The Craftzilla: Punkin Pumpkin Pattern

I love Halloween, October, autumn, pumpkin-cinnamon-apple-caramel flavored things, and busting out the decorations this time of year. Here's a small one you can whip up rather quickly! I've been working on this pattern for a while, actually, but could never get a consistent result. They ended up being too squashed (puns!) looking, too round like an orange, too wide of a mouth, etc etc. Finally, I downsized it and made a pattern that works time after time. Please let me know if you find any errors or have any questions. Enjoy!

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Punkin Pumpkin Pattern

This pattern is written, created, published, and illustrated by The Craftzilla. Please do not sell, copy or redistribute this pattern or any parts therein (share the blog page link instead!) You may sell final creations, but please do not claim the pattern as your own. Thank you!

Materials:
Size F 3.57 mm hook
Orange yarn
Black yarn
Green yarn
Brown yarn
Yarn needle Scissors
Size 7 oval safety eyes (or felt or beads or what have you)

Terms/Abbreviations (US):
Ch -- Chain
Mc – Magic circle/ring (http://www.planetjune.com/blog/tutorials/magic-ring-right-handed/)
Sl st – Slip stitch
Sc – Single crochet
Inc – Increase, place two sc in one stitch
Dec- Decrease, I use invisible dec, but essentially make one sc over two stitches
*---* signals a set of stitches to be repeated
(_) indicates how many stitches should be in that round

Pumpkin body
Make one in orange. Worked in a spiral, not joined rounds.
Round 1: Sc 6 in mc (6).
R2: Inc in every stitch (12).
R3: Inc in every other stitch (18).
R4: *Inc, sc, sc,* six times (24).
R5-7: Sc in every stitch (24).
R8: Sc 1, ch 8 while skipping 8 sc (this makes the opening for the mouth) and sc the rest of the round (24--8 ch & 16 sc).
R9: Sc around, placing one sc in each of the chains you made last round (24)
R10-11: Sc in every stitch (24).
R12: *Dec, sc, sc* six times (18).
R13: *Dec, sc* six times (12).
R14: *Dec* six times (6).
Fasten off and leave a tail of yarn. Cut yarn and thread yarn needle. Weave yarn through loops and pull tight to close. Weave remaining yarn into the pumpkin body, knot it and cut it.
Extra help on fastening off and weaving yarn in to close a project: http://www.planetjune.com/blog/the-ultimate-finish-for-amigurumi/

Place safety eyes one sc apart in between rows 5 and 6. Lightly stuff the body, leaving some room for the mouth.

Mouth
Make two in black. Worked in rows.
Row 1: Sc 3 into mc. Do not pull tail tight yet. Ch 1, turn (3).
R2: Inc in every stitch. Ch 1, turn (6).
R3: Inc in every other stitch (9).
Fasten off, leave tail of yarn. Pull the other tail controlling the mc tight and knot it. It should form a half circle.

Sew the two half circles together by placing them right sides together and whipstitching the straight sides of the half circles together. You now have a mouth, or a folded circle. Weave in any loose ends.

Making sure you didn't overstuff first, sew the mouth into the pumpkin. If you want to be super particular about it; I sewed into the 8 ch up top, 1 into the corner of the mouth, then into the 8 sc at the bottom, and finally 1 into the other corner of the mouth. Works out evenly. Feel free to pull out stuffing or put more in to get the mouth the way you want (looking like a PacMan, basically!)

Stem
Make 1 in brown yarn. Worked in a spiral using top crocheting / surface crocheting for the first round.
Round 1: Attach yarn with a sc into the top of your pumpkin. Top crochet 6 sc in a circle. I literally just stick my hook in and sc around the bars of the pumpkin body sc (6).
R2: Dec in every stitch (3).
Fasten off and leave a tail of yarn. Cut yarn and thread yarn needle. Weave yarn through front loops and pull tight to close. Weave remaining yarn into the pumpkin body and cut it.

Yes, you can make a separate stem if you would like, or glue on a piece of felt. Whatever you prefer!
Extra help for surface crochet (although she does it only with sl stitches):
http://www.lillabjorncrochet.com/2015/05/surface-crochet-makes-difference.html

Vine
Make 1 in green. Worked in 1 row.
Row 1: Ch 8, turn, inc in every chain. Sew it to the pumpkin by the stem.

Squish your little pumpkin into shape, making the mouth go inward. Voila, you have a little punkin pumpkin to share your treats with.