This easy ghost knitting pattern is worked on a small circular knitting machine, but you could easily stitch one up by hand as well.

About the Easy Ghost Pattern

I had a little bit of white yarn left over from my striped scarf I made the other day, and I thought it would be fun to make some little Halloween ghosts out of it.

This would be a fast project even knitting by hand, but using a Sentro or Addi circular knitting machine it literally takes just a few minutes to make one.

I think the finishing of the project may take more time than the actual knitting! These are so cute and would be great to decorate a boo bag or basket, make a garland, or just tuck into your other Halloween decorations.

Supplies for a Knit Ghost

This easy ghost knitting pattern doesn’t take a lot of yarn or other supplies. You can use any white yarn you have on hand.

I used about 34 yards total of white worsted weight/medium/size 4 yarn (this is Mary Maxim Woodlands in ecru, which has been discontinued, but Mary Maxim Starlette or Caron Simply Soft would be good options if you’re shopping.

You’ll also need a tiny bit of black yarn or embroidery floss (I used some Knit Picks Brava Sport since that’s what I had handy), a long yarn needle (I like these that have a bend in them), and a tiny bit of stuffing. You could probably even use cotton balls for this if you don’t have stuffing handy. You’ll also need a pair of scissors.

The way I did my finishing I needs a circular knitting needle and a crochet hook. The knitting needle can be any size that’s smaller than your stitches, and the hook should be the right size for the yarn you’re using (mine is a J/6mm).

And of course your knitting machine! I have a Sentro 22 pin but an Addi 22 would work fine, too.

Easy Ghost Knitting Pattern

To make this easy knit ghost, just cast on as you normally would and crank either 20 or 25 rounds. My small one is 20 and the larger one is 25. You could make them even bigger if you want but after making the 25 round one I had just enough yarn left for a 20. I think they’re both cute.

For reference my short ghost is about 3.5 inches/8.9 cm and the larger one is 4.75 inches/12 cm, not including the yarn for hanging at the top.

Crank around once without feeding the yarn through and pick the stitches up onto a circular knitting needle (or you can thread onto a spare piece of yarn if you don’t have a needle handy).

I needed to bind off without using any yarn because I didn’t have much of a tail left. This is a great method if you don’t know how to knit or are running out of yarn. First grab the first two stitches with a crochet hook.

Pull the first stitch through the second stitch.

Repeat all the way around.

Pull the tail of the yarn through the last stitch to fasten it off.

Finishing the Easy Knit Ghost

The cast on side will be the top of the ghost’s head, so pull that yarn tight until it closes up the hole. This reminds me of a Pac-Man ghost!

Thread your yarn needle with this tail end and thread it through all the stitches again and pull tight to make sure that hole is secure.

Stuff the head part with a small amount of stuffing. You can play around with the shape and size of the head until you like it.

Take the needle down through the hole in the top of the head and come out in the round of knitting where you want the bottom of the head to be.

Weave the needle in and out through the stitches all the way around. Try to keep in the same row, but it doesn’t have to be perfect.

Pull tight and adjust the head to the way you want it.

At this point I added the eyes. On the little one I used duplicate stitch.

And on the bigger one I just wrapped the yarn around one stitch four times to make an eye. You could also use buttons, French knots or sew or glue felt eyes onto the face.

Pull tight on the yarn securing the head again to make sure it’s where you want it, then wrap the yarn around the base of the head two or three times to secure it.

Take the yarn back up through the top of the head.

If you want a hanging loop at the top, take the yarn back down but leave a bit of a tail so you can tie a knot around the end of the yarn to hold it in place. Use the crochet hook or yarn needle to bury the end inside the head.

To finish the bottom of the ghost, thread the yarn tail on the yarn needle. Take the needle underneath the v of the last stitch on the edge and pull through.

Take the yarn needle through the v of the first stitch on the yarn needle from front to back and pull through.

Weave in the yarn end on the inside of the body.

Easy Ghost Knitting Pattern Hand Knit Version

If you want to knit an easy ghost like this by hand, use knitting needles of a size that will work with the yarn you are using. For medium weight yarn that would be size 6 or 7 US/4-4.5 mm.

Cast on 22 stitches. Divide onto double pointed knitting needles or distribute as needed for working in the round on a circular knitting needle. Add a stitch marker to mark the end of the round.

Join for knitting in the round and knit every stitch for 20 or 25 rounds, or to your desired length.

Cut yarn, leaving a long tail. Thread yarn onto a yarn needle and slide all the stitches onto the needle and pull tight.

Continue finishing as above, but here the bind off edge will be the top of the ghost and the cast on edge is the bottom.

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