Looking for the perfect Halloween crochet project? This swirl lollipop will make a great decoration for your Halloween party and trick or treating tour with the kids. Plus it’s probably the only lolly that will survive long after Halloween is over, and it can turn into a funfair lolly for your kid’s crochet candy store. This Halloween swirl lolly crochet pattern is great for beginner plus to intermediate level crocheters to practice different kinds of basic crochet stitches like single crochet, increase and decrease on a flat piece worked in rows, and review the colour change technique at the beginning of a row.
No time right now? Pin this tutorial for later.
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I love Halloween, but I have to admit I hate horror movies and scary stories, so I kind of prefer the “fantasy” aspect of it. The costumes, the pretty candle light of carved pumpkins, the fairy world of Harry Potter. Not really the bloody, zombie, creepy version of it. So it’s no surprise that my inspiration for Halloween this year was something fun, sweet, colourful, and eventually reusable beyond Halloween if made with other colours for example.
Besides, when it comes to amigurumi I’m always influenced by the childhood universe, kids toys, and my own childhood. I remember staring at these giant lollies at funfairs, using all the resources of my imagination to make my dad buy me one. And I can’t wait to bring my son there in a few years and see the sparkle in his eyes. Ok he’ll probably give me a hard time when we reach the candy stand…
Scroll down for the free pattern or you can also directly purchase a nice add-free pdf version of this pattern in my shop on Etsy for a small fee. The pdf version has all the pictures, instructions, and it’s ready-to-print to carry along with you wherever you want to sit and crochet!
Good news! You like the Halloween Lollies set and want to have all three patterns in one place? The pdf regrouping the Halloween Swirl, Spider Web and Spiral lollies will soon be available in my shop on Etsy. Stay tuned!
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU START
Before you forget:
- Purchase the ad-free printable pdf on Etsy Etsy.
- Add this lolly crochet pattern to your Ravelry queue here.
- Pin this Halloween swirl lollipop pattern to your Pinterest boards here.
MATERIAL
- 3.5mm / US E-4 crochet hook
- Yarn: #3 / DK / light worsted yarn, 8ply, 80% cotton 20% Milk Fiber, in dark purple, white, and light beige (I use a local shop yarn, but you can combine any colour)
- Fiberfill
- Tapestry needle
- Optional: a wooden stick of 5 mm diameter and 13.5 cm length (you can use a longer one and saw it to the right length with a bread knife). 5mm diameter is approximately the size of a wooden disposable chopstick, if you have some in your kitchen drawers.
GAUGE AND SIZE
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The gauge for this pattern is not critical, as long as you crochet tight enough so that the fiberfill in the swirl cannot be seen through your stitches.
- With the material mentioned above, the stick is 14cm (5,5″) long
- The lolly diameter is 10cm (4″)
PATTERN NOTES AND SPECIAL TECHNIQUES
- The number before the abbreviation represents how many times to work one type of stitch into consecutive stitches from the previous round. Ex: 3inc = work one increase into each of the next 3 stitches.
- This pattern has two parts, the candy swirl, and the stick. Alternatively, you can also directly glue a wooden stick to the candy swirl with hot glue and skip the crochet stick part of the pattern (but then it’s not child safe for toddlers or young kids, remember to always monitor closely when toddlers or young kids are playing with toys).
- This pattern uses normal crochet decrease. If you are a beginner you can check how to make a normal decrease in a detailed video and pictures step by step tutorial on my blog here, and how to make a magic ring here.
- If you need a remember on how to change colour at the beginning of a row I got you covered and shot a small sample video specific to this pattern. The video is available below in the swirl pattern.
ABBREVIATIONS
This tutorial follows US crochet notations.
- sc: single crochet
- inc: increase (= work 2sc in the next stitch)
- dec: single crochet decrease (single crochet 2 sts together)
- st(s): stitch(es)
- [number]: total number of stitches of the round/row
- Rnd: Round
HALLOWEEN SWIRL LOLLY CROCHET PATTERN
THE SWIRL CROCHET PATTERN
A quick note before you start: in this pattern, you’re gonna increase always on the same side of the row, and decrease always on the other side fo the row. So you’re gonna end up with a shape like this:
With White colour, make a slip knot, leaving a long tail. Chain 120.
Row 1: starting in the second chain from the hook, sc in each st, inc in last st. [120] Change colour with purple yarn, chain 1, turn.
If you need a reminder on how to change colour at the beginning of the row, I got you covered with a short video. It follows the same instructions as this pattern but I have chained only a dozen of stitches (instead of 120!) for the purpose of this video.
Row 2: inc, 117sc, dec, chain 1, turn. [120]
Row 3: dec, 117sc, inc. [120]
Change colour with white yarn, chain 1, turn.
Row 4: inc, 117sc, dec, chain 1, turn. [120]
Row 5: dec, 117sc, inc. [120]
Change colour with purple yarn, chain 1, turn.
Row 6: inc, 117sc, dec, chain 1, turn. [120]
Row 7: dec, 117sc, inc. [120]
Change colour with white yarn, chain 1, turn.
Row 8: inc, 117sc, dec. [120]
Fasten off, leaving a long tail to sew, about 55-60cm (21-23″).
(No need to weave in ends, you can just hide them inside the swirl, they won’t show once you have closed both ends of the swirl.)
Fold in half, with the best looking side outside and sew both edges together with a simple whip stitch seaming.
Stuff along the way with fiberfill, lightly (medium firm) so that it doesn’t make the roll too thick. It needs to remain a bit flexible. Sew closed both ends of the tube, using the yarn tails, and keep one long tail to secure the swirl into a spiral.
When you start sewing you’ll see that the swirl is building up naturally with these diagonal stripes.
Start rolling the tube into a spiral. No need to twist the swirl, just roll it up and secure the spiral with a few stitches. With your yarn tail threaded onto your tapestry needle, secure the spiral along the way: sew one stitch from the tube to one stitch of the spiral, pull tight, then roll again and sew again to secure the spiral shape, and keep going this way until your tube is completely rolled up. Then weave in yarn tail inside.
THE STICK CROCHET PATTERN
With your light beige yarn:
Rnd 1: work 5sc into a magic ring. [5]
Rnd 2-25: sc around. [5]
There are several options to stuff the stick:
- you can use fiberfill if it’s destined to children and you want a safe toy, the downside being that it will be all flexible and will be bending with the weight of the lollipop swirl.
- you could use a pipe cleaner, but it will also be a bit too flexible and it’s not child safe.
- my preferred option is to use a wooden stick to put inside to have a rigid stick. If it’s big enough (like chopsticks diameter) and if the ends are flat and not sharp it should not go out easily.
Of course you can adjust the length of the stick to your liking with a few more rounds or a few less. Fasten off, sew closed, and leave a long tail to sew the stick to the swirl.
ASSEMBLY
Sew the stick to the candy swirl using the long yarn tail of the stick, don’t hesitate to sew very tight and several times around. To avoid the swirl to be all shaky, sew a few stitches quite high on both sides of the roll, as well as on the sides of the roll, and tighten them up to the stick, it will help to stabilize it.
Congratulations! Now if you’re hooked and want to complete your Halloween decor I’m sure you’ll like the two other lollies of this set. The free patterns of the Spider Web Lolly and the Halloween Spiral Lolly are available on my blog, and the printable pdf is available for purchase in my Etsy shop.
I’d be really happy to see your finished Halloween Swirl Lolly! Tag me on Instagram you can find me at @octopuscrochetdesign. If you liked this pattern, don’t hesitate to share it with your crochet friends!
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