A coordinated set of Halloween pieces: a candy basket, a hot pad, potholders and a trick or treat bag. Worsted weight yarn throughout, so the whole set works from the same yarn.
One important warning
The potholders and hot pad must be crocheted in cotton, not acrylic. Acrylic melts on contact with a hot pan – it does not scorch, it liquefies, onto the pan and onto the hand.
The basket and the bag can be acrylic quite safely. But check the ball band before starting anything that goes near heat, and note that a yarn sold as a cotton blend may still contain enough synthetic to melt.
Making the potholders work
A single layer will not protect a hand however dense the stitch. Make them double-thickness, and consider a layer of cotton batting between the two sides.
Use a tight, solid stitch. Open or lacy patterns look good and let heat straight through.
The trick or treat bag
Size it for what it has to carry, and reinforce the handles. A bag full of sweets is heavier than it looks, and the handle join is what fails.
A firm stitch on the base is worth the effort – an open base lets small sweets fall through, which is a disappointment nobody needs on Halloween night.
If it will be carried after dark, work a stripe of a light or reflective yarn into it. It is a small addition that makes a child noticeably more visible to drivers.
Colours
Orange, black and purple read as Halloween immediately. A lime green as an accent brightens the set considerably against the darker colours.
Using the same palette across all four pieces is what makes it a set rather than four separate projects.
Storage
Store the whole set together in one labelled box. The point of making a set is having it all come out together next October.
