How to Crochet a Ghost

Steps

1. 1. Make a Slip Knot in the Cream Ghost Yarn

   Wrap the yarn round two fingers and across, then pinch it with your thumb so it holds. Slide a finger from your other hand under the first strand and over the second.

   Tip: Leave a 4 inch tail. You will pull on it later to close the top of the head.

   

2. 2. Chain Two to Start the Crochet Ghost Head

   Put the hook into the slip knot loop and pull the tail to snug it down round the hook. Yarn over and pull through the loop on your hook.

   Tip: Keep this starting chain loose. You are about to fit six stitches into it.

   

3. 3. Work Six Single Crochets Into the First Chain for Round One

   Go into the first chain you made, yarn over and pull up a loop so two loops sit on the hook. Yarn over and pull through both.

   Tip: Prefer a magic ring? Make six single crochets into the ring instead. The rest of the pattern stays the same.

   

4. 4. Increase to Twelve Stitches for the Round Top of the Ghost

   Chain one. It does not count as a stitch.

   Tip: Count to twelve before you slip stitch. A wrong count here shows up as a lopsided head.

   

5. 5. Crochet Rounds Three to Seven to Build the Ghost Body

   Chain one and make one single crochet into every stitch, twelve in all, then slip stitch to join. Your work starts to curl into a cup.

   Tip: Move your stitch marker up every round. It is the easiest way to know you are on round six and not round seven.

   

6. 6. Stuff the Crochet Ghost With Polyfill or Yarn Scraps

   Before you close anything, push a little stuffing into the tube. Elyse uses leftover yarn scraps, which is a good way to use up ends.

   Tip: Match the stuffing colour to the yarn if you can. Bright scraps can show through loose stitches.

   

7. 7. Decrease in the Back Loops to Close the Bottom of the Ghost

   Chain one. For round eight, work only in the back loop, the one furthest from you.

   Tip: Leave the front loops alone. They are where the ruffle skirt grows in the next step.

   

8. 8. Crochet the Ruffle Skirt Into the Front Loops of the Ghost

   Tie your cream yarn onto any front loop you skipped in round eight. Chain one, then make four single crochets into that loop.

   Tip: Want a fuller, wavier skirt? Try five stitches per loop. Three gives a tidier flare.

   

9. 9. Stitch Black Yarn Eyes and Pink Cheeks on the Crochet Ghost

   Thread black yarn onto a tapestry needle. Go in through the bottom and come out where the first eye starts, leaving a tail below.

   Tip: Pin the eye spots with a stitch marker before you sew. Moving them after is fiddly.