Knitty-Gritty & Witty: Pumpkin Carving 101

2007

2008

Today, I'm going to give you an idea of how I carve my awesome pumpkins. It's so easy it's almost ridiculous. Where are most people cut open the top of a pumpkin and gut it, I start from the bottom. I cut the bottom out and gut it, which allows me to sit the pumpkin directly over the lit candles without having to try to light them while already inside the pumpkin. This really simplifies things. Each pumpkin I carve takes anywhere from 1 to 4 hours. Freddy Kruger took 4, and I vowed to never do that again. He turned out great, but my back was killing me and my eyes hurt too much. Hellboy took 2 hours, because it didn't have as much detail but it was freezing outside so I couldn't feel my hands. That really slowed me down. This year I did a True Blood theme. Each one took an hour and a half. Gutting them was much easier, because they were all really slick inside, so everything scraped away fast. I just use the cheap pumpkin carving kits you can buy at all major retailers. They have everything I need, except an Exacto knife, which I already own. The Exacto knife helps with the smaller holes that carving knives just can't make. It also helps smooth out corners. I recommend carving while the sun is up, because it's warmer. That is, if you carve outside like I do. I hate making a mess in my house. Plus, pumpkin sticks to everything. I mean everything. I think I still have some on my hands, and it's been 24 hours.

2009

This year, I did Bill Compton, Eric Northman and Sookie Stackhouse. I think Bill turned out the best. Sookie isn't bad, but Eric needs some work. Some of his small details aren't showing up. I just don't have the energy to go out there and fix them. By now, though, the carving is already drying out so there's no need to even bother. When you do carvings with fine details, like my Freddy, it will shrivel twice as fast as a normal jackolantern. It was puckered the very next day. Frustrating. But it did win 2 awards, one at my work and one online. That was the year I decided to start carving like that every year. I missed last year because I was in a small apartment and had nowhere to carve or display the work. So what was the point? But this year, living on base, I have all three outside. I just have to watch the neighborhood kids to make sure none of them get cocky and stomp or steal my babies. (They're that mean sometimes, trust me.)