Knitting needle knitting bag

Knitting has become a serious hobby for me. I think I will be knitting for years to come, and I have a lot of knitting needles. For this reason, I thought I would make a bag to put all my knitting things into.

It took around 10 days to make working everyday after work..not bad. The pattern is pretty simple. I used 4 balls of "Prism" yarn by Lincraft. See below for photos.

Free pattern: www.knittingdaily.com/media/p/13978.aspx

Photos:

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.

Knitting pattern: Heart shaped cushion

One of my hobbies is knitting. I started knitting 4 years ago just casually, and I'm still not very good at it! I knit too slowly, and it was only last week that I discovered continential knitting. I'm still trying to get the grasp of it. 

A few weeks ago, I knit two heart-shaped cushions. They make really good decoration for a girly bed. 

I used different yarn for them, and the result was that the red one felt a lot softer and the 'fur' stayed down when the cushion was pressed. The fur on the pink one was more dense and coarse, giving a fluffier look. Here is a closeup of the difference in yarn:  

Here is the pattern for the pink one.

Pink Heart Cushion

Materials:

5 x 50gram balls of boa yarn

5mm needles (use 1 size smaller or larger if gauge is not correct)

Polyester stuffing

Yarn needle

Sewing pins (straight pins)

Measurements:

Width: 37cm
Height: 40cm

Sides (make 2):

Cast on 5 sts.

Work 2 rows St st.

Work 5 rows St st, inc one st at each end of every row until there are 15 sts.

Purl 1 row.

Rep last 6 rows 4 times (55 sts, ending on a purl row).

Cont in St st, inc one st at each end of next and foll rows until there are 63 sts, then foll alt rows until there are 79 sts, ending on a knit row.

Work 5 rows st st, starting with a purl row.

Cont in St st, dec one st at each end of next and foll alt rows until there are 71 sts.

Purl next row, dec at each end (69 sts).

K2tog, K31, cast off 3 sts, knit until last 2 sts, K2tog.

Cont on last 32 sts in St st, starting with a purl row: dec one st at each end of 2nd and foll alt rows until there are 24 sts. 

Purl 1 row. 

CO 2 sts at start of next 8 rows (8sts).

Work 2 rows St st.

CO remaining 8 sts. 

Join yarn on the 32 sts remaining on needle, start with a purl row and dec one st at each end of 2nd and foll alt rows until there are 24 sts.

Purl 1 row.

CO 2 sts at start of next 8 rows (8sts).

Work 2 rows St st.

CO remaining 8 sts.

Make up:

With right sides facing together (wrong sides up), pin rim with sewing pins.

Insert long piece of yarn (length of circumference of heart with extra allowance) through yarn needle and sew. Leave gap to stuff.

Stuff cushion.

Sew remainder.

Happy knitting!