Here we are, all the way at the end of our little pillow knitalong! I had so much fun knitting this pillow with you and delving into more videos. I put the final touches on my pillow last weekend. In the end I opted for 4 pom poms in camel, mainly because I want it to match the other pillow I knit up. The multicolor pom poms seemed a little too busy! As a set, I think they'll look great in my living room or at the next yarn tradeshow I'm attending in June. Below I've highlighted the pillow pics I've seen on instagram that you've shared with #knitcollageKAL. I also started our very own pinterest board where I'll continue to add photos of the finished pillows as I see them. Thank you so much to all of you who participated! I loved hosting this and hope to make the next one we do, even better, so if you have any feedback, please let me know. I'm all ears! I hope the photos of each other's work inspires you. My favorite part of a knitalong is always connecting with you and seeing you happy with your finished piece. It has been an honor. Let's keep making!

Ok, to start,here's me and my finished pillow, being my silly self. 

Next up is  Sierra of Knitting Wonder's gorgeous pillow - holy cow that's a stunning photo, right?! She did hers in the sample color combination: Snowflake and Granola Girl Pixie Dust with Camel Sister. 

These make me so happy, love both variations so much! By @kristebee She did the sample color and then another one, the same as the other but with a bright Robins Egg Blue back/pom poms. I love the 2 variations she did for these! Such a pretty set.

@leahjillt knits are always jaw dropping! I love her color choice here. I was hoping someone would knit this one up, it's so rich and the tassels are a ton of fun!

@tangledhandknits pillow in the works, loving it so far!

@gaffneyanna your big happy smile is just the best! Love your pillow too :)

Thank you all so much for participating! I hope to add to this post as you wrap up knitting these :) I'm going to announce the prize winner in a few weeks time when I hope we get a few more finished projects completed. 

Big hugs and so much love, Amy @ Knit Collage

Greetings pillow friends! How are your projects going?! I can't believe we are already on the third week and getting ready to seam these babies up. This is where the pillow really comes to life. This week, I'll give you some tips on how to block and seam your pillow.  Like before, I've highlighted key points after each video. Hopefully you were able to cast off the Sister yarn portion of your pillow this week. As always, feel free to get in touch if you need help at amy@knitcollage.com. Let's dive in!

Video 6: Blocking your finished pieces

Things to keep in mind:

* Tools you'll need: blocking boards (I like these) or a towel folded over double, T pins (see pic below), measuring tape, a spray bottle or cup full of water.



* When we block in knitting, we set our finished knit pieces into the correct shape the pattern calls for, so in this case either a 14"x14" or 16"x16" square, depending on which size pillow you chose to make.

* Use your measuring tape to pin your finished pieces into the correct size square on your blocking board or towel.

* I prefer lightly blocking (as shown in the video) with our bulky yarns. If you get your finished piece too wet, it will take days to dry. 

* Wait to seam your pieces until they are completely dry.

Here's what both of my pieces look like in blocking.

Both of these pieces were blocked into 16"x16" squares.

Video 7: Seaming your pieces together

Things to keep in mind:

* Weave in all of your ends using you darning needle for the Sister yarn and your fingers for the Pixie Dust before you start seaming.

* Lay your pieces out with the right sides facing in towards each other and lined up on top of each other. Since the pattern is reversible for each piece, the sides you think look best should face in.

* Use the Sister yarn to seam, not the Pixie Dust.

* The number of stitches in the Sister and Pixie Dust panels will not match up. Recall that you cast on fewer stitches in the Pixie Dust than the Sister. So,  you will not be seaming stitch for stitch, just do your best to make sure the corners all line up as you go. It doesn't have to be perfect! Use pins as a guide to make sure all your sides and corners match up.

* We'll seam up 3 sides like this and in the next video we'll turn the pillow case inside out, add the pillow insert and seam the fourth and final side.

* Below is a detailed pic of what seaming your overcast stitch will look like.

Video 8: Adding your pillow insert and seaming the last side

Things to keep in mind:

* After you've finished seaming 3 sides of your pillow, turn the whole piece inside out and stuff your pillow insert inside.

* I like my pillows not that puffy, I like them a little less perky, more cuddle-y...SO I actually took a little puff out of my insert to achieve this. Do what you like here.

* Seam up your final pillow edge in the same overcast method you used for the other 3 sides. I love the way the stitching looks like a handmade whip stitch edge.

That's it for this week guys! Next week I'll show you how to make and add tassels or pom poms to your pillow. The customization part is a total blast! Lastly, if you missed the prize info, click on last week's post here to find out more. 

XOXO Amy

Hey guys! I hope you've had a wonderful week and are having fun chugging away on your pillow. I find this project so relaxing because it's just knitting rectangles. The perfect project for unwinding post baby bedtime for me. Some of you only received the smaller set of needles from our warehouse - I'm so sorry about this. This was our mistake and the larger sets shipped out last week. Hopefully you have them already!

This week I'm going to go over casting off in the Pixie Dust yarn, checking gauge in your Sister yarn and finally I'll show you how to knit the first few rows of the Sister portion of your pillow. After each video, I've highlighted the key points. This week, try to get through the Sister portion of your pillow with me. Next week we'll move on to blocking and seaming. Keep tagging us on social media with #knitcollageKAL too! I have loved seeing your yarn and projects and can't wait to see more.

Video 3: Casting off in Pixie Dust yarn

If you're casting off for the first time, here's a great video on how to do that.

The last little thing to do is to draw your remaining Pixie Dust yarn through the last stitch as shown above to cast off your last stitch. That last snippet of my video got cut off!

Things to keep in mind:

* Even though the written pattern says you should bind off on either row 2 or 4 of pattern, this is not totally essential. I just knit mine to 16" and cast off in the follow row of the pattern (for me row 4). It's more important that your knitted piece measure 16".

* If you run out of one color of your Pixie Dust yarn (as I do in the video) while your casting off, don't worry. Just continue casting off in the color you still have. It won't make a difference and you won't notice it!

* Cast off loosely to make sure your top edge doesn't pull in.

* After you're all done you may notice that you have a wonky rectangle (as I do below). We will block this into a square with straight edges next week, so don't fret. That is normal!

Video 4: Check gauge in Sister yarn

Things to keep in mind:

* A good number of stitches to cast on for your gauge swatch is 8. I recommend knitting 10 rows in the stitch of the pattern.

* Leave your stitches live ON your needle. After you've checked your gauge, unravel the swatch so that you can use it for tassels or pom poms later.

* If you are having trouble matching the suggest gauge, consider going up or down a needle size - as always contact me (amy@knitcollage.com) if you need help!

Video 5: Knitting the first 4 rows in Sister yarn

This should be a cinch for you after the Pixie Dust! I love how the moss stitch pattern pops more in this yarn. 

Last but not least, let's talk about prizes. I briefly touched on this last week. I think the prize should go to the person who looks to happiest/most triumphant/excited about their pillow. So the photo has to be a selfie, with either the finished pillow or the yarn/knitting in progress and tagged with #knitcollageKAL . It doesn't have to be silly but it totally could be. It could just be you all blissed out and cozy with it. I'll pick a winner at the end. AND the prize will be any 2 skeins of yarn of your choice!

Good luck and thank you so much for joining me on this knitalong!

xoxo ~ Amy