Halloween Granny Squares: Ghost, Bat, Spider and Pumpkin
Six of the seven patterns that fill the Halloween granny squares results publish no yarn total at all, and one of them is not a granny square: it is a twenty square blanket that needs four balls of yarn. That is the whole gap on this search. The lists name the patterns, then stop.
Below are the finished size, hook and round count for six free Halloween granny squares, read off each designer’s own page rather than copied from a roundup. Then the one complete yarn list that exists in this set, and the arithmetic that turns it into a number you can shop with: 1.28 yards per square inch.
The numbers before you buy yarn
These Halloween granny squares do not share a module. They finish at 12 cm, 13 cm and 6.5 inches, so three different Halloween squares will not sit together in one blanket without adjustment.
Only one pattern here publishes a yarn total: 4 balls, 1,456 yards or 1,332 metres, for a 30 by 38 inch blanket. Every other designer publishes none.
That is 1.28 yards per square inch, or about 73 yards per square across 20 squares. It is the only yardage anchor this search has.
Every designer here uses a hook below the Craft Yarn Council range for their yarn. That is deliberate, and it is why these squares hold a motif flat.
The numbers for all seven patterns
This is every published figure, and every gap. Where a cell says none published, that is the designer’s page, not our omission, and we will not invent a number for you to buy yarn against.
| Pattern | Size | Hook | Yarn | Total | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ghost Square | approx 6.5 in | 6.00 mm, 4.00 mm applique | not named | none published | 5 |
| Pumpkin Square | approx 6.5 in | 6.00 mm, 4.00 mm applique | not named | none published | 5 |
| Bat Square | 13 cm (about 5.1 in) | 2.75 mm | Cotton DK, CYC 3 | none published | 9 plus shaping |
| Spider Square | 13 cm blocked | 2.75 mm | Cotton DK, CYC 3 | none published | 9 plus legs |
| Eyeball Square | 4.75 in (12 cm) | 3.00 mm | Cotton DK, CYC 3 | none published | 10 |
| The Web We Weave | 6.5 in | 5.00 mm | Super Saver, CYC 4 | none published | not published |
| Pumpkin Patch Blanket | 30 by 38 in (76 by 96.5 cm) | 5.00 mm | Super Saver, CYC 4 | 4 balls, 1,456 yd | 7, plus 3 border |
Six of seven say none published. That is not a criticism of designers who give their work away free, but it is why a reader planning a blanket of Halloween granny squares gets no answer from the pattern pages alone.
One thing the table cannot show: none of these patterns works over a stitch multiple, because not one starts with a chain. All six begin with a magic ring, so there is no foundation row to miscount. Learn the magic ring before you cast on, because it is round one of all six.
Where can I find free Halloween granny squares?
All six Halloween granny squares are free to read in full on the designer’s own site. We link rather than reproduce, because the designers wrote them and the traffic belongs to them.
Halloween Ghost Granny Square
Maria Weaber’s ghost finishes at approximately 6.5 inches over 5 rounds, with the ghost worked separately as a 6 row applique and sewn on. Two hooks: 6.00 mm for the square, 4.00 mm for the applique, which stops the ghost rippling against a looser background. It calls for 6 mm safety eyes. The page names no yarn and no yardage, so treat any yarn figure attached to it elsewhere as an estimate.
Halloween Pumpkin Granny Square
The companion square from the same designer, again approximately 6.5 inches over 5 rounds with a 3 round applique on the smaller hook. One detail worth carrying: this pattern uses no safety eyes. At least one page listing it says it does, having carried that across from the ghost. Buy eyes for the ghost, not the pumpkin.
Crochet Bat Granny Square
Caitie of Thoresby Cottage publishes this in centimetres only, at 13 cm square on a 2.75 mm hook in cotton DK. The inch figure in our table is our conversion, not hers, so treat 5.1 inches as approximate. It runs 9 rounds plus shaping for head, wings and ears. She states less than one ball of each colour, the closest thing to a quantity on the page.
Creepy Crawly Spider Granny Square
Sized by the same designer to match the bat at 13 cm, so these two sit together without adjustment. One word on that page matters more than it looks: the 13 cm is measured blocked. Cotton opens under blocking, so a grid planned off an unblocked square comes out wider. Nine rounds for the body, 3 for the head, 8 legs worked individually.
Halloween Eyeball Granny Square
Fay of Stitch by Fay publishes the only square here giving both units on one line: approximately 4.75 by 4.75 inches, 12 by 12 cm. It is the smallest, worked over 10 rounds on a 3.00 mm hook. She names exact shades but no quantity. That 3.00 mm hook against 2.75 mm is why this lands at 12 cm while the two above land at 13 cm in the same yarn.
The Web We Weave Granny Square
Nadia Fuad’s spider web square finishes at 6.5 inches on a 5.00 mm hook, with her own warning attached: do not go above 5.5 mm. She specifies the yarn in as many colours as you want, with no ball count and no yardage. One listing files it as Aran weight, but the label itself is CYC 4 medium, and the label decides what you buy.
Crochet Pumpkin Patch Blanket
Sarah Zimmerman’s pumpkin patch is the one complete numbers set in this search, and it is not a single square. It is 20 squares sewn into 4 strips of 5, finishing at 30 by 38 inches with a 3 round border. Gauge is 13 single crochet and 14 rows to 4 inches. Four balls. The materials and gauge live in the downloadable pattern, not the product page, which is why so few lists carry them.
How many granny squares would it take to make a blanket?
Twenty, if you follow the only pattern here that answers the question. The pumpkin patch is 4 across by 5 down, finishing at 30 by 38 inches with its border: a lapghan rather than a full throw.
That gives us the figure this search is missing. Take the designer’s published 30 by 38 inches, which is 1,140 square inches, and her 4 balls at 364 yards each, which is 1,456 yards. Divide one by the other and a Halloween granny square blanket in worsted weight costs 1.28 yards per square inch, or about 73 yards per square across the 20 squares.
That figure is ours, calculated from the designer’s published size and ball count rather than measured off a finished blanket. One honest caveat: the 30 by 38 inches includes the border, and no per square size is published, so the 73 yards cannot be cleanly separated from border yarn. Use it to size a purchase, not a single square.
What it is good for is scaling. Want the same blanket at 40 by 50 inches? That is 2,000 square inches, so about 2,560 yards, or seven balls rather than four. One warning before you apply it elsewhere: 1.28 belongs to worsted weight on a 5.00 mm hook. The cotton DK squares on 2.75 mm are a different fabric, and carrying the number across weights would give you a confidently wrong answer.
Why every designer here hooks tighter than the label
Run the hook column for these Halloween granny squares against the Craft Yarn Council ranges and every pattern in this set sits below the recommended range for its yarn, without exception.
The council puts light weight, category 3, at 4.5 to 5.5 mm. The bat and spider use 2.75 mm, the eyeball 3.00 mm. For medium weight, category 4, the range is 5.5 to 6.5 mm, and both worsted patterns use 5.00 mm.
That is not six mistakes. It is what a motif square requires. Each carries a shape that has to sit flat against its background, and loose fabric lets the motif pucker while the square gapes at the corners. The Web We Weave designer says the quiet part out loud with her note not to exceed 5.5 mm.
Reach for the hook printed on the yarn band and you get a bigger, floppier square than the designer’s photograph, one that will not match the size in our table. Six of these seven publish no gauge at all, so hook size is the only density instruction you get. Follow it exactly.
Which Halloween square eats the most yarn?
The Web We Weave, by construction. Its designer describes it as deliberately chain heavy to build the web look, and a chain space covers ground with air rather than fabric.
That is the rule worth carrying past this page. Open stitches on a large hook cover more area per yard, so they use less yarn for a given size. Dense stitches like the single crochet in the pumpkin patch eat the most per square inch, which is why that blanket lands at 1.28 yards per square inch. We cannot rank the six squares against each other on yarn, and neither can anyone else, because five publish no total.
What is the easiest Halloween granny square to start with?
Of the six Halloween granny squares here, the pumpkin square, on round count and construction. It is 5 rounds with a 3 round applique, the shortest build here, and no eyes to position. The ghost is the same 5 rounds but adds a 6 row applique and safety eyes, which go in before the piece closes. The eyeball at 10 rounds and the spider with 8 individually worked legs are the two longest.
If the magic ring that opens all six is a step further than you want today, our seasonal blanket patterns worked flat avoid motifs entirely.
Where Halloween granny squares go wrong
Mixing designers without checking the module. This is the failure that costs a whole project when Halloween granny squares come from different designers. These squares finish at 12 cm, 13 cm and 6.5 inches, from three designers in two yarn weights. A 6.5 inch square is roughly 16.5 cm, so a ghost beside an eyeball leaves a gap of several centimetres on every seam. Pick one designer’s module and stay inside it, or plan a sashing strip from the start.
Measuring an unblocked square. The spider square’s 13 cm is a blocked figure, stated as such. Cotton relaxes and opens considerably under blocking. Make one square, measure it dry off the hook, multiply by 20 to plan a blanket, and your grid is built on the wrong number. Block the first square, then measure, then plan. The same discipline applies to any motif blanket worked in repeating units.
A third worth a line, since some of these become baby blankets: the ghost square uses 6 mm safety eyes. Safety eyes are not appropriate for an infant blanket for unsupervised sleep, and neither is loose open stitch work or fringe. Embroider the features instead, and defer to paediatric guidance rather than a craft site.
The pattern on these lists that is not a granny square
The pumpkin patch appears on Halloween granny square lists under a name that reads like a single square. It is not one. The designer’s pattern specifies 20 squares in 4 strips of 5, a 3 round border, and a finished 30 by 38 inches, needing 4 balls at 364 yards or 333 metres each.
We audited eight pages ranking for this search. Three could not be read at the addresses they rank under, one of them selling the patterns rather than giving them away. Of the five readable, every measurable number agrees with the designers: sizes, hooks and round counts all check out. So the expensive error here is not a wrong number. It is a missing one.
Not one audited page publishes a yardage, for this pattern or any other. A reader searching Halloween granny squares leaves the entire first page of results without knowing whether they need one ball or ten, and somebody who reads a list, sees a square and buys yarn for a square will be four balls short of the blanket they actually chose.
Frequently asked questions
Are these Halloween granny square patterns really free?
All six squares are free to read in full on the designer’s own website, and the pumpkin patch blanket is a free download from its publisher. Several designers also sell an optional advertisement free printable. We link to designers rather than reproducing their instructions.
What is the drunken granny crochet stitch?
It is a granny variant where clusters are worked so each round sits offset from the one below, giving the fabric a tilted, wavy look and the name. It is a stitch pattern rather than a Halloween motif, and none of the six squares here use it.
Can I mix these Halloween granny squares in one blanket?
Only the bat and the spider, which their designer sized deliberately to match at 13 cm. The others finish at 12 cm and 6.5 inches in different yarn weights, so mixing needs either a sashing strip between squares or an added round on the smaller ones to bring them up to the largest module.
How much yarn do I need for a Halloween granny square blanket?
The only published answer in this set is 4 balls, 1,456 yards or 1,332 metres, for a 30 by 38 inch blanket in worsted weight. That is 1.28 yards per square inch, the figure to scale from for a different size. For the cotton DK squares no designer publishes a total, and the honest answer is that you would have to swatch and weigh.
Do I need safety eyes for these squares?
Only for the ghost square, which calls for 6 mm safety eyes. The pumpkin square from the same designer does not use them, despite what some listings say. Skip them entirely and embroider the features if the finished piece is for a baby.
Where to go next
- Blanket Styles for granny square blankets and the other constructions worth building a project around.
- Free Blanket Patterns for more patterns published with their real numbers attached.
- Easy Blankets if the magic ring and applique work here is a step further than you want right now.
Sources
- Halloween Ghost Granny Square, Maria Weaber, Maria’s Blue Crayon
- Halloween Pumpkin Granny Square, Maria Weaber, Maria’s Blue Crayon
- Crochet Bat Granny Square, Caitie, Thoresby Cottage
- Creepy Crawly Spider Granny Square, Caitie, Thoresby Cottage
- Halloween Eyeball Granny Square, Fay, Stitch by Fay
- The Web We Weave Granny Square, Nadia Fuad, YARNutopia
- Crochet Pumpkin Patch Blanket, Sarah Zimmerman, published by Yarnspirations
- Crochet hook size standards, Craft Yarn Council
- Standard yarn weight system, Craft Yarn Council
