Finger Knitted Chair Cushion

A heart shaped cushion for a child's rocking chair

Posted by aufildesjours

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A great project to do with kids who are just learning to play with yarn!

I used Filatura di Crosa Country Cashmere for this project, which is a bulky weight yarn with about 46 yards per ball. Any bulky yarn will do, but I recommend you use something with a fluffy texture if you wish the sewing not to be too visible. You could also use a feltable yarn, make the cushion oversize, and felt it down to your desired size.

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You Will Need (2 things)

  • 1 skein Bulky Yarn
  • 1 Tapestry Needle

Steps (3 steps, 60 minutes)

  1. 1

    Basic finger knitting technique:
    Wind your yarn into a ball if it's not already in a ball.
    Holding your right hand with the palm facing you and the Thumb and index finger extended, anchor the end of your yarn between the (closed) 3rd, 4th, and 5th fingers and your palm.
    1. Wrap the ball end of the yarn up and over the index finger from front to back.
    2. Bring the ball end of the yarn under the finger from back to front, and up and over again.
    3. You now have two loops on your index finger. Using your left hand, pick up the loop that is closer to the base of the finger, and passing it over the other loop, take it off the finger. If needed, adjust your hold on the free end of the yarn or the growing chain.
    4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until the chain is as long as you wish, or there is about 1 meter / 39 inches of yarn left.
    5. Pass the remaining end of yarn through the single remaining loop and draw up gently to anchor it.

  2. 2

    To make the chain:
    Finger knit a chain using the whole ball of yarn (leaving 1 meter / 39 inches unknit at the end).
    Treat the chain you've just made as yarn, and finger knit it starting from the end with a shorter tail of yarn, again leaving the last 1 meter / 39 inches unknit. You should now have a thicker, shorter chain.

  3. 3

    To sew the chain into a cushion:
    Arrange the chain in a spiral starting with the long-tail end at the center, but adjusting it to make a heart shape (or any other shape you wish). You can pin it together at this point to facilitate sewing, or just work freehand.
    Thread the long tail of yarn onto a tapestry needle and use it to whip stitch the spiraling rings of the chain together. If you run short of yarn for sewing, unpick the necessary length of yarn from the outer end of the chain and use that to complete the sewing.

    All done!