halloween DIY: yarn, sticks, & spider webs

Featured in the DailyBuzz Moms 9×9

My little Birdie watches me knit and wants desperately to join me. But her patience level – among other things – just isn’t ready quite yet. So I’m always looking for other yarn-based projects she can sink her teeth and hands into. Making traditional “God’s Eyes” into Halloween-worthy spider webs is our newest project. I haven’t tried these with her just yet, but knowing how much she loves to make pompoms – wrap, wrap, wrap, wrap, and more wrapping – I’m fairly positive this will be a hit.

Gather:

• Yarn – we used a linen-colored acrylic, Vanna’s Choice (but it’s maybe too fuzzy)
• Sticks – a perfect excuse to go stick hunting in your yard! The gnarlier and knottier, the better. Because each knob and knot helps create spaces and separations in the layers of your spider web.
• Plastic spiders – I found ours in the $1 aisle at Target, but any old kind will do.

Make your DIY Halloween Spider Web God’s Eyes:

1. Choose 2 or 3 sticks, and tie a very tight square knot around the center.
2. Begin wrapping the yarn around the sticks tightly. Alternating figure 8 shapes around each stick works well. They will tighten up as you go.
3. Now begin wrapping the yarn around each stick. Loop it once around each stick in a circle, keep going for several rounds.
4. Reverse the loops to enhance the spider web look. If you’ve been looping the yarn over each stick, switch so you’re looping the yarn under the stick instead.
5. Finish up with a knot on the backside, and leave a long tail to hang your spider!

I’d love to find enough sticks to hang, oh, 15 of these on a wall – wouldn’t that be amazing? Happy Halloween!