| Size | 31 × 28 stitches |
|---|---|
| Colours | 10 · DMC |
| Total stitches | 587 |
| Difficulty | Easy (2/5) |
| Finished on 14-count | 2.2 × 2 in (5.6 × 5.1 cm) |
| Finished on 16-count | 1.9 × 1.8 in (4.9 × 4.4 cm) |
| Finished on 18-count | 1.7 × 1.6 in (4.4 × 4 cm) |
| Licence | CC BY-NC 4.0 — free for personal use with credit |
Materials
| Colour | Code | Name | Stitches | Share | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 400 | Mahogany Dark | 155 | 26% | 1 skein | |
| 946 | Burnt Orange Med | 137 | 23% | 1 skein | |
| 970 | Pumpkin Light | 118 | 20% | 1 skein | |
| 900 | Burnt Orange Dark | 78 | 13% | 1 skein | |
| 470 | Avocado Grn Lt | 42 | 7% | 1 skein | |
| 936 | Avocado Grn V Dk | 23 | 4% | 1 skein | |
| 741 | Tangerine Med | 13 | 2% | 1 skein | |
| 869 | Hazelnut Brown V Dk | 8 | 1% | 1 skein | |
| 3045 | Yellow Beige Dk | 8 | 1% | 1 skein | |
| 469 | Avocado Green | 5 | 1% | 1 skein |
About this design
A pumpkin is all about its ribs, so this one is built from five overlapping lobes, each with its own mahogany outline (400). The centre lobe is the brightest orange (970) with a tangerine highlight, the two inner lobes are burnt orange (946), and the outer lobes are the darker 900. That step from light to dark makes the pumpkin look round without any complicated shading. A two-tone stem leans to the right, with a lobed leaf on one side and a curled tendril on the other.
How to work it
Start by stitching the outlines of the centre lobe, then the two either side of it, and finally the outer pair. The rib lines are where these outlines meet, so getting them right first makes the fill very relaxed: each lobe becomes a simple block of one colour. Add the 741 highlight streaks on the left of the centre and left lobes. The stem, leaf and tendril go in last. The tendril is a thin line of single stitches, so keep your tension even so it stays smooth.
Finishing ideas
At 31 × 28 stitches the pumpkin is about 2.2 × 2 inches on 14-count and 1.7 × 1.6 inches on 18-count. Make a few and turn them into autumn ornaments or a garland, or stitch one onto a harvest table runner. For Halloween, stitch it on black Aida and swap the outline to 310.
Colour plan
DMC 400 Mahogany Dark does the most work, 26% of the 587 stitches, followed by DMC 946 Burnt Orange Med at 23%. DMC 869 Hazelnut Brown V Dk (8), DMC 3045 Yellow Beige Dk (8) and DMC 469 Avocado Green (5) are used only a little: small details worth marking on the chart so you don't miss them. 32% of the grid is left empty.
Working notes
18 squares stand alone in their colour, with no same-coloured neighbour along a side; stitch those as you pass rather than starting a new thread for each. The busiest row changes colour 16 times.
Anchor equivalents
The nearest Anchor colour for each DMC colour in this pattern, measured as ΔE 2000: up to 3 is very close, up to 6 close, up to 10 approximate.
This is an original CraftPatterns design, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0: stitch it, share it and gift what you make — please credit craftpatterns.app and don't sell the pattern itself. Want to change it? Open it in the cross stitch editor.
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