Tag: pumpkins

Posted in Pumpkin-a-Long, yarnpond

Oh My Gourd!

Posted on by Carol

Oh My Gourd has been a long time in the making. In August 2021, a long-standing pumpkin sculpture by Yoyoi Kusama was swept off a pier on the island of Naoshima by a tropical storm (story here). I was struck by the sheer size of the sculpture as well as the use of dots and their repetition to create a stunning piece of art. Pumpkins are a recurring theme of Yoyoi Kusama’s, and hers were an ongoing influence on my knit pumpkin designs. Finally, this year, I realized that I could use beads to emulate, in a small way, her sculptures.

Oh My Gourd can be knit in fingering weight or worsted weight yarn.

I ordered a variety of beads from Amazon. For the white pumpkin: 2 packages of skull beads and a black pearl bead kit with 4-12 mm beads.  For the “bling” pumpkin: a 4mm bicone bead set and 2 packages of Rired 27 glass beads, one in purple and one in grey.

The “bling” pumpkin, made in fingering weight

I loaded the multi-colored bicone beads randomly and tried to coordiate the 8mm beads with the yarn color. I truly enjoyed working with the beads.

Beading was very zen and sort of addicting, so I’m happy that I now have a variety of beads on hand for future OMGs.

Speaking of beading, Vickie Howell has a great video tutorial showing how to load the beads onto your yarn.  It starts around the 8 minute mark on this video: Vickie Howell, How to Knit with Beads. I would like to create a video as well; we’ll see if I can make that happen!

I am looking for a few beta testers for Oh My Gourd on Yarnpond.  We have a quick turnaround for the beta testing, since it’s already fall.  Experience with beads is also a bonus.  If you are a Yarnpond member, this link will take you to the test: Oh My Gourd. If you are not yet a member, there is no charge to become one.  Please apply soon, as there are only three spots available.

For those of you who’d like to go ahead and get started on your beautiful beaded pumpkin, the pattern is available here on Payhip and here on Etsy. You may find that you’ll fall down the rabbit hole of beaded knitting like I did!

I hope that you will enjoy the 2023 pumpkin! As always, please tag me on Instagram (@knitequalsjoy) with your finished pumpkins to participate in the Pumpkin Along or just to share your work with me!

xoxo

Carol

Posted in KAL, Knit-a-Long, knitters, knitting, knitting pattern, knitting patterns

The 2021 Pumpkin-A-Long (PAL)

Posted on by Carol

Pumpkin-A-Long

This year’s Pumpkin-A-Long has begun!  It’s easy to play along, and I hope you will.

Right now there are seven eligible pumpkin patterns, and soon this year’s pumpkin design will be added to the pumpkin patch!

The premise of the PAL is very easy: knit one of the Knit Equals Joy pumpkins, post progress pictures of your pumpkin on Instagram with the tags #pumpkinalong2021, #knitequalsjoy, and @knitequalsjoy.  I will be giving away Knit Equals Joy patterns (digital) periodically during the PAL chosen randomly from amongst progress pictures posted and tagged on Instagram.  If you’d like to use either of the above photos on Instagram (or Facebook), they will count as progress pictures.  Follow those tags to see everyone else’s pumpkin progress and anything related to Fall that we post (because we love Fall!!!).

When you finish a pumpkin, also use the tag #pumpkinalong2021FO (for finished object).

At the conclusion of the PAL (Thanksgiving), I’ll randomly choose from the finished pumpkins and will award prizes.  Wendy at Amanda Hope Yarn is graciously sponsoring the PAL with a $30 gift card from her shop.  She has a great eye for color, and her yarns are scrumptious!

If you’re not on Instagram, email your pumpkins to me at knitequalsjoy@gmail.com.

Come join us and get in on some Autumn-knitting joy!!!

Pumpkin-A-Long Patterns – hover over photo for pattern name, click to read about the pattern or to purchase.

Spidey

I’m thrilled that this year’s design, Spidey, is almost ready for publishing!  Spidey creates a creepy spider through the use of two-color twisted stitches and some other fun textury stitches.  I am looking for some knitters who’d like to test out the pattern for me.  If that’s you, please let me know via email.

Pumpkins forever!!

Carol

Posted in KAL, Knit-a-Long, knitters, knitting, knitting pattern, knitting patterns

Pumpkin-A-Long (PAL)

Posted on by Carol

This year’s Pumpkin-A-Long has begun!  It’s easy to play along, and I hope you will.

There are seven eligible patterns, see below.

The premise of the PAL is very easy: knit one of the Knit Equals Joy pumpkins, post a picture of your pumpkin on Instagram with the tags #pumpkinalong2020 and #knitequalsjoy.  Follow those tags to see everyone else’s pumpkin progress and anything related to Fall that we post (because we love Fall!!!).  If you’re not on Instagram, email your pumpkins to me at knitequalsjoy@gmail.com.

At the conclusion of the PAL (Thanksgiving), I’ll randomly choose from the finished pumpkins and will award prizes.  I have an adorable felted pumpkin (not made by me) and yarn, of course, to offer as prizes.

Use the coupon code PALpumpkins for 15% off any of these patterns through October 15, 2020.  Discount available only on patterns purchased through knitequalsjoy.com or my Payhip store.

Come join us and get in on some Autumn-knitting joy!!!

Pumpkin-A-Long Patterns – hover over photo for pattern name, click to read about the pattern or to purchase.

Enjoy!!!

Carol

Posted in knitting, knitting resources, Pumpkin-a-Long

Just for Fun – Stuffing a Plaid Pumpkin

Posted on by Carol

Here’s a short video Cliff and I made showing how to fill your Plaid Pumpkin with fiberfill…just for fun and because some knitters might like to see how to fill the pumpkin to retain the short, squat shape of this design.

Hope you enjoyed that and I hope it may be helpful to someone!

The Pumpkin-A-Long is wrapping up on Halloween; if you have made a Knit Equals Joy Pumpkin, don’t forget to post a picture on Instagram with the tags #knitequalsjoy2019palfo and #knitequalsjoy2019pal.  Tag me, too: @knitequalsjoy.  If you’re not on Instagram but are on Facebook, find the Knit Equals Joy group and post a picture of your pumpkin.  The group is here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2255137488135031/.  Sorry, there was a glitch with the link that was sent in the notification email, but this one works.

Have a Happy Halloween!!!

Posted in cable knitting, colorwork knitting, KAL, knit equals joy, Knit Equals Joy Designs, Knit-a-Long, knitters, knitting patterns, Pumpkin-a-Long

The Second Annual Pumpkin-A-Long (PAL)

Posted on by Carol

As you know, we love Fall around here, and we love pumpkins!!  And to celebrate, we are having the Second Annual Pumpkin-A-Long.

There are two ways to participate: on Instagram and/or on Facebook.

On Instagram, hashtags make our job easier.  You can tag your photos with our specific hashtags, and you can also follow our hashtags, so that you will see any posts that anyone makes with those specific tags.  The tags we will be using are #knitequalsjoy2019PAL and #knitequalsjoy for any photos posted relating to the PAL.  If you follow those tags, you will see any announcement-type posts I make about the PAL on Instagram, too.  The tag for finished pumpkins is #knitequalsjoy2019PALFO (the FO is for finished object).  That tag will be important, because those finished object posts are the ones that are eligible for the random prize drawings.  I have some great prizes on deck and will be sharing about those in later posts. Please also tag me @knitequalsjoy so that I will see your post –  just in case the hashtags don’t work correctly.

Of course, some folks may not use Instagram, so we also will be posting photos in the Knit Equals Joy Facebook group.  You can find the group here: Knit Equals Joy Facebook Group.  I have set up an album there for progress photos and one for finished objects.

If this works well, my hope is that we can use the same format for upcoming KALs and for knitting along with next year’s Olympics.

How to Pumpkin-A-Long

  1.   To play along, knit any Knit Equals Joy pumpkin pattern (see below).
  2.   To be eligible for prizes, complete 1 or more Knit Equals Joy pumpkin by October 31, 2019.  Each completed and properly posted finished pumpkin counts as an entry for prizes.     You may enter as many times as you like.  No more than one prize per person.
  3.   Have fun!  Share your beautiful pumpkin pictures on Instagram or in the Facebook group (see above)!  We want to see what you are making and cheer you on.  If you have any questions, ask in the PAL.  We can share and learn new things from each other.

I think that’s it!  See the eligible patterns below…

Plaid Pumpkin, with a plaid colorwork design, a great basketweave design, and a fun graphic design a bit reminiscent of a spider web. Also includes instructions for non-stranded stripes or plain knitting.  Just published.

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Plaid Pumpkin PDF Pattern at LoveCrafts.

Autumn Spice Pumpkin is knit in super-bulky and is nearly 40″ in circumference!  The jumbo cables are a joy to knit.  This is a statement piece knit in the recommended yarn, but it looks great in any weight yarn. Published 2018.

 

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Autumn Spice Pumpkin PDF Pattern at LoveCrafts

 

Wee Pumpkin is knit flat, and it is reaaalllly tiny, about an inch tall and an inch-and-a-half in diameter.  It would be fun to make a wee pumpkin garland!  Published 2018.

Wee Pumpkin PDF at LoveCrafts.

Large Colorwork Pumpkin has four fun colorwork designs.  Knit in worsted weight yarn and pretty much life-sized: about 12 inches in diameter and 12 inches tall.  Published in 2017.

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Large Colorwork Pumpkins PDF Pattern at LoveCrafts.

Colorwork Pumpkin, with charts for Art Nouveau lilies and 2 versions of spiders.  Published 2016.

Colorwork Pumpkin PDF Pattern at LoveCrafts.

 

Mini Colorwork Pumpkin, a tiny pumpkin pattern with 6 different colorwork charts.  Published 2015.

Mini Colorwork Pumpkin PDF Pattern at LoveCrafts.

 

Prizes

The four wonderful items in the corner frames of the photo below are PAL prizes.

Clockwise, starting from top left, the prizes are
1. Amanda Hope Yarn Yankee Doodle Sock (Fingering Weight; 80% Merino Wool, 20% Nylon; 410 yards/100g) in Burnt Orange.
2. Amanda Hope Yarn Aussie Extra Fine Single (Fingering Weight; 100% 19.5 Micron Extra Fine Merino Wool; 437 yards/100g) in Nocturne II.
3. Awesome Pumpkin Scissors donated by Carla (thank you Carla!).
4. Fabulous Cookie Stamps featuring a sheep design and two knit stitch designs. Set shown is mine; winner’s set is sealed.

Winners will be chosen randomly from all completed and properly posted finished projects. We reserve the right to replace these prizes with items of equal or greater value.

I hope you will join us for our joyful Pumpkin-A-Long!  Questions?  Send me a message or ask on IG or Facebook.

xoxo

Carol