Creepy Knit Spider Pattern

A friend of mine recently asked on Facebook if people decorate for fall first, then Halloween, then back to fall for Thanksgiving, or if they go straight into Halloween decor. The overwhelming answer was to start with Halloween decorations, so that must mean it’s time to start sharing some spooky season decor.

This knit spider designed by Revati Poole can hold the line between creepy and cute depending on the color yarn you use to knit it and how many eyes you give it. This one is worth checking out all the different projects on Ravelry to see how different people have made it. The ones with stripes are probably my favorite, but there’s a great fuzzy one, too.

The original uses chunky yarn but if you used thinner yarn and smaller needles you could make a whole arachnid family!

You can download the pattern for free from Ravelry.

Looking for more Knitted Halloween toys? Check these Halloween Toy Patterns out

Generally I like knitting patterns where I feel like you can use whatever yarn you have (because my stash is big enough and I want to use it, thanks) and make a successful project. This is one of those times when a special yarn makes the process that much easier.

The Floral Bouquet Shawl from Xandy Peters uses a specific extended color pooling yarn from Feisty Fibers, which allows you to place the bobble flowers with increasing frequency as you knit the project.

It starts with a solid color yarn, then the two color yarn is added in, and you make a bobble whenever you encounter the color pops. This would be hard to replicate with other yarn that doesn’t have the extended color pooling built in.

The background of the shawl is ribbed, making the project reversible.

The shawl uses fingering/sock yarn and comes out to be an asymmetrical triangle that’s 54 inches/137 cm long and 36 inches/ 90 cm deep and 60 inches/150 cm across the top edge.

Xandy says the pattern is for intermediate to advanced knitters. Knowing how to work traditional bobbles would probably help, but there’s a great video tutorial for how to work the floral bobbles so you can practice on other yarn or even incorporate the bobbles into other projects.

The bobbles are five-petaled flowers but they also kind of look like starfish to me, which could be fun on a child’s cardigan or other pattern. They’d also be fun on the leg of a sock or around the brim of a hat for extra whimsy.

The pattern includes photo and video tutorials, and written and charted instructions. It also includes tips on what to look for if you choose to use different yarn for the project, and instructions on how to dye your own yarn to use in the project.

If you want to give it a try, you can find the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Xandy Peters]

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