How to Knit Skull Shirts

Create a skull pattern on graph paper to knit a spooky shirt.

A knit skull gives a spooky or ominous touch to any knitting project. When knitting a skull shirt, use a basic sweater pattern, adjusted to your size, and then create the skull pattern using graph paper. As you begin to knit in your skull, switch yarn to a contrasting color so the skull stands out from the shirt material. Though skulls are commonly white, use any color yarn to create a scary shirt for Halloween.

Things You'll Need

• Graph paper
• Pencil
• 5 skeins worsted weight yarn
• 1 skein worsted weight yarn in contrasting color
• Circular needles
• Long straight needles
• Tapestry needle
• Stitch marker
• Scissors
• Stitch holders

Instructions

1. Draw your skull pattern by coloring in a skull in the center of your graph paper. With the graph paper, each square will represent a stitch and you will knit the skull into the shirt based on the pattern. Make the skull pattern any size.

2. Cast 146 stitches on your circular needles, then work the row in a rib stitch for a couple of inches. Rib stitches are done by knitting two to four stitches, then purling two to four stitches. This will create the bottom of your sweater.

3. Knit nine stitches then add a stitch on the first row after the ribbing. Repeat this across the row until you have added 10 stitches.

4. Knit the rows that will form the body of the shirt up to the place where you want to put in your skull. Begin this row by knitting the first number of stitches as indicated by your graph paper that do not form the face of the skull. Switch to the contrasting colored yarn, and knit the stitches colored in on the pattern. Switch back to the original yarn and finish off the row. You will be knitting from the bottom up, so start with the bottom horizontal row of the pattern.

5. Repeat this process until you have completed knitting in the skull pattern. Knit the remainder of the sweater body up to the underarms as you did the first rows after the rib stitch. The shirt should measure approximately 16 inches, though you can adjust to any length. Transfer the raw stitches of the body to a straight needle.

6. Cast 32 stitches onto the circular needle to make a sleeve. Knit these stitches in a rib pattern for 2 inches. Knit the sleeve until it is the length you desire and record the number of rows so that you can make an identical sleeve. Every four rows, knit one, add a stitch, knit across until the second to last stitch, add one, then knit the final stitch until you have 64 stitches. When the sleeve is the length that you want, slide the raw stitches to another straight needle. Repeat this process to create the other sleeve.

7. Slide 68 stitches from the body piece onto the circular needles, then count out another 13 stitches and put them on a stitch holder. Count 13 stitches from one sleeve and place them on the same stitch holder, then slide the remainder of the stitches onto the circular needle. Count 68 stitches from the body piece and slide them onto the circular needles, then slide the remaining stitches onto another stitch holder. Place 13 stitches from the sleeve on the same stitch holder, then slide the remaining stitches onto the circular needles.

8. Knit across all the stitches on the circular needle for 1 to 2 inches This will create the arm holes and join the sleeves to the shirt. Make this as deep as you like.

9. Begin decreasing every other row by knitting two, knitting two together, then knitting across the row to the final four stitches. Then knit two together and knit two. Repeat this until you have 72 stitches remaining, then knit about 2 inches of ribbing to form the neck hole. Bind off.

10. Graft the stitches remaining at the arm pit holes together.

References

• Knitty; Knit By Numbers; Julie Theaker
• Domiknitrix: Freek Skull Pattern