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.