Easy Project Love: Hand Knit Round Pouf Pillow

Want a quick & easy project that looks like it took a lot more effort?  Have I got the craft for you!  This fabulous Hand Knit Round Pouf Pillow.   

With baby coming any day now and nesting mode kicking in big time, I've wanted to do a few simple projects.  Things I can potentially leave at any time & easily come back to have been key - especially with a curious and active under 2yr old running around.  Now's not the time for me to be designing new things from scratch or drafting patterns with my brain & belly both a bit worn out.  I found a great video tutorial for making this hand knit round pouf pillow that's cheap, takes next to no time and requires even less knitting skills.  I'd seen poufs like this in catalogs for ridiculously high prices so being able to make one myself, inexpensively, was a huge draw.


I also wanted a cute little throw pillow for the glider in our nursery and this turned out just perfect for it:



I'm not going to rehash an already awesome & easy to follow video by copying it step-by-step in photo form here, but you can find the original here at Do It On A Dime.  

I'd actually found a different video first, but the instructions & camera work were harder to follow.  And the finished sample pillow shown at the beginning of that video was actually larger than what was made during the tutorial so when I was done it was too small and I had to unravel the whole thing.  Grrr.  

The Do It On A Dime video gives two size options and once I learned the technique I did one that was in-between to get the ideal size.  My finished pillow was 11 inches in diameter and 7 inches high, so I did 15 stitches around and 8 rows high.  



That original video tutorial I found was from a shop that also carried the 100% Merino wool yarn used.  It was crazy expensive and they didn't have the right color either, so I found a great Merino Acrylic blend over at Hobby Lobby (FYI it's called Yarn Bee Showstopper) that looked identical to the pricey one and was on sale for $7.  It literally looked and felt like cotton candy while I was working. Is it weird I totally wanted to eat it?  

I'd bought it before I found the second video, and in it she mentioned using this very yarn as a cheaper option to the 100% wool, so I knew I was on the right track.

A few tips I learned from making this were to use a little clip to mark the start of each row.  If you're easily distracted or have to step away in the middle, like I usually do, this keeps you on track with knowing how far you've gone.  It's also important to keep the stitches uniform and not too loose - if they gape too much you'll see the poly fill on the inside.  The yarn has a good amount of give so you can always stretch it a little to widen the stitches when you stuff it.  

Also, you'll need less poly fill that you'll anticipate so it's ok to under stuff it a bit - the thickness of the yarn gives it a lot of the pouf shape.  

Lastly, I learned from the first video to fold a little yarn remnant in half and stuff it in the center hole of the top and bottom of the pillow to give it a nice finish (and to stop up the hole so you can't see inside at all): 

I LOVE how this turned out and how cute it looks with all our other furniture and pillows in the room.  I'm totally going to make more of these, maybe even a giant floor sized one.  I'm also on the lookout for some thick chenille yarn to do different textures.

Make A Sweater (Without A Pattern) Even If You Can Barely Knit

I'm sort of a "jack of all trades" type of crafter.  However this does not make me an expert in every crafting category - far from it!  There are some I know barely anything about, like knitting.  I've got the basics down, but ask me to make anything that isn't square or rectangular and forget it.  Yet, I still get drawn to knitting every once in a while and when I saw this fuzzy, fun yarn I desperately wanted to make something with it.  A sweater!!  Except my sweater making skills are....almost non-existant.

I'd made a super simple knit baby sweater - once- a few years ago. It was just rectangular pieces, but of course I couldn't find the directions or remember where I'd originally gotten them.  And that sweater was for a 6 month old and my Little Miss is now 3 1/2 years old.  So I got to thinking and calculating....AND my total cheater way to knit any size sweater came about.  Now I'm sharing it, so anyone as clueless about knitting as me can feel like a sweater making superstar.

You'll Need:
- Basic Knitting Skills like how to cast on & off and garter stitch.  There are a million how-tos & videos on YouTube for this.
- Bulky yarn* (I used Bernat's Tizzy yarn - it comes in some pretty candy colors and is marshmallow soft).  For my 4T size, I needed 3 skeins.
- Knitting Needles - I used some #15
- Plastic Sewing Needle
- Ruler or knitting gauge
- Optional: 5 buttons (if using a bulky yarn & loose stitch)

* Bulky yarn is a knitting newbie's best friend.  It's easy to work with, knits up quick and hides a multitude of goofs thanks to it's fluffy, stretchy nature.  It's usually super cuddly too.

Determine the sizing.  Use a boxy sweater or shirt in the size desired and note the length and width for two front halves, the sleeves and back.  The yarn package will tell you how many stitches and rows will give you a 4 inch by 4 inch square and use that extrapolate the stitches and rows for each of your main pieces, so for my desired 4T sizing, with yarn that took 8 stitches by 4 rows for a 4in square, I did a little math magic:

- Sleeves were 12in wide by 11in high = 16 stitches x 34 rows
- Front panels were 7in wide by 14in high = 14 stitches x 45 rows
- Back was 13in wide by 14in high = 26 stitches x 45 rows

It's kind of trial & error and involves a little rounding, but the finished sweater will have have a loose fit & a bit of stretch thanks to the bulky yarn so it's ok if it's not exact.  Knit up those pieces - keep checking with your ruler/knitting gauge to make sure the pieces are coming out to the dimensions desired.

When done, you should end up with two sleeves, two front pieces that will overlap and a single back piece.  All rectangles.

To assemble your sweater, start by folding over the top corners of the front pieces that will make the lapels of the sweater and tack those down with a stitch or two.

I use a plastic sewing needle and bit of yarn to do the stitching by hand - it goes really fast. If the yarn is too bulky or fiddly, just use a bit of crochet yarn in the same color - it'll glide right through.

Line up the top edges of the front & back pieces (with the lapel sides facing inward) and stitch them together with an overcast stitch and the handy plastic needle.

You'll end up with something that looks like this:

Now flip the almost-a-sweater right side up and grab the sleeve pieces. Place the center of each sleeve top on the shoulder seam and stitch the top edges together.

Fold the sleeve lengthwise and bring the front and back sides together and overcast stitch along the whole side from cuff to hem.

Since I used a bulky yarn with large needles there were wide enough spots to push buttons through, so I stitched on some colorful buttons (using heavy duty sewing thread):

Little Miss & I both love it.  I think it makes her like a fuzzy chick and she's thrilled that it's just like her "snugglies" (her yarn blankies).  And it's perfect for this changeable spring weather.  Now that I've got her sizing down I'm making her another one with rows of every color this yarn comes in.  They were all so gorgeous I couldn't decide on one so I bought a skein of every one.  That's how addicted to this stuff I am.  I'm also seriously considering making one for myself.  Just maybe in a different color - fluffy chick is not an easy look to pull off when you're over 5.

I'm also sharing this project with my FAVE LINK PARTIES.

Click HERE to check them out!

Scarfing Up Some Courage

Behold, my first knitting project, a scarf for my mom, as modeled by our resident shy reindeer. We call him that because my 4yr old has attempted to ride, cuddle, drag and otherwise abuse this poor thing every Christmas. Being hollow papier mache, he didn't stand a chance, but by some miracle he has survived and been left alone this year. Last year we found him peeking out from behind a couch one night and were convinced he'd actually been hiding. When Serena's walking this time next year, God help him. I think he may move out. The scarf seemed to help him come out of his shell though. All in all, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out (just a few mistakes) and am ready to try some more needle knitting.

I also have one of those knitting loom kits I'd bought for Ethan & I to do together last year and dragged that out last week to try out. I kind of feel like it's cheating, but the time saving is what attracted me to it, since time without a baby on one arm is hard to come by. I must say that the instructions leave a lot to be desired though. They just mention some random techniques and give no real direction on step order, or, more importantly for me, many pictures. I started a hat during a long car trip, but am kind of stuck on the next part. The stitches look good so far, but wayyyyyy too loose for my liking. I also keep thinking that if this thing really worked so well, why would anyone knit with needles when you can make the same stuff in just an hour or two with this. Has anyone tried these things before and have any opinions or suggestions?

Learning To Knit A Bit

Thanks for all the feedback on the homemade gift dilemma. It's nice to know I'm not alone trying to figure out the best way to handle things. I think it's very true that it takes a real crafter to appreciate a crafted item. Most other people just don't see the effort or technique that goes in as part of the gift. As a result I've decided to only focusing on a few gifts & making some fun projects for my kids with the little bit of time before the holidays. I'm actually pretty glad, since this is much more enjoyable that being a one-woman sweatshop the next few weeks.

The above is my first attempt at knitting. My goal is to do a little each night so I can make this a scarf for my mom, so we'll see how things go. I am such a beginner that all I can do is cast on & the knit stitch, so I'm letting this fab yarn make me look like a superstar even though I'm pretty clueless. It's called Kashmira pattern and the design is in the yarn, so even though I can't do anything fancy, it "appears" as though I've done something more complicated. Hopefully this will turn out & I'll gain the confidence to gain some more knitting know-how, since there are TONS of cool looking knitting projects out there.