Groovy Granny Pillow

Groovy Granny Pillow Making Up Instructions...

After finding the free pattern on Interweave's Crochet Me website for a granny spiral I had to give it a go... http://crochetme.com/media/p/95138.aspx

And once I got spiralling the little square didn't seem nearly big enough, so I kept going, and going, loving the pattern more and more, until it became obvious that this cute spiral needed to become an item to be displayed; so the Groovy Granny Pillow took shape and I thought it may be useful to some of you if I share the instructions for making up a pillow below.

This does not include the instructions for the granny spiral itself – this isn't my pattern, I've just adapted it to make it bigger – the instructions for the granny spiral can be found on the Crochet Me website (link above). The instructions for this pillow is to use any square pattern and any sized pillow, just make the squares to fit the pad accordingly.

I made the pillow with DK (8 ply yarn), using a 4.5 mm hook and American crochet terms to fit a 14 inch pillow pad.

• Front – make a patterned square to fit your pillow pad. 

• Make the back of the pillow the same size as the front – I worked a basic granny square in cream, working 17 rounds to fit my pillow pad. Do not fasten off.

• Now, to make an edge for buttons work a single crochet in each double crochet across 1 side of the square, chain 1, turn work and work a single crochet in each single crochet to the end.

  

• Now place work with right side facing down (and working thread in top right hand corner) and place patterned front on top with right side facing you (so wrong sides of each piece are together inside pillow). Pin the pieces together and then single crochet through both pieces along 3 sides to join them together – work sc, hdc, sc in each corner.

• Now the buttonholes needs to be worked on the remaining unworked front side edge; place pins evenly along the edge where you want the buttonholes to go. Taking into account the width of your buttons (mine were 18mm and I used 5) I single crocheted in each dc and ch1 spaces until I was 2 stitches past the middle of the proposed button space, then *turn, ch 3, miss 3 sts, slip stitch into next sc, turn sc 4 in ch 3 space, ss in next sc, sc to 2 stitches past middle of the proposed button space – repeat from * until all required buttonholes have been worked then sc to end of row and join in corner to make a neat corner/join. (if buttons are bigger work more chains and miss more stitches to make each buttonhole and if buttons are smaller work less chains and miss less stitches.)

• Sew buttons on button band to correspond with buttonholes.

The pillow could be left like this or a decorative edge can be added – I added a picot edge.

• For a picot edge work in each sc of the previous round – *work 4 sc, ch3, sl st in bottom chain, repeat from * around pillow. When you get to corners it doesn't need to be exact, work more or less sc to enable the picot to be in the corner, and if you make the buttonholes the same size as mine (with 3 missed chain in each) then work the picots to fall so that there is one at each side of the buttonhole (work the scs in the stitches at the bottom of each buttonhole between picots. Continue till 4 sides have been worked.

 

The button band will be hidden so doesn't need a decorative edge. Fasten off neatly and weave in ends.

I hope that's clear, Happy crafting!
x