Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

An Oldie But a Cutie

by

bobble sheep knit pillowI don’t know why I just recently came across this pattern, but it is definitely worth sharing even though it is a few years old.

The Bobble Sheep Pillow from Purl Soho is a super cute rendition of one of our favorite fiber-bearing animals, and of course it is made out of wool, too.

The original used a super-bulky merino wool. Later on, a new, larger version was made using a massive jumbo yarn called Gentle Giant.

They’re both adorable. You could even do one in smaller yarn, too, and make a whole flock of these cuties. (My mom would insist you make one black one, while you’re at it.)

[Photo: Purl Soho.]

Comments

  1. The Sheep Pillow is so cute. wish I could get the pattern. not the best of knitter or crochet, but would be great to try

Have you read?

Learn a Flower Bobble Technique to Knit a Fun Shawl

Generally I like knitting patterns where I feel like you can use whatever yarn you have (because my stash is big enough and I want to use it, thanks) and make a successful project. This is one of those times when a special yarn makes the process that much easier. 

The Floral Bouquet Shawl from Xandy Peters uses a specific extended color pooling yarn from Feisty Fibers, which allows you to place the bobble flowers with increasing frequency as you knit the project. 

It starts with a solid color yarn, then the two color yarn is added in, and you make a bobble whenever you encounter the color pops. This would be hard to replicate with other yarn that doesn’t have the extended color pooling built in.

The background of the shawl is ribbed, making the project reversible. 

The shawl uses fingering/sock yarn and comes out to be an asymmetrical triangle that’s 54 inches/137 cm long and 36 inches/ 90 cm deep and 60 inches/150 cm across the top edge. 

Xandy says the pattern is for intermediate to advanced knitters. Knowing how to work traditional bobbles would probably help, but there’s a great video tutorial for how to work the floral bobbles so you can practice on other yarn or even incorporate the bobbles into other projects. 

The bobbles are five-petaled flowers but they also kind of look like starfish to me, which could be fun on a child’s cardigan or other pattern. They’d also be fun on the leg of a sock or around the brim of a hat for extra whimsy. 

The pattern includes photo and video tutorials, and written and charted instructions. It also includes tips on what to look for if you choose to use different yarn for the project, and instructions on how to dye your own yarn to use in the project. 

If you want to give it a try, you can find the pattern on Ravelry. 

[Photo: Xandy Peters]