I am excited to give to you the latest development in my Crocheter’s Delight: Trick-or-Treater’s Disappointment series! I know this is a knit pattern, but when I first started handing out trinkets at Halloween (instead of buying candy), the trinkets were crochet, and the name stuck.

My boyfriend of 16 years came up with the name for the original crochet version which is M’sters XS, as in extra small monsters. For this version, I simply added a “K” to indicate that it is knit. I’ve been saying the phonetic: “kickses” though. ;-)

I’m particularly pleased with how I overcame the challenge of making the doll in one piece without having to create arms separately and sew them on later. If you are a beginner, this pattern may test your skills. First of all, it is small and fiddly, there are increases and decreases, mid-row cast-on and bind-off (to create the arms), putting stitches on hold and picking them up later (to create the second leg), but I hope none of this deters anyone. After a doll or two, you will probably get the hang of it.

During the design process, I naturally made several of these and eventually had the pattern memorized and could make one in about 45 minutes from cast on to completion.

I enjoy making handfuls of these little guys to hand out on Halloween, and even though I named the series of patterns “…Trick-or-Treater’s Disappointment,” I have never received complaints. On the contrary, I have received many compliments and smiles in return, so if you decide to hand them out instead of candy, I hope for nothing less for you.

Make a Michael Myers version of the doll by using blue for the Main Color (his jumpsuit) and stick a pine needle (or the end of a toothpick) in his neck to represent the knitting needle that didn’t end up killing him ;-) Probably not a good idea to give the knitting needle version to small children.

There is a crochet version available that is less fiddly and takes less time to create, so you can check it out here on my blog (or here on Ravelry) if you’d prefer that version.

Yarns

Samples use Mainstays Basic (green) and yarns from unraveled commercially produced sweaters (all other colors). The sweater yarns are approximately a dk weight.

Main Color: 7.25 yds / 7 m
Contrast Color: 2.6 yds + 12” piece / 2.5 m + 30 cm piece

Needles

Use a needle that obtains a dense gauge for your yarn without straining your hands.

Additional Skills
The doll features embroidered features including french knots and a back stitch. If you’re not familiar with these, you might want to look them up or just improvise.