Little Frights

Ten small Halloween crochet makes, from three simple shapes, with every round counted and checked.

This is a book of Halloween amigurumi: small stuffed crochet decorations. It shows you how to make an eyeball, a pumpkin, a bat, a spider, a ghost, a black cat, Frankenstein's monster, a mummy, a candy corn, and a witch hat that fits on the ghost, mummy and monster.

All ten are built on one of three shapes: a ball, a bean or a cone. The ghost, cat, monster and mummy share the same 21 rounds; what changes is colour, a few small added pieces and the face. So after your first make, each new one only teaches you one or two new things.

Who it is for

• Never crocheted? A 12-lesson stitch school with step diagrams starts at the first loop and teaches every stitch the patterns use, and each lesson ends with a short practice task and a way to tell you have got it. Start with the eyeball.
• Made a toy or two? Go straight to any make. Each one lists the techniques it uses and the page where each is explained.

What you make

• Eyeball, 2 in wide × 1¾ in tall at standard size, 300 stitches. The easiest fright in the book. Start here.
• Pumpkin, 2½ in wide × 2¾ in tall at standard size, 538 stitches. A ball one round wider, pulled into segments with one long tail.
• Bat, 4 in wide × 2 in tall at standard size, 446 stitches. A small ball with flat wings, scalloped by the same wrap as the pumpkin.
• Spider, 2¾ in wide × 1¼ in tall at standard size, 284 stitches. The smallest ball, eight chain legs, and a thread to hang it by.
• Ghost, 2½ in wide × 3 in tall at standard size, 558 stitches. The bean, with a wavy hem it stands on.
• Black cat, 2 in wide × 3¼ in tall at standard size, 650 stitches. The bean in black, with ears, a tail and whiskers.
• Frankenstein's monster, 2¾ in wide × 2¾ in tall at standard size, 571 stitches. The bean with a black flat top, a fringe and two bolts.
• Mummy, 2¼ in wide × 2¾ in tall at standard size, 752 stitches. The bean in cream, wrapped in two long bandages, eyes peeping out.
• Candy corn, 2 in wide × 1¾ in tall at standard size, 282 stitches. A cone in three bands that is fat at the bottom, like the sweet.
• Witch hat, 3 in wide × 3¼ in tall at standard size, 386 stitches. A tall, slow cone with a purple band and a flat brim. It fits the ghost.

What makes it different

• Every count adds up. Each pattern line ends with the number of stitches you should have. Every number was worked out by a program from the round before it, and checked again. If your count differs, the difference is in your stitches, and the troubleshooting page shows how to find it.
• Pictures built from the patterns. Each toy is drawn in 3D from its own pattern data, one ring of stitches for every round, so its proportions come from the pattern itself. There are no photos of toys the patterns do not make.
• Everything placed by counting. Eyes, ears, wings, bolts and bandages each have a round and a stitch count, shown on a labelled picture of the finished toy.
• The shape in numbers. Beside every pattern, a bar for each round as wide as its stitch count, so you can see where the piece grows, goes straight and closes.
• Three sizes from one pattern. Sport yarn makes a mini, worsted the standard, bulky a big one. Every make's sizes are listed.
• Time you can plan. The exact number of stitches in each make, a two-minute speed test, and a two-week plan to fill a shelf by the 31st.
• US terms throughout, never mixed. The Pattern Cards give every pattern again in UK terms.

What you download

• Little Frights (62 pages, PDF, US Letter, colour, with bookmarks).
• Pattern Cards (21 pages, PDF, US Letter): each pattern on one printable page with circles to tick off each round, ten in US terms then the same ten in UK terms.

Good to know

• You need a 3.5 mm (US E-4) hook, smooth worsted (UK aran) weight yarn, toy stuffing, a yarn needle, stitch markers and safety eyes (6 mm and 9 mm). One ball each of seven colours makes everything; the book lists the yards each make needs, worked out from its stitches.
• Sizes are worked out from the patterns at a typical tight toy gauge; yours may come out a little bigger or smaller.
• Safety eyes are not for children under 3: the book shows how to embroider eyes instead. Keep hanging threads, garlands and keychains away from babies and young children.
• Pages are US Letter. On A4 paper, print with "fit to page".
• This is a PDF download. No physical book or kit is shipped.