Knit a Giant Body Pillow Cover

I like to sleep with a body pillow and have done so for years. I’ve sewn a few different pillowcases for my pillow through the years, but I never would have thought to knit a cover for a body pillow.

But now that I’ve seen the knit body pillow from Lion Brand Yarn, I’m a little bit tempted to try it (though maybe not for sleeping).

The Ridge Line Body Pillow knitting pattern uses Lion Brand Cover Story yarn, which is a super bulky polyester yarn.

It is worked flat in one piece, from one short side down the length and up the other side. The project uses alternating sections of stockinette stitch and seed stitch.

The finished pillow cover comes out to about 50 inches/127 cm long and 36 inches/91.5 cm around. The basic Amazon body pillow is 20 by 54 inches (so about 51 by 137 cm) but you could adjust the length pretty easily if you want to use a standard pillow instead of stuffing your pillow form with polyfil.

That’s what I would do, and I might also add a zipper to the end instead of sewing the short ends together so that the cover is removable and washable. If you’ve never added a zipper to a knitting project before, I have a tutorial on the subject, and it’s actually pretty easy, though I do recommend hand sewing.

And of course you don’t have to use all the same color yarn if you don’t want to. If you have super bulky odd balls in your stash, feel free to mix it up with stripes. Or you can try holding a couple strands of worsted weight yarn together to make a mix that uses even more of your leftover yarns. Just remember the finished project will need to be washed in whatever way your most delicate yarn used can handle.

Whatever way you want to make it, you can grab the free pattern and/or a pattern kit with the yarn over at Lion Brand.

[Photo: Lion Brand]

This free knitting pattern falls in the category of cute but maybe not essential, as well as a nice way to use some yarn left over from another project.

The Briggs St. Fruit Hammock from Mycah Knits is beginner friendly because it’s a big rectangle worked in stockinette stitch on larger needles than the yarn would usually call for (size 11 US/8 mm for DK weight/weight 3 yarn) to provide more air flow around the fruit.

The idea behind a fruit hammock like this is both that it saves you counter space since it’s meant to be mounted under a cabinet and that air flow around the fruit helps prevent moisture from getting trapped below the fruit, which should keep it fresh longer. They’re also just cute and keep your fruits or veg accessible so hopefully you will eat more of them.

This pattern also includes I-cord handles, which is how you hang the hammock, and you’ll need to be able to pick up stitches for them, but that’s the only beyond beginner skill required in this project.

It only uses about 25 grams of yarn, so this is a perfect project for using a little something left over from another project. It would also be cute with stripes, so you can use odd balls from several projects. Or make the I-cord with a contrasting color to add a bit more fun if you like.

The designer does recommend using acrylic yarn for this project because it shouldn’t stretch out of shape with use and is easy to wash should your aspirations for eating fruit outstrip your reality. But they also provide tips for testing the stretch in a yarn you want to use and adjusting the pattern to account for that.

I don’t have a space in my place for this but it is super cute and a fun way to add knitting to the home, which I’m always a fan of.

You can grab the free pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Mycah Knits]

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