HOW TO WILD KNIT A CUSHION

Inspiration on how to “wild knit” your own cushions
(or any kind of knitting project)

THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOD MATERIALS

Do you think I choose materials randomly? Of course not. I believe all things has a kind of memory or energy, that will affect us at some level. We also know that natural materials can do a lot of things that synthetics cannot. They breathe, regulate, cleanse and respond in completely different ways than synthetic materials. In addition, they often do less damage in production, use and resolution. Besides, in fact, what is good for nature is also good for us. Therefore, I always choose materials that are as "close" to nature as possible.

For this particular project I knitted with amazing norwegian yarn from Lofoten Wool. Lofoten is at the very north of Norway, where the North sea meets the wild mountains and this is very much reflected in this wonderful wool yarn. I have used the yarn called SAND and STORM. The yarn is strong, soft and warm and has such a nice quality. The fused colors from the sheep add such a beautiful feel to the knitting. You can buy this yarn directly from Lofoten Wool, or from me. You can of course also use another kind of yarn for your project but in order for it to be a real wild knitted project it will have to be a pure, natural yarn.

You will need about 150 gr of yarn to knit the front of a pillow adapted to an inner pillow of 60x40 cm (depending on the yarn you choose of course). I have knitted with needle # 8 for this project. Knitting heringbone I recommend knitting looser than you normally do, or go up in needle size.

Cast on 56 stitches (possibly 52 with Storm which is slightly thicker yarn than Sand).
Knit heringbone texture back and forth to your pillow measures about 64 cm and cast off loosely.

How to knit Heringbone:

If you know how to knit and purl, you will find this tecnique quite easy. The principle of heringbone is to knit through two masks but slip only the first. On first row you do this like regular knit, only you put the needle in from the back loop instead of the front loop. On the seccond row you follow the same principle but knit purl stithes. That is you purl through two masks, slipping only the first.
The last mask you knit or purl on all rows.
If you find this hard to understand there are plenty of tutorial videos out there helping you out, be aware there are several ways of doing this tecnique (as always), I find this way the easiest. ( and I apologize for my poor english knitting vocabulary ;/).

MONTAGE

I often choose to wash, possibly felt the knitting fabrics before I assemble. A lot of natural wool yarn will look better and floc less if you felt it lightly, it will quite often also get a bit more fluffy, softer and smoother to the skin. I do not, however, machine felt, then I have no control over the process, and I really don`t want my knit to shrink. After washing / lightly felting, it is therefore important to stretch the fabric to the right shape while it is moist, allowing it to dry in a stretched out position.

For the back piece of the cushion I often use rough untreated, or plant-dyed linen. I would like the back piece to add something extra to the product as well (and then you can switch which way you have the pillows to create variety).
The back piece I stitch by hand with large coarse stitches. I like the stitches to be visible and they don´t have to be even. I would use a linen or raw silk thread for this, but you can of course use anything else you have on hand. If you would like to have the option of removing the cover to wash it separately, you must keep an opening in one of the sides. You can close it with buttons, a safety pin or thread.

The moost important thing with wild knitting is actually not the result, but the process. Let your mind rest, really feel the materials sliding through your hands and enjoy the pleasure of making.

Wild knitted pillows are particularly good to surround yourself with when you want to relax. Whether on the couch, on the bed or when meditating.

Enoy !

PS: If you love the concept but hate to knit I also sell my wild knitted cushions here. : )