Knit a not-so-spooky pumpkin purse

Get into the spirit of Halloween with this super cute pumpkin purse - a cool nod to the annual spook fest and no fancy dress required! You can be just as experimental with the felt face as you would with a carved pumpkin...

You will need

- Orange DK yarn from your stash

- A pair of 4mm needles

- A purse frame

- Black felt

Abbreviations

M1L pick up the bar between the stitches from the back, knit into the front of it.

M1R pick up the bar between the stitches from the front, knit into the back of it.

SKPO slip 1 st knitwise, knit the next st, pass the slipped stitch over

K2tog knit 2 sts together

To make the sides...

Cast on 14 sts using 4mm needles.

Row 1: P2, *K1, P2; rep from * to end.

Row 2: K2 * P1, K2; rep from * to end.

Row 3: P2, *K1, M1L, P2; rep from * to end.

Row 4: K2, *P2, K2; rep from * to end.

Row 5: P2, *M1L, K2, M1R, P2; rep from * to end.

Rows 6, 8 & 10: K2, *P4, K2; rep from * to end.

Rows 7 & 9: P2, *K4, P2; rep from * to end.

Row 11: P2, *M1L, K4, M1R, P2; rep from * to end.

Rows 12, 14 & 16: K2, *P6, K2; rep from * to end.

Rows 13 & 15: P2, *K6, P2; rep from * to end.

Row 17: P2, *SKPO, K2, k2tog, P2; rep from * to end.

Rows 18, 20 & 22: As Row 6.

Rows 19 & 21: As Row 7.

Row 23: P2, *SKPO, k2tog, P2; rep from * to end.

Row 24: K2, *P2, K2; rep from * to end.

Row 25: P2, *k2tog, P2; rep from * to end.

Row 26: As Row 2.

Cast off.

To make up...

Stitch bottom of both pieces together. Stitch sides together halfway up, but do not fasten off sewing yarn. Attach top of purse and a little way down the sides to frame. Finish sewing up sides of pumpkin so the only opening is the clasp. Fasten off, weave in ends.

Cut felt into facial feature shapes and stitch to one side of purse.

Pattern reproduced with permission from Simply Knitting magazine. For more information visit www.simplyknitting.co.uk

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