Saturday, October 9, 2010

Knitted bolster

I started knitting a bolster towards the beginnning of August and finished it mid September. Am really happy with the way it has turned out! I have never made a bolster before or sewn on embellishments onto my knitted projects.

The only problem is the border around the edges of the bolster - where the start of the border meets the end, I had trouble making them connect smoothly to make it look like there were no breaks.

I used 6 balls of Paton's Zhivago Home yarn. It was quite lucky too, when I had finished, there was around 50cm of the yarn remaining! Here are the photos and the pattern:

Pattern: Knitted Bolster

Materials



6 balls Paton's Zhivago Home (I used a white/creamy colour)

1 pair 5mm (UK 6; USA 8) needles
1 5mm circular needle

1 wool needle


Sewing pins

70cm x 80cm Plain white fabric

Stuffing

Measurements:
70cm length x 40cm circumference
Tension: 16 sts x 23rows = 10cm (5mm needles)

Body:
Use 5mm needles:
CO 72 sts
Row 1: *K8, P8* repeat until last 8 sts, K8.
Row 2:*P8, K8* repeat until last 8 sts, P8.
Repeat last 2 rows until there is a total of 10 rows.
Row 11: *P8, K8* repeat until last 8 sts, P8
Row 12: *K8, P8* repeat until last 8 sts, K8.
Repeat last 2 rows until there is a total of 10 rows.
Repeat the entire pattern worked so far until work measures 40-45cm,ending on either the 10th or 20th row pattern.
Cast off.

Bolster ends (make 2)

Using 5mm circular needles and the "magic circle" technique (search on youtube for how to do this):
CO 100 sts.

Round 1: Knit
Round 2: Knit
Round 3: *K8, K2tog* repeat until end
Round 4: Knit
Round 5: *K7, K2tog* repeat until end
Round 6: Knit
Round 7: *K6, K2tog* repeat until end
Round 8: Knit
Round 9: *K5, K2tog* repeat until end
Round 10: Knit

...Follow this pattern (decrese knitting 1 st on each odd row) until 10 sts remain

Divide the sts on the needles so that 1 end of the circular needles has 6 sts, and the other end has 4 sts
K2 tog until end (5sts remain)
Break off yarn
Use a wool needle and thread yarn through all 5 remaining sts. Remove sts from needles, draw yarn into the wrong side and tie a knot.


Embellishments:

S-shaped patterns on body:
CO 3 sts.
Make 8 x 20cm lengths of I-cords.
Pin 4 of these on each end of the body in a S-shaped scroll pattern, spaced evenly and using the pattern on the bolster as a guide (see photo below - pin sides to where the second set of "square pattern" motif ends)
Using a wool needle, sew the S-shaped pattern on bolster.
Twisted band on bolster ends:
CO 3 sts.
Make 4 x 40cm lengths of I-cords.
Using 2 I-cords on each end of the bolster, twist them together and pin down on each end of the body (see photo below)
Using a wool needle, sew on lengths of I-cord.
Winding circlular pattern on bolster ends:
CO 3 sts and make 2 x 40cm lengths of I-cords.
Wind length of I-cord on each end of right side of bolster in a circular fashion, starting from the middle (see photo below) and pin down
Using a wool needle, sew on I-cord.
Tassels on ends:
Make 2 tassels, leaving a long tail.
Using wool needle, thread 2 tail ends into the middle of the winding circular pattern sewn on bolster ends.
Tie a knot on wrong side.
Repeat for other end.
Sew main bolster material together, ensuring the patterns on the joint match up to eachother.
Sew 1 end onto the bolster.
Bolster insert:
Cut out piece of fabric slightly larger (around 3cm) than bolster.
Sew into bolster shape and stuff.
Insert into bolster.
Sew remaining end onto bolster.


















1 comment:

  1. oh man... every lady in my family knits from simple pillow cases to curtains.

    but i'm like really amazed with this one because i love the patterns and the design that you did to it. you must be very proud ^__^

    ReplyDelete