22 Halloween Knitting & Crochet Patterns: Ghosts, Bats, Pumpkins & Spooky Granny Squares

October is when many makers who "only do blankets" suddenly want a ghost on the mantel. Halloween projects tend to be small, fast, and forgiving: a pumpkin doesn't have to be symmetrical, and a bat with one ear slightly higher has more personality. That makes them a good excuse to try a technique you've been avoiding, whether that's continuous-round amigurumi, stranded colorwork, or lace charts.

We went through the 118 patterns in the new Yarn.com Halloween collection and picked the 22 most queue-worthy options, grouped by type. We've also noted whether it's a free download or a paid PDF, and we matched each one to a yarn that's in stock now, or suggested a substitute for any called-for yarns that are low in stock.

These pattern treats are perfect for spooky season - no tricks here! 

Halloween patterns at a glance

Crochet amigurumi: ghosts, bats, pumpkins and a witch

Most of the toys in this collection are worked in continuous rounds: no slip stitch, no chain at the start of each round, just a spiral. It’s faster and leaves no seam line, but it means you can lose your place. Put a stitch marker in the first stitch of every round and move it up as you go. If you want all three Paintbox characters plus Bernard the Dinosaur in one file, grab the free Boo! Halloween Crochet Toy Collection ebook.

Boo the Fiendishly Friendly Ghost Crochet

Crochet · confident beginner · Free download

Irene Strange's ghost is a round, squishy body with a frill and a little hat, worked in single and double crochet. Every piece is a continuous round with no joining. If you've made one amigurumi ball before, you can make Boo.

Yarn pick: Paintbox Yarns Cotton Aran in Paper White, with Pure Black for the face. 

Oscar the Little Bat Crochet Pattern

Crochet · intermediate · Free download

Oscar is a bat for people who don't want spooky. He has a pink and lilac body, separate wings, ears and tiny fangs. There are more small pieces to sew on than with Boo, so set aside an evening just for assembly.

Yarn pick: Paintbox Yarns Cotton Aran in Pale Lilac, Dusty Lilac or Candyfloss Pink, with Paper White for the fangs.

Pips the Pumpkin Crochet Pattern

Crochet · intermediate, or a step up for beginners · Free download

Pips has stork-thin arms and legs, blush cheeks and a curly leaf on top. The arms and legs are the fiddly part. Stuff them lightly or not at all so they flop the way they do in the photo.

Yarn pick: Paintbox Yarns Cotton Aran in Blood Orange or Peach Orange for the body and Pine Green for the leaf.

Wanda The Witch Toy Crochet Pattern

Crochet · intermediate · Free download

Wanda is an 11-inch witch in dusty green, black, and charcoal, worked in continuous rounds. She's tall enough to stand on a mantel and still be seen from across the room.

Yarn pick: Lion Brand Vanna's Choice is the yarn she's written for, but most of her shades are running low. Paintbox Yarns Simply Aran in Slate Green, Pure Black, and Granite Grey is our top substitution choice, but as it's an Aran rather than worsted weight yarn, make sure to swatch first and drop a hook size if the fabric looks open. 

Mr. & Mrs. Skeleton Toy Crochet Pattern

Crochet · easy to intermediate · Free download

A 7.5-inch pair worked from the legs up, with safety eyes and embroidered details. You need two colors in total: black and white.

Yarn pick: Lion Brand 24/7 Cotton is low on black right now. Consider subbing in Paintbox Yarns Cotton Aran in Pure Black and Paper White to get the same crisp cotton stitch definition. Use the D-3 hook the pattern calls for, or the size that gets you a tight, gap-free fabric.

Ghost Ornament Toy Crochet Pattern

Crochet · beginner · Free download

A 3.5-inch ghost on a G-6 hook that you can finish in one sitting. Make three and hang them from a branch, or tie one to a treat bag.

Yarn pick: Any white worsted or Aran yarn works. Paintbox Yarns Cotton Aran in Paper White is the softest-looking option we have in stock.

Knitted Halloween toys

Knitted toys are worked flat or in the round and then seamed. They take longer to finish than crochet, but the fabric is softer and drapier, which suits cats and witches better than pumpkins.

MillaMia Halloween Toys Knitting Pattern

Knit · Free download

A small set of Halloween toys from MillaMia, written for Naturally Soft Merino. Merino gives a softer, slightly fuzzy finish compared with cotton, so these look more like something to cuddle than decor.

Yarn pick: MillaMia Naturally Soft Merino in Pitch Black and Storm.

Blair the Witch Jack O'Lantern and Dera Mog in Paintbox Simply DK

Knit · $4.25 PDF

An Amanda Berry trio of a witch, a jack-o'-lantern, and a black cat, written for Paintbox Simply DK. It's a good value pattern if you want three characters for one price.

Yarn pick: Paintbox Yarns Simply DK in Rust Orange, Pure Black, Dark Aubergine, and Lime Green. It costs $2.93 a ball, so the whole trio is inexpensive to make.

Franklin Habit Dolores Sexy Bat Ensemble Knitting Pattern

Knit · $6.00 PDF

Franklin Habit's Dolores is the grown-up joke of the collection: a glamorous vampire bat with a plunging neckline, peekaboo lace, and bead eyes. It's knit flat and seamed. 

Yarn pick: Valley Yarns Haydenville DK in Black.

Halloween granny squares and blankets

Searches for Halloween granny squares are climbing this fall, and it makes sense. A square is a single evening, you can stop at four and make a pillow, or keep going until you have a blanket. If you’ve never made one, start with our beginner granny square tutorial.

Spooky Granny Squares

Crochet · DK · 4 mm hook · $6.46 PDF

Fourteen characters in one 35-page PDF: skeleton, sugar skull, pumpkin, cat, ghost, zombie, vampire, scarecrow, eyeball, devil, Frankenstein, bat, spider and witch's hat. Each one starts as a circle in the character color and is squared off in a background color. The squares come in 4, 5, 6.5 and 8.5 inches, so you can size them for a sweater, a pillow or a blanket. US terms, with UK abbreviations.

Yarn pick: Paintbox Yarns Simply DK: Pure Black and Paper White for the eyes and outlines, then Rust Orange, Lime Green, Dark Aubergine and Misty Grey for the characters. 

Little Monster Granny Squares

Crochet · DK · intermediate · $6.71 PDF

Made the same way as the spooky set, with eight friendlier monsters. Each square takes 20–40 meters of yarn, so this is a good use for DK scraps. Mix both sets for one blanket.

Yarn pick: Paintbox Yarns Simply DK — or whatever DK is left in your stash.

Spooky Spider Afghan in Lion Brand Vanna's Choice & Vanna's Glamour

Crochet · intermediate · J-10 hook · Free download

Michele Maks' 40 × 40-inch throw uses black and charcoal squares, with spider webs that stand out in a red metallic yarn. It's the most "display it every year" project in the collection.

Yarn pick: Lion Brand Vanna's Choice stock is currently running low, so if you're making the whole blanket, check that you can get enough of one dye lot before you start. For a deep-stock alternative, use Paintbox Yarns Simply Aran in Pure Black and Granite Grey.

Halloween knits and crochet to wear

A wearable Halloween project needs to look good on November 1st, too. The best ones in this collection hide the theme in texture or lace rather than in a big motif.

Valley Yarns Spider and Web Lace Cowl Knitting Pattern

Knit · lace · $5.99 PDF

Two different lace patterns, one a web and one a spider, play off each other in a 24-inch × 12-inch cowl. The charts are also written out line by line. You need two skeins of Huntington and a US 5 (3.75 mm) 24-inch circular needle, at a gauge of 20 sts and 30 rows to 4 inches in stockinette.

Yarn pick: Valley Yarns Huntington in Natural (the sample color). Black makes the web disappear, so pick a light or mid shade. Harvest Orange is in stock if you want it to look more traditionally Halloween!

Spooky Bat Beanie

Knit · stranded colorwork · $5.99 PDF

Black bats and glow-in-the-dark bats fly around the hat. It's knit in the round in stockinette from a colorwork chart, and the crown is both written and charted. This is a good first stranded project because the motif repeats are short.

Yarn pick: A smooth black worsted for the main color, plus a glow-in-the-dark yarn for the bats. Check the pattern for the weight it was written for.

Halloween Neckwarmer

Knit · knit/purl texture · $5.99 PDF

A ghost, a jack-o'-lantern, and a skull are made only from knits and purls, so the neckwarmer reads as Halloween up close and as texture from across the room. It takes one skein. The instructions come as text, charts, and Stitch Maps.

Yarn pick: Choose a smooth, light-colored yarn. Knit/purl motifs disappear in dark or fuzzy yarn.

Pumpkin Ruff Cowl

Crochet · all levels · worsted · $5.99 PDF

Double crochet and post stitches build ridges that look like pumpkin segments. The edging is in a contrast color, and there's an optional drawstring. Gauge isn't critical.

Yarn pick: Valley Yarns Haydenville in Pumpkin Spice, with Rich Cocoa for the edging. Superwash merino means it can go in the wash.

Halloween Interchangeable Motif Jumper

Knit · easy · chunky · Free download

A super-easy bulky sweater with a motif you choose: a carved pumpkin, or a skull for Día de los Muertos. It's the fastest sweater in the collection.

Yarn pick: Paintbox Yarns Simply Chunky. For the skull version, Pure Black and Cream are both in stock, but Simply Chunky orange is currently sold out. Consider subbing in a similar weight of orange yarn from your stash if you want to include the pumpkin motif.

Finger Play Witchy Hand Gloves Knitting Pattern

Knit · advanced intermediate · Free download

Fingerless gloves with dramatically long "witch" fingers, in child and adult sizes. They're the one costume piece in the collection, first published in YarnPlay in October 2010.

Yarn pick: Paintbox Yarns Simply Aran in Pine Green and Rose Red stands in for the original Fern and Scarlet.

Halloween decor and quick makes

Halloween Pennants Decoration Crochet Pattern

Crochet · easy · Free download

A pennant banner in mustard, terracotta, white, and black, with simple color changes and shaping. This is the project we'd hand to someone who has only ever made a scarf.

Yarn pick: Lion Brand Vanna's Choice in Mustard, Terracotta, White, and Black. 

Frankenstein Bag Crochet Pattern

Crochet · intermediate · Free download

A 10-inch Frankenstein treat bag in green and purple, worked in continuous rounds. It's sturdy enough to carry candy back from a whole street.

Yarn pick: Paintbox Yarns Simply Aran in Pear Green and Pansy Purple. Acrylic holds its shape under the weight of candy and washes clean afterward.

Easiest Rectangle Pumpkins

Crochet · beginner · $5.99 PDF

If you can single crochet a rectangle, you can make this pumpkin: simply crochet a ribbed strip, gather it, and stuff it! The designer says that with practice, a mini takes about 15 minutes. This is the best scrap-buster here: string several together into a garland, or use them as Thanksgiving place settings.

Yarn pick: Any scraps. Mixing weights and textures is the point!

Pepo Pumpkin Patch

Knit · advanced beginner · Free download

Knitted pumpkins with instructions for working in the round or flat, plus a video for the shaping and finishing. Worsted on 4 mm (US 6) needles is the starting point, but any yarn works.

Yarn pick: Valley Yarns Haydenville in Squash or Pumpkin Spice, or Paintbox Yarns Simply Aran in Ginger Orange.

Matching yarn to Halloween projects

Need the right hook? Our crochet hook size guide by yarn weight covers it, and you can browse crochet hooks here. For more free downloads beyond Halloween, see 25 free crochet patterns with PDF downloads or the full free knitting and crochet patterns collection.

Shop all Halloween patternsShop Paintbox Yarns

FAQ

Are there free Halloween crochet patterns on Yarn.com?

Yes. Boo the Ghost, Oscar the Bat and Pips the Pumpkin from Paintbox Yarns are free downloads, along with Lion Brand's Wanda the Witch, Mr. & Mrs. Skeleton, the Ghost Ornament, the Frankenstein Bag, Halloween Pennants and the Spooky Spider Afghan.

What is the easiest Halloween crochet project for a beginner?

The Ghost Ornament (3.5 inches, G-6 hook) or the Easiest Rectangle Pumpkins. Both use only basic stitches and can be finished in one sitting.

What yarn is best for Halloween amigurumi?

A cotton Aran such as Paintbox Yarns Cotton Aran. It gives crisp stitch definition and no fuzz, and holds stuffing firmly when you use a hook a size or two smaller than usual.

What size are the Spooky Granny Squares?

The pattern includes 4, 5, 6.5 and 8.5-inch versions of all 14 squares, in DK weight on a 4 mm hook.

Is there a Halloween knitting pattern for a sweater?

Yes. The free Paintbox Yarns Halloween Interchangeable Motif Sweater is an easy bulky knit with a pumpkin or skull motif, in Simply Chunky.

How do I stop stuffing showing through crochet toys?

Use a hook one or two sizes smaller than the yarn suggests so the fabric is tight. Stuff firmly but not so hard that the stitches stretch open.