Arm Knitting Basics: Pillow Cover

This arm-knitted pillow cover is a wonderful addition to any room. It can be done in any color with any pattern. I got this idea from creativebug.com. My pillow, however similar, has a couple changes to it. Creativebug uses four strands of thinner yarn wound together to make a thick yarn to use. I, on the other hand, came across this ultra thick yarn which I only used two strands together. Another difference is that my arms are smaller than hers, but I'm using a thicker yarn, so I only had to knit 22 rows compared to her 26 rows, and only 8 cast on stitches compared to her 11 cast on. However these differences barely deterred me and I got a good fitting cover for my 18 x 18 pillow.

There are two ways to knit your pillow cover. You can either use your hands and arms, or you can buy some enormous plastic knitting needles from a craft store. I decided to use my arms. You also can use ultra thick yarn that you only need to use two strands of or you can use normal yarn and twist together three or four strands. You also need scissors and a measuring tape. And of course a 18 x 18 pillow.

The swatch is a 8 cast on by 8 rows block of normal stitches. You knit the swatch to measure how many stitches per inch you knit. The reason why you need to do this is because everybody's arm width is different and so is your yarn width. Once you find out your measurements then you can unravel your swatch so that no yarn is wasted.

Now this is the real deal. You need to use your measurements to create a long rectangle which will wrap around a pillow. Eventually you will sew up the sides of your yarn to make a full casing around your pillow. Now, the colors are optional and you can do different stripe patterns, but I did a primary color (gray) and a secondary color (blue). You switch from one color to another to make a nice pattern on your pillowcase. Once you do that you are ready to go on to the next step.

Once you complete your rectangle you need to sew up the edges so that you leave one side open (so you can put in your pillow). Start with the two long sides of the rectangle and sew them up to make a sort of cylinder. Once you have that you can sew up one of the sides so you get just one open side to insert your pillow.

If you have a sort of pocket to put your pillow in you are ready to proceed. Put your pillow in the pocket and firmly sew up the edge so you have a complete, fitted, pillowcase. Nice job! Once you're done you can touch up by cutting off extra strands and put it somewhere nice. You did it! You are now ready to cuddle forever with your very own handmade pillow cover!