Ch 1 at the beginning of a round does not count as a stitch.

When stuffing each pumpkin, leave about ¼“–½” of space between the top of the stuffing and the top of your work. This helps keep the last few rounds of stitches from getting stretched out.

• For the same reason, you may also need to use a slightly looser tension for the last few rounds.

Make sure to get plenty of stuffing into the “corners” of the pumpkins so they don’t collapse.