Crochet Wave pillow
Designed by
Kinjinlu Khumba
#KKPillow_02
Skill level – Beginner – Intermediate
Some time back I learnt how to crochet this beautiful Almond Ridge or the Wave stitch. Then suddenly I had this idea of a cylindrical pillow and I thought the wave stitch would be perfect. I didn’t want the wave to be too small either, so I took a 5 stitch pattern and began to crochet it. I actually had to pull out my swatch or sample a few times because the length was not right or the hook wasn’t right, but that’s just what we designers do right? And here it is. Honestly, I thought this will be easy so once my swatch was ready I went and developed the pattern in one go. I hope you enjoy this simple pattern.
So I’ll be breaking down the whole process into 3 parts for easy understanding.
Part 1: Making the cylinder
Part2: Making the circle
(i) Calculating the diameter
(ii) Steps of construction
(iii) Joining the circle and cylinder
Part 3: Stuffing
Materials:
- Worsted weight yarn, 700-800 yards
- 5 mm and 3.5mm crochet hook
- Needle to sew
- Polyester filings
- Measuring tape
- Stitch marker
- Stitching pins
Abbreviations (US Terminology):
- hdc – half double crochet
- BLO – Back Loop Only
- Slp st – slip stitch
- Ch – chain
- Inc – increase
- R – Row and Round
- *—* – repeat the particular set of stitches.
Gauge: 15 stitches x 8 rows = 10 cm sq.
Measurements: (Adjustable as per the preference) – 23” in circumference and 28” length
See notes on how to alter the sizes
Part 1: Making the cylinder
yarn color – A.
With 4.5 mm hook, chain 100+6
R1: from the 2nd ch, slp st 5 times. *(5hdc, 5 slp st)* x 10 (105)
R2: ch1, turn. [*(5 slp st, 5 hdc)* x 10, 5 slp st] – BLO (105)
R3: Ch1, turn. [*(5hdc, 5 slp st)* x 10, 5 hdc] – BLO (105)
R4 = R3
R5-72: Repeat R1- R4 (BLO)
R72: Leave a long tail, longer than the length of the body of the cylinder to sew and join the edges later.
Note: Add more rows to make it bigger. Add more chains to make it longer, in the multiples of 10 (+ 6 stitches at the end.)
- Fold the rectangle and join the beginning and ending row with a simple whip stitch. You can sew it from either sides, it doesn’t really matter. I sew it with the right side facing outward.
- Pick up a loop from the beginning edge and the back loop from the ending edge to sew through every stitch.
- Match the hdc & slp st wavy pattern to correspond to both the beginning and ending sides.
Part2: Making the circle
(i) Calculating the diameter:
- Your circumference would be the total width of the cylinder i.e R1 to R72 (or your last row if you have a different number of rows.)
- Now, 72 rows gives me 16” in circumference.
Diameter = Circumference :- pi (value of pi = 3.14)
Therefore 16/3.14 = 5.09”
- So a 5” diameter circle would perfectly fit the 16” circumference cylinder. However, you may add 2” to 3” to the diameter for ease and stretchiness of the tube after stuffing.
Therefore, your ideal circle would have a diameter of 7” to 8”
(I made a 7.5” diameter circle)
(ii) Steps of construction:
Move a hook size down to 3.5 mm hook. Yarn color – B
R1: 8hdc into the magic ring (8). Use a st marker to mark the last st of the round.
R2: inc in every st (16)
R3: *(1hdc, inc)* x 8 (24)
R4: *(2hdc, inc)* x 8 (32)
R5: *(3hdc, inc)* x 8 (40)
R6: *(4hdc, inc)* x 8 (48)
R7: *(5hdc, inc)* x 8 (56)
R8: *(6hdc, inc)* x 8 (64)
R9: *(7hdc, inc)* x 8 (72)
R10: *(8hdc, inc)* x 8 (80)
R11: *(9hdc, inc)* x 8 (88)
R12: *(10hdc, inc)* x 8 (96)
R13: *(11hdc, inc)* x 8 (104)
R14: *(12hdc, inc)* x 8 (112)
Slp st in the next 2 stitches. Leave a very very long tail of about 2 meters of yarn.
Make 2 of these circle.
Note: You may increase the size of the circle by putting more rounds, increasing in the given pattern format. Also decrease with lesser number of rounds.
(iii) Joining the circle and cylinder:
Fold the long tail of the circle into half to form a double strand, which will be the sewing thread to join the cylinder and the circle piece.
With the right side facing outwards, pin the circle to the circumference of the cylinder using pins. Sew it up with a simple whip stitch to get a rugged effect. Make sure you pick up even number of stitches to maintain a straight and even line for a beautiful finish. Refer image.
In case you run out of yarn, you can join it this way. Just bring your new yarn and pass it through the loop. No joining point, real smooth.
Secure the stitch and no need to hide the tail. Just pass the strands inside the cylinder.
Part 3: Stuffing
We attach the circle only on one side and then we stuff the soft fillings evenly. Stuffing is one of the most important part and it is while stuffing that shapes our pillow well. Mesh and flatten your fillings for better results. Take time to smoothen out the bumps and dips while stuffing.
When you reach the brim, pin the other circle and sew up with the double strand in the same way as circle no.1. Before you close up completely, double and triple check your stuffing and fill it fully because once you sew it up you won’t be able to stuff anymore even if there are spaces you need to fill.
Close up the remaining gap and hide the extra tails into the pillow. Insert your needle into the pillow and come out anywhere on the body, re-insert into the same stitch from where your strand had come off and come out on any other side of the body. Do this a few more times as the tails get tangled inside the soft fillings. And once you’re happy with it, pull the strand a little and cut off the yarn. The remaining tail will snap back right inside the body.
And that’s it!
Or you can watch the visual tutorial here.
Copyright © 2021 Lu’s Handicrafts
This design, the written pattern and images are a copyright of Lu’s Handicrafts and may not be copied or reproduced in any way whether on paper or electronically. You have permission to sell the finished products made from this pattern, but please leave a link to my website, www.lushandicrafts.com in your product listing specifying that Kinjinlu Khumba is the designer of this pattern. Thank you for supporting me.
If you have any trouble with this pattern, fond errors or want to give feedback, please feel free to contact me at lushandicrafts@gmail.com. Also a visual tutorial is available on my YouTube channel, Lu’s Handicrafts, if you need further assistance.
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