Friday, July 6, 2012

Pillow: Sashay Style


This particular project was several months in the making...shall we go back in time a bit?!?

In April I had a complete hysterectomy and I knew I'd have some time on my hands for recovery.  I saw an ad for this new yarn I hadn't seen before.  It's called Sashay by Red Heart.  It's a fish net yarn...but I didn't know that yet...nor did I know that fish net yarn's been around for a while.  A little behind on the times.  Anywho...I went on a quest to find some Sashay in my Oklahoma town.  It wasn't here...anywhere!!!  So I made some calls to my Moms (I have my Mom and Mom #2 who is a long time friend and mother figure in my life, who also happens to sew and knit up a storm!!!) to inquire about said yarn.  Both had seen it and Mom #2 had used it.  So, I sent Mom (#1) to her local JoAnn Fabric's to see if she could find some.  Voila!!!  Mom bought me 2 skeins to bring when they came to hold my hand to support me through the surgery.  So finally yarn in hand I could start a project.

Unfortunately, no one tells you about the lovely shoulder pain that comes along with laproscopic surgery.  It's a nasty side effect that's rarely mentioned.  Well, that put projects on hold for a little while.  Eventually I got started and finished the backs of the project, but then I developed more pain in my shoulder...and it was awful.  So after several trips to the doctor and ER, they finally diagnosed me with pneumonia.  I have never been more thankful for pneumonia in my life.  Curing the pneumonia cured the shoulder pain, and finally I could get to work on my project...or so I thought.  Next came a week of baby sitting 3 extras, one of which was a 3 month old.  Then a week of At The Movies set up...see previous post...finally I was DONE!!!  And I finished the project.

Ok, so with the background story out of the way, let's talk about this pillow:

You can find the pattern for this pillow here at Red Heart's website.



The Pieces: To start off you will need
  • 2 skeins of Red Heart Soft  (I used what the pattern called for because it's the best color for my bedroom, which is where this is going.  The color is 9440 Light Grey Heather, but there are many other options that would look awesome)
  • 1 skein of Red Heart Boutique Sashay (I used 1936 Waltz)
  • Knitting needles (Size 8 US which is 5 mm if you use those European measurements which I never do!!!)
  • A 16x16 pillow form
  • A 7/8" to 1" button (trust me, take your piece in when you choose your button to make sure you get the right size and color)
  • Thread
  • A crochet/knit sewing needle and a regular needle
Follow the pattern to sew the back two pieces.  The back is made up of the Moss stitch.  I absolutely fell in love with this stitch and would love to have a comfy soft sweater made up entirely of it...but that's years down the road for me.  It's a slight variation to seed stitching.  The difference is that in Seed stitching you knit purl one row then purl knit the second and repeat that every row.  In Moss stitching you knit purl two rows and purl knit two rows, then repeat that pattern the whole piece.  It makes a more pronounced pattern. 


The front is worked in Stockinette/Stocking stitch.  Every 10 rows you add the Sashay.  The pattern explains it much better than I could.  If you've never worked with Sashay, or other fish net yarns, Red Heart gives a great, quick little "how to" You Tube video on their site.  My quick tip, when I added in the Sashay to the pillow I left about 4 loops on each side of the pillow front to be able to sew into the back when I finished it off. 



Once the front piece is completed it's time to finish it off.  The instructions give you one whole very short paragraph on how to do this.  I found it to be quite a bit more time consuming than that.  I didn't know whether to block the piece or not.  I finally decide NOT!!!  I know, if you're a knitter that's like cussing...but that's me...rebel in knitting!!!  Honestly, since the pattern didn't indicate to do it and thinking about how the pillow would stretch over the pillow form I decided not to take the time.  That worked for me...this time... 

I started by sewing all those Sashay ends down.  I wanted to make sure they were tacked down laying flat so when I sewed the front and back together it wouldn't mess up the integrity of the Sashay.  It has to be able to stretch to get the ruffly affect.  So sewing those down took some time.  I stretched each one out and tacked it top, side and bottom.  Yeah, I'm kinda anal like that!!!



Once that was done, it was time to attach the front to the back.  This has to be sewn inside out so some thinking has to be done here.  The two back pieces are different.  One is longer and will have a button attached to it.  One is shorter and has the buttonhole.  So the longer, button piece has to finish up underneath the shorter buttonhole piece.  BUT...we're inside out...remember!!!  So we have to do that in reverse.  We have to sew the shorter buttonhole piece first.  The easiest thing to do was sew the end first.  I just used a whip stitch to sew it together, but I did find a challenge in doing this.  I had to keep the Sashay out of the way, plus I love to have it all lined up already so I know I'm not going to end up with one side shorter than the other.  I didn't want to use pins because I didn't want to chance them falling out all over the place.  After thinking for a while I saw my small double pointed knitting needles.  SWEET!!!  Those worked nicely.  I matched up the edges, made sure the Sashay was out of the way and weaved those babies in and out of the knitting.  And in another stroke of brilliance I added my needle protectors to ensure that it wouldn't go slipping off the ends.  Yeah, you know that was a God thought...cause those don't come from me!!!




So, seam secured I whipped through the sewing on the end. (tee hee, see the pun there...whip stitch...I whipped through...ok, maybe you have to be in my mind to get it!) 



Once the end was secured I matched up the sides.  Using my nifty method of the double needles and protective ends, I made sure both edges ended in the same spot on the front, secured it and stitched it.  Remember I was securing the short buttonhole back piece first. 




Once that was finished, I attached the second longer button piece to the back using the same methods.  Then I turned the piece right side out to check out my handy work.  (Ignore the needle, just a nifty place to store it for the moment so I didn't lose it.  It does serve a nice purpose of kinda pointing out the seam however...ok, pay attention to it and ignore my ignore!!!)



Satisfied, I set off with my piece for Hobby Lobby to find a button to fit in the buttonhole and match my treasure.  I ended up with a 1" button.  My buttonhole was a bit bigger than the pattern would suggest.  I think I need to do some work on my buttonhole-ing in knitting...it seemed a bit of a challenge to do it and stay in the Moss stitch pattern.  If anyone has suggestions I'll take them.



I found the perfect buttons.  It came two to a package and the colors were exactly the same as the pillow.  So button(s) in hand it was time to finish off my piece!!!   I picked the button (1 of 2) that had the most varying color.  Pillow form OUT of the piece, I laid it flat and aligned the longer and shorter back pieces to make sure I put the button in just the right spot.  Then I attached the button. 




Job done, I put the pillow form back in the piece and it's done!!!  Another Treasure I can throw up on my bed to make it look cozy and inviting!!!

I'm Linked Up!!! 


6 comments:

  1. This is really very cute. I don't know how to knit, but I have a friend who does crochet and I want to learn how to do that. I found you on the Positively Splendid link party. I sew, but I'm a beginning sewer.

    I'm your newest follower. Have a splendid weekend.

    Jess
    http://thedelightfulcrafter.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm so excited you made it over! Being a newbie at blogging it's nice to see some visitors.

      I didn't start knitting till about 6 years ago. I could crochet since my mom taught me at about 10, but knitting confused me. Now I love it...although I don't do advanced stuff yet. If you want to get started I recommend a friend and a local store who's willing to go over stitches with you. Those book instructions can be a bear till you get the hang of it. That applies to both crochet and knitting. Good luck and thanks for coming by!!!

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  2. Your pillow takes some real skill, kudos to you. Good looking welcome lettering too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I absolutely love this pillow! it is so adorable
    \New follower from the Blog Hop
    -Buffi
    My Wonderfully Dysfunctional Blog

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