Ann is coming in from Florida for Knitting in the Heartland next weekend and I thought what better than to make a little floor pouf for her to prop her feet up when she is sitting on the futon couch knitting!

I searched the Internet for ideas, Pinterest was a good one. Seems that knitted floor poufs are the rage and, therefore, expensive. I checked Ravelry for inspiration as well and found Spiral Floor Pouf that looked interesting. Here’s what mine looks like.

Mine is a bit different than the pattern because I put a little tiny flower embellishment where a hole would be after drawing the knit piece together. Can you see it?

 

 

So here’s the process. I used Bernat Softee Chunky acrylic since it was on sale and the right color. You know I like orange, right?

I regret choosing acrylic only because it’s not stretchy enough to be kind to my hands. But it looked pretty good when knitting was complete.

 

At the end of the knitting, I drew the yarn through the stitches and tightened it up until all that was left was a small hole about 1″ in diameter. That would be the bottom of the pouf.

 

In the meantime, since I was concerned the polyester fiberfill would leak out between the stitches since the pouf was knitted with one strand of super bulky yarn on US 13 needles, I created a stuffing insert with two t-shirts in a red-orange color at the thrift store (for 90 cents!). After a good wash, I used one for the side “band” of the insert and cut circles from the other t-shirt for the top and bottom.

 

I used a round placemat to trace the circles and cut them both out at the same time with a rotary cutter.

I then sewed them into a cylinder-shaped insert with my brilliant new serger. (How did I live without this thing before?)

I stuffed approximately three 20 oz. bags of polyester fiberfill that I purchased at different times on sale and then sewed the opening shut by hand.

 

Looks kinda like Frankenstein.

 

I did all this cutting, sewing and stuffing whilst the knit portion was in the washer and dryer (acrylic does have its benefits). The dryer stopped just as I was wrapping up the insert. All I had to do was insert the insert and wove the yarn tail through the edge stitches on the knitting and drew it tight.

I was left with a small hole that didn’t appeal to me, so I spaced my stitches apart farther and drew it tight again. Although the hole was smaller, I wasn’t thrilled with the results, so I got my darning needle out and stitched a little flower on the top.

 

 

Finished! It’s nice and squishy and stands 15.5″ tall and 19.5″ in diameter.

 

I’m quite pleased how it turned out, although after chatting with another friend on Ravelry, I’m thinking if I ever make another one, I’d make it in either garter stitch or stockinette with three yarns held together to make the knitting portion go by quicker.

Next time, I will reveal one of the top secret knitting projects I’ve been working on!