several options for personalising the finished bag, including Boo lettering, ghost, pumpkin and other Halloween appliqué details.

I would make the main tote first and then treat the embellishments as the reward.

You could also personalise several bags differently if you are making them for siblings.

One gets a ghost.

One gets a pumpkin.

Everyone knows which bag belongs to whom.

Much easier when everyone eventually dumps their sweets across the living-room floor.

Pumpkin Granny Square Tote

This is a slightly more autumnal option for anyone who wants a bag they can use beyond October 31.

The tote is constructed from 13 granny squares, and the designer specifically suggests using pumpkin granny squares to turn it into a seasonal fall or Halloween bag.

Burnt orange, mustard, olive, brown and cream would give it a lovely vintage harvest feel.

And unlike a tiny trick-or-treat bucket, this is the sort of roomy crochet bag you could use for yarn, shopping or farmers’ market trips afterwards.

Ghost And Skull Halloween Crochet Bag

I particularly like this one because you get two Halloween designs in one project.

The tote is double-sided, with a ghost C2C panel on one side and a skull on the other. The two pieces are joined and finished with a strap to create the completed bag.

That construction makes it a nice stepping stone if you want to practise graph crochet before committing to one of the enormous blankets above.

Though by the time you have finished the bag, there is every chance you’ll decide you need the matching blanket.

Free Spider Web Shawl

And finally, one project for anyone who wants their Halloween crochet to be wearable.

This spiderweb shawl uses open lacework to create a dramatic web-inspired shape that works beautifully as either a Halloween accessory or part of a costume.

This isn’t one of those three-row shawls that magically appears during your morning coffee.

Give yourself time.

Worked in black, charcoal, deep purple or even a moody variegated yarn, it could become one of those pieces you pull out every autumn.

Why You Should Start These Halloween Crochet Projects Now

The dangerous thing about Halloween crafting is how quickly September disappears.

You think you have loads of time.

Then suddenly pumpkins are appearing in shops, someone mentions costumes and the blanket you planned to crochet still consists of approximately six squares and an optimistic bag of yarn.

Larger crochet projects need breathing room.

Starting early means you can work on them when you actually feel like crocheting rather than turning the final week of October into some sort of competitive yarn event.

For a full Halloween afghan, I would give myself several weeks.

For a C2C graphgan, start early enough that you can work steadily without becoming thoroughly sick of colour changes.

For one of the large Halloween totes, you have a little more flexibility, but motif and granny-square bags still involve making, joining and finishing multiple pieces.

And that eyeball cardigan?

Start yesterday.

My Pick If You Only Start One

For sheer Halloween impact, I would choose the Haunted House Blanket.

For something darker and more grown-up, make the Death Head Moth & Skulls Afghan.

If you love traditional Halloween, the Black Cat Jack-O-Lantern Blanket is hard to beat.

And if the idea of committing to an entire afghan makes you quietly close the browser tab, start with the Patchwork Halloween Bag. You still get that wonderful motif-by-motif construction without having to cover an entire bed.

This is also the point in the year when I give myself permission to put the current sensible crochet project aside and bring out the orange and black yarn.

Halloween has a deadline.

The beige blanket doesn’t.

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