Felted Knitting: The Critter Gang Pillows

Winter is my knitting time! I enjoy the feel of wool slipping around my fingers and love using my old aluminum knitting needles, which make a clinking sound with every stitch. It is also the season to make gifts for family members. 

Mom Crochets 
a Gifted Blanket

We are a family that was raised with a love for crafting, cooking, and making gifts from scratch. It is a family tradition that we all love to share with each other, and we appreciate the time, skill, and talent that go into each gift. This year, I thought it would be fun to create some felted knit pillows with a bit of attitude! I wanted each one to be individually different for each of my family members. The backside of each pillow is left unadorned to lay one's head to rest upon.

My first felting project was making felted knit slippers for each of my family members a few years ago. We enjoy wearing them, and they are the best thing for cozy feet!

I love pillows of every kind and have them all over my house! What a great way to say I am thinking of you than to make personal pillows for my family. I wanted to feel the pillows for their durability and softness, while also adding embroidery for a folk-homey appearance to give this gift.

ZIGGY LOVES PILLOWS!

The homemade look is no longer just for grannies & hippies, but is back in fashion for everyone, including Ziggy, who loves pillows. 

I wanted this series of pillows to be smaller, allowing them to fit perfectly into any chair, couch, or bed, much like a pet waiting for you to come in for a snuggle.

I had no pattern to follow, nor any idea of what it would look like, until I finished each pillow. Felting knitted wool involves shrinking it with hot water, and each brand of wool and the temperature of the water used will shrink to a different final size. 

My first felted pillow was 'Pussy Galore' and I made it up as I went along, with hopes it would remain large enough to be a pillow for head size.

I will share some of my methods of knitting critter madness with you.


  BASIC INSTRUCTIONS  
  for FELTED PILLOWS    

* 4.5 mm needles, 3.5 oz 100% wool (has to be 100% wool to felt)
* Stitch Holder

Stitch Holders

* Cast on 72 stitches.
* knit each row or knit one row, purl the next. It makes a slight surface change when felted, but it's not noticeable enough, so I prefer knitting every row because it's easy.
* Knit till the work measures 15 inches, then decide what you want for ears and knit whatever kind of ears you want. Total finished size approx. 18 inches before felting.
* Sew in all loose ends BEFORE felting.
* Can either sew all sides together except the bottom side BEFORE felting and hide the stitches OR felt both sides separately, then stitch with Blanket Stitch to attach them together after they are felted to show stitches.

  EARS for Pussy Galore:   

* Knit the body to 15 inches, then take and knit the first 30 stitches on your needle, drop the next 12 stitches, and knit the last 30 stitches.
* Put one set of 30 stitch ears on stitch holders to pick up later to knit.
* To get the angle of the ears, I dropped one stitch for every other row till it came to just one stitch, then tied it off with a knot.

  Before FELTING measurements:  

* 18 inches from the tip of the ear to the bottom
* 15 inches to the top of the head
* 14 inches wide

Two sides of Pussy Galore before felting.

Sew in all the ends before the hot water bath and reserve the detailing of embroidery, etc., for after felting.

  AFTER FELTING measurements:  

* 14 inches from the tip of the ear to the bottom
* 12 inches to the top of the head
* 12 inches wide

Ziggy watches EVERYTHING I do. He sits close by and shows how large the pillows are before and AFTER felting. Each pillow was made the same except for the ears.

After each pillow was felted, I began adding unique details with embroidery and buttons. Thanks to all the wonderful people who post YouTube videos on 'HOW to DO' things, as I learned easily with their help to do various stitches and applied them to each pillow.

Below are some examples of the stitches I used to embellish the Felted Critter Gang, along with links to the YouTube videos that demonstrate how to do so.

Blanket stitches both sides.

I hot water wash after all the ends have been worked in and trimmed.  Both sides are kept apart for washing and felting before any decorative stitching work is done. I used the Blanket Stitch for both sides and then attached both sides together using the basic hand stitch, looping through the blanket stitch. Leave the bottom end open to allow for stuffing, then finish with basic hand stitching. 

 HOW to do a blanket stitch here...

Blanket stitch for both sides, then loop with a slip stitch and lightly pull together by going

through the blanket, stitch the edges to join both sides, creating a finished edge.

BARK was created with the Split Stitch.
HOW to do the Split Stitch

A new stitch for me to learn was the cable chain stitch, and I wanted it to look like a necklace for the felted pillow 'Skat'. The blue edge is the Blanket Stitch.

HOW to do the Cable Chain Stitch.

I wanted a thicker stitch to make the mouth for 'Skat'. I also found in my old button stash some white little buttons that turned out to be perfect for the teeth. 

How to do the Hungarian Braided Chain stitch.

I used scraps of wool and looped them around the felted surface for Pussy Galore, and then used blue button thread to create a running stitch through the wool scraps.

'Bark' features ears that were knitted in a light gold color and then crocheted with dark brown wool, attaching the two sides together before felting.

For the ear fluffs, I later took scraps of yarn and knotted them into the tops of the ears AFTER felting. Found some old buttons PERFECT for the eyes and attached scraps of yarn, sewing them under the buttons for bushy eyebrows.

'Bark' got a crochet nose that is stuffed with scraps of yarn and then hand-sewn to the felted fabric. I used the chain stitch for the mouth.

HOW to do the chain stitch.

'Pussy Galore' has a STAR nose, which is hand-sewn with button thread. The whiskers were chain-stitched with silver button thread. I found in my button stash these swirl buttons and 

sewed them on with Gold Metallic thread.

Felted Knit Pillow from the Critter Gang...' Skat'

Felted Knit Pillow from the Critter Gang... 'Bark'

Felted Knit Pillow from the Critter Gang...' Pussy Galore & Ziggy!'

I had fun making the Felted Critter Gang pillows, and I can easily say, 'No, I will not take orders!' Creating these is a lot of work, and they will remain one of a kind.

Felt to share!...Minaz Jantz