Starting to Carve

1. The best thing you can do in preparing to carve is to "flour" the pumpkin. After I pin the pattern and take it off, I take some flour and rub it around the pattern. The flour gets into the holes and you can see all the pin grooves you've done. 
2. The next thing to do is (with pattern in hand) take a nail and connect the dots, forming the shapes you have to do. Push down deep enough to create as much of a groove as the original pins did. 
3. Take some more flour and rub it into the new grooves you've made, and you now have a pattern clearly marked out on your pumpkin.