My Black Heart... Pillow

With Valentine's Day coming up and seeing hearts all over Pinterest, I figured I would make something fun. So, I looked through my yarn stash and saw this super bulky Lionbrand yarn, grabbed a pair of big needles and sat down to create. What I came up with is a heart pillow, black on one side, white on the other. I put it to the side for a few days because I knew I wasn't done with it but wasn't quite sure what to do to make it feel complete.

Now, I'll be the first to say that free hand needlepoint/embroidery is not my strong suit but I thought I'd give it a go. After a few tries (well maybe a few more than a few), I managed to stitch "love" onto the black side. On the flip side is "you" because it only made perfect sense to do that.

This heart pillow works up quite quickly and you can really have fun with it. You can stitch words on it or attach appliques onto it. You can even leave it as is!

For this pattern, you will need:

2 (5 oz/81 yds) Skeins of LionBrand Hometown USA
Size 13/9 mm Straight Needles
Polyfil (or similar stuffing material)
Yarn Needle
Scissors
(Optional, worsted weight yarn for embroidery)

Abbreviations Used:
BO : Bind Off
CO : Cast On
K : Knit
KFB : Knit into the front and back
K2TOG : Knit 2 together
P : Purl
P2TOG : Purl 2 together
SSK : Slip slip knit
SSP : Slip slip purl
ST(S) : Stitch(es)

Stitch Notes:
SSP- Slip two stitches as if to knit. Slide those stitches back onto left needle. Insert right needle into stitches from the back and then purl both at once.

CO 11 sts.
Row 1: K all sts
Row 2: Kfb, P9, Kfb (13)
Row 3: K all sts
Row 4: Kfb, P11, Kfb (15)
Row 5: K all sts
Row 6: Kfb, P13, Kfb (17)
Row 7: K all sts
Row 8: Kfb, P15, Kfb (19)
Row 9: K all sts
Row 10: Kfb, P17, Kfb. Cut yarn and push work to back of needle. (21)

On same needle, CO 11 sts. Repeat rows 1-10. Do not cut yarn.
Row 11: K all sts (42)
Row 12: Kfb, P40, Kfb (44)
Row 13: K all sts
Row 14: Kfb, P42, Kfb (46)
Rows 15&17: K all sts
Rows 16&18: K1, P44, K1
Row 19: K1, Ssk, K40, K2Tog, K1 (44)
Row 20, K1, P42, K1
Row 21: K1, Ssk, K38, K2tog, K1 (42)
Row 22: K1, P40, K1
Row 23: K1, Ssk, K36, K2tog, K1 (40)
Row 24: K1, P38, K1
Row 25: K1, Ssk, K34, K2tog, K1 (38)
Row 26: K1, P36, K1
Row 27: K1, Ssk, K32, K2tog, K1 (36)
Row 28: K1, P34, K1
Row 29: K1, Ssk, K30, K2tog, K1 (34)
Row 30: K1, P2tog, P28, Ssp, K1 (32)
Row 31: K1, Ssk, K26, K2tog, K1 (30)
Row 32: K1, P2tog, P24, Ssp, K1 (28)
Row 33: K1, Ssk, K22, K2tog, K1 (26)
Row 34: K1, P2tog, P20, Ssp, K1 (24)
Row 35: K1, Ssk, K18, K2tog, K1 (22)
Row 36: K1, P2tog, P16, Ssp, K1 (20)
Row 37: K1, SSk, K14, K2tog, K1 (18)
Row 38: K1, P2tog, P12, Ssp, K1 (16)
Row 39: K1, Ssk, K10, K2tog, K1 (14)
Row 40: K1, P2tog, P8, Ssp, K1 (12)
Row 41: K1, Ssk, K6, K2tog, K1 (10)
Row 42: K1, P2tog, P4, Ssp, K1 (8)
Row 43: K1, Ssk, K2, K2tog, K1 (6)
Row 44: K1, P2tog, Ssp, K1 (4)
Row 45: Ssk, K2tog (2)

BO and weave in ends.

Repeat this one more time for that second heart.  Now, you just have to decide how much or how little you want to decorate your pillow. I found it easier to embroider the pillow before sewing it together and stuffing it.

Little V's Dishcloth

I love handmade dishcloths. I love how creative you can be with the stitch patterns. I also love trying out stitch patterns I have never tried before. I whipped up this dishcloth one evening after several attempts (and loads of frogging) to figure out what I wanted to make with some variegated cotton yarn. Then I saw this stitch pattern in one of my books. It's a fairly simple pattern and I definitely plan on using it in other future patterns.

Finished Size: 9 in x 9.5 in

Gauge is 16 st and 18 rows is 4 inch square

(gauge is not really necessary for this pattern)

Materials:
WW cotton yarn (I used I Love This Cotton)
Size 6 straight needles
yarn needle
scissors

Abbreviations Used:
BO - bind off
CO - cast on
K - knit
K1b - knit stitch one row below (see photos below)
P - purl
SL1P - slip one stitch purlwise
ST - stitch/stitches

CO 41 st in your preferred CO method.
Row 1: SL1P, k38, p1
Row 2-3: Repeat row 1
Row 4: SL1P, k2, *K1b, k*, repeat from * to * across to last 4 st, K1b, k2, p1.
Row 5: SL1P, k38, p1
Row 6: SL1P, k2, *k, k1b*, repeat from * to * across to last 4 st, k3, p1.
Row 7: SL1P, k38, p1

Repeat rows 4-7 until work measures approximately 8.5 inches in length.
SL1P, k38, p1.
Repeat this last row two more times. BO and weave in ends.

Notes to remember:
*Odd numbered rows are the right side.
*The first stitch of each row will always be slipped as if to purl.
*The last stitch of each row will always be purled.

*To make this dishcloth bigger or smaller, simply adjust your number of cast on stitches to a multiple of 2 + 1.

Knit Stitch One Row Below (K1B)

Wrong Side View of K1B