Some Frightfully Good Halloween Costumes

The photo above is of the Witchy Hands design, by Lion Brand Yarn. It's a free pattern.

If you want a witch's hat to go with your witchy hands, I suggest this knitted witch hat design, by Cathy Scott. This pattern is available for $4.30(USD).

If you feel evil witches who dress all in unrelieved black are old hat, you might like this Which Witch design, by Tonks. This pattern is available for $3(USD).

If witches aren't your thing, this Jackyll & Hide sack masque, by Saskia de Feijter, might work for you. This is a Knitty pattern, and so is available for free.

If you're feeling devilish, you might like to make the Bokaclava design by Anne-Marie Dunbar. It's a free pattern and is sized for both children and adults.

If you're a Cthulhu/Lovecraft enthusiast, perhaps you'll enjoy knitting the Cthulhuclava, by Anne-Marie Dunbar. This pattern is available for £3.00(GBP).

Feeling cerebral? How about this Brain Hat, by Alana Noritake. This pattern is available for $5(USD).

I hope none of my male readers turned to stone when they saw this Medusa wig. I have too few of you to lose! Unfortunately this particular pattern is not available, but the Medusa wig design by Grace Breyley, which is available for $2(USD), is similar and could be adapted by an experienced knitter.

What's that in the sky? It's a onesie! It's a sleeper! No, it's a Superbaby costume, by Jennifer Lori. This pattern is available for download for $4.99(USD).

Here's a costume for your little lamb, the Lammekostyme design, by Margot Stevens. This pattern is available for free.

If you think your baby is particularly merry, daring, and fair-minded, there's always The Legend of Baby Link design, by Joanna Rankin. This pattern is available for free.

Home Decor Can Be a Real Scream

Here's another selection of Halloween patterns (you can see my previous Halloween posts here). This collection of patterns are home decor items designed to make your Halloween entertainments a real scream. The design above, of an all-too-realistic knitted desiccated head, is the My Ex Is Full Of Knit, by ADHD Knitting. It's a free pattern. And as the designer is careful to explain on the Ravelry pattern page, yes that is a real cat's tooth piercing the nose of the head, and yes the tooth was one that had been removed from the designer's pet cat by a vet for medical cause. And how do you procure a tooth for this pattern if you don't happen to have one on hand? Can't help you there, I'm afraid.

Come into my parlour, said the spider to the fly, and get comfy on this spiderweb cushion! This is the Parlor Round design, by Jessi Vowels. It's a free pattern.

Having convinced the fly to ensnare itself, the spider sat comfortably back to digest its meal. The Arachnid Throw Pillow, by Jessika Lane, is a free pattern.

Here's a design to help you keep an eye on things. This is the Cyclops Pot Plant, by Dawn Finney. This pattern is available for $4.00(USD).

This 18" Jack O'Lantern pattern, by Alan Dart, will guard your porch or foyer in true Halloween style. This pattern is available for $5(USD).

This is the Morticia's Washcloth design, by Mette Buchreitz, and I can indeed imagine Morticia getting Gomez to scrub her back with it. It's a free pattern.

This Witch Tea Cosy, by Rian Anderson, looks like the perfect way to serve up a herbal brew. When you're not making tea this witch could always be used to decorate a door. This pattern is available for $4.50(AUD).

The very sight of this Wicked Witch Tea Cozy, designed by Jasmyn Cunningham, made me laugh. It's the perfect tea cozy for all Friends of Dorothy! This pattern is available for $1.00(CAD).

Let your Halloween freak flag fly by hanging up this Skeleton Banner design, by Lily/Sugar'n Cream. It's a free pattern.

This is the Pretty Punk Blanket, by Jenny Dolan, and it's a free pattern.

This Halloween Queen design by Melanie Nordberg is a chart, not a full pattern, and so could be used for anything you wish, but I see it as most likely to be used to make an afghan, and so I've included it in this post. The chart is available for free.

This Midnight chart, like the one above, is also designed by Melanie Nordberg and is available for free.

Halloween Knitting for Little Monsters

With Halloween less than a week away, here are some children's clothing and accessory knitting patterns designed especially for Halloween. The sweater above is the Child's Cat Sweater, by Eileen Casey. It's a free pattern and the sizes run from two to seven years.

Here's a spiderweb sweater, designed by Jessica Henshaw. The pattern is written for sizes 2 and 4, and is available for $6.95(USD).

This is the Pirate's Cutie outfit, designed by Shiri Mor. The sweater and leggings patterns are sold separately for $4(USD) each.

This Brainmonster hat, designed by Ravelry user Cyn, is a free pattern.

The Bathat design, by Monica Gausen, is a free pattern and is sized for both children and adults.

This is the Ghostskulls design, by Erssie Major. This pattern is available for £2.50(GBP) and is sized for 6 months, 18 months, and adult.

As anyone who has spent time around a crawling baby knows, their butts are often very much in evidence. These Monster longies or Monsterbukse, by Kristine Jorskogen, make the most of that. This pattern is a free Ravelry download and is sized for 6-12 months, 1-2 years, and 3-4 years.

These monsters will go on top of instead of under the bed, and make your child feel warm and safe at night. The Monster Mash design, by Susan B. Anderson, was published in 60 Quick Baby Blankets: Cute & Cuddly Knits in 220 Superwash® and 128 Superwash® from Cascade Yarns

This is the Halloween Cat Hat, by Angela Juergens. This pattern is available for $4.99(USD), and can be knit in every size from newborn to adult.

Cats, like crawling babies, often present butt first too. The White Whiskers hat pattern, by Christine de Savoie, is available for €3.50(EUR) and can be knit in every size from baby to adult.

Toys That Go Bump in the Night

Halloween is approaching, and I'm planning on doing several Halloween-related posts over the next eight days, beginning with this one, in which I offer a selection of thirteen Halloween toys.

The toy above is the Topsy Turvy Werewolf, designed by Annie Watts. As the title suggests and the picture illustrates, the toy can be turned inside out to become either a man or a werewolf. The pattern is available as a $6.00(USD) download.

This is the Halloween Devil Doll, designed by Tatyana Korobkova, and isn't it the cutest little devil you ever saw? The pattern is available as a $5(USD) download.

These are the Voodoo You Love Me dolls, designed by Susan Claudino. The pattern is available as a $5(USD) download.

Here's a Halloween Ghost Girl pattern, designed by Eteri Khodonashvili. The pattern is available as a $3.50(USD) download.

I've never really gotten the love some people have for vampires or zombies, but there is one fantasy archetype that has already fascinated me, and that's the witch. It took considerable self-restraint for me to only include four witch doll patterns in this post because I found so many cute ones on Ravelry. This is the first of the four, and it was designed by Tatyana Korobkova. The pattern is available as a $9(USD) download, and the black cat pattern and pumpkin patterns are included.

Who says witches have to be unattractive? This adorable little doll is the Halloween Witch with Magic Broom, designed by Loly Fuertes. The pattern is available as a $4.50(USD) download.

Love this medieval witch. Witchypoo was designed by Ravelry user Phoeny, and the pattern is available as a $4.50(USD) download.

This is The Wicked Pudge of the West, designed by Megan Schmidt, and the pattern is available as a $6.50(CAD) download.

Tombie the Zombie, designed by Phoeny, comes apart. The pattern is available as a $4.50(USD) download.

Don't let the From the Brain Slug Planet, designed by Steph Michaud, too close to your brain. This is a free pattern.

For the Monty Python Holy Grail fans out there (and don't we all qualify?) here's the Run Away! aka the Killer Rabbit pattern, designed by Ravelry user Knitting Magic Girl. It's a free pattern.

The Felted Woolly Owl design, by Marie Mayhew, is available as a $10.95(USD) download.

Love this chubby little gargoyle. The My Little Gargoyle pattern, designed by Phoeny, is available as a $4(USD) download.

Knitting a Wig to Flip

For today's post I've selected eleven examples of yarn wigs for your inspiration and entertainment. They're not something one can wear in daily life, obviously, but they'd form a pretty funny part of a costume for Halloween or some kind of fancy dress event, and might even make a good gift for a cancer patient who has the right sense of humour (pro tip: check with the person in advance). The above is the Princess Leia Wig, and the pattern is available for $7.95(USD). You can also make a Leia wig for your baby.

If you've always been more of a Trekkie than a Star Wars type, you can make a Spock wig. The pattern is available for free.

Sadly, there doesn't seem to be pattern for this Elvis wig, and the website on which it originally appeared is down, but perhaps you can make a replica using the photo as your guide. There is another Elvis wig pattern available for free on Ravelry but it's pretty... over the top. Literally.

If you're into Revolutionary War re-enactments, this might be perfect for turning you into a British naval captain. The pattern is available for free on the blog Bel far niente.

If you've got a Thing 1 and possibly also a Thing 2 at home, you can have lots of good fun that is funny by making these wigs for them. The pattern is available for $5(USD.)

This Hallowig pattern is available for free on Knitty and seems to have been widely used — there are loads of them depicted on the internet. They remind me of the hair on the old-style girl character Lego pieces from thirty or more years ago.

I can't decide whether crocheting this Cabbage Patch Kid wig would be a demonstration of good or bad parenting, but you can buy the pattern for $5.99(USD) and find out for yourself.

The next time you feel like sailing the seven seas and doing some plundering and pillaging, you'll have the headgear for it! This Viking hat and wig is a free pattern.

I might just have to make this Desperate Hausfrau wig myself and put it with the rest of my landlady costume (bifocals, shapeless housedress, stockings in rolls around my ankles, scuzzy slippers, eight mangy cats and a nasty-tempered, hyper little dog) in order to scare the back rent out of my tenant. This wig design is a free pattern from Knitty.

If the curler do above doesn't appeal, you can also be another kind of desperate housewife, Marge Simpson. This pattern is available for free.

Of course I can't do a really comprehensive wig post unless I include an example of a merkin, which is a wig for um, down there. Pretty Prudent posted this one as an April Fool's joke. My hat (or wig as the case might be) is off to them for actually getting someone to model it. And staging it with a wine glass was a classy touch, don't you think? There's no pattern available, but if you're determined to go there.... it shouldn't be too hard to copy.