Tunisian Travel Pillow by Hayden Smith

Tunisian Travel Pillow By Hayden Smith About The Pattern This is a pattern for a small pillow (stuffed rectangle). It is created using the basic Tunisian Crochet Stitch then seamed together I chose to use Tunisian crochet for a couple reasons 1) It’s a very nice looking, smooth stitch that is easy to work 2) It creates almost perfectly square stitches that allow for cross-stitching into afterwards for endless design possibilities 3) It leaves very nice edges which are very easy to seam together I created this with the mindset of wanting a small travel size pillow that I could keep in a backpack and have on hand if I were ever in a situation where I wanted to rest my head for a bit, like at an airport for example. Small enough to carry around without taking up much space with just enough cushion in case you want to get comfortable somewhere I have some suggested sizes here, these are all a 4x3 aspect ratio to mimic a regular pillow shape but it’s very easy to customize the shape of your pillow to be wider, longer, taller, more square by altering the number of foundation chains and rows worked (Math for computing this is listed below in the Math section) Small 15 chain x 40 Rows (~ 5” x 7”) Medium 21 chain x 56 Rows (~ 6.8” x 10”) Large 27 chain x 72 Rows (~ 8.8” x 12.5”) What You Will Need Worsted Weight Yarn You can substitute other yarn weights but you will have to alter your hook size and stitch counts. For the smallest size you’ll need about 75? yards of the main colour plus a couple yards of any colours you wish to use for cross stitching you can make the entire thing one colour or use multiple colours for a striped effect Crochet hook I used a 7.0mm hook but you may want to change this to suit your preference or availability. I wouldn’t recommend going below 5.5mm as the work will become very tight and may curl too much, or going above 9mm as the work may become too loose and the stuffing could begin to poke out, but of course this is your preference Also note that in Tunisian crochet you don’t just work with one loop at a time you actually pick up loops on the hook all the way across a row, so you may need to use a special hook if you’re going to go any wider than ~30 stitches. Special Tunisian crochet hooks are long with a stopper at the end like a knitting needle, you may also find hooks with a cord like a circular knitting needle, both will work for this project Yarn Needle & Scissors For seaming and cross stitching My gauge using worsted weight yarn (size 4) and a 7.0mm hook was 3.25” (8.25cm) for 10 stitches wide by 3.5”(8.9cm) for 10 rows You can work up a sample swatch and measure your own gauge using a tape measure Once you measure your gauge you can do some simple math to calculate how large your pillow will be for a certain chain and row combination, or you can go the other way and pick a size of pillow you want then figure out how many chains and rows you need to get those dimensions. See Math section below if you need a hand with this Math 1) Find your Gauge Work up a swatch 15 chains by 15 rows, measure the width of 10 stitches, and of 10 rows using a tape measure. See Pictures Below Divide these measurements by 10 and you’ll get an average size of your stitches and rows *If you’re using a wool yarn (one that may change size with washing) you should wash your swatch before measuring I measured 3.25” across 10 stitches, giving me an average stitch size of 0.325” Let’s call this h (height) for simplicity; fill your value in for h in the equations below I measured 3.5” across 10 rows, giving me an average row size of 0.35” Let’s call this w (width) for simplicity; fill your value in for w in the equations below 2) Stitch count → Finished Size If you have a stitch count you want to use, you can calculate the approximate size of the finished product like this: Finished Height = Chain Count x h Finished Width = Row Count x w ÷ 2 *Divide by 2 because you are folding it in half 3) Finished Size → Stitch Count If you have a finished size in mind you can figure out how many chains to start with and how many rows to work like this: Chain Count = Finished Height ÷ h Row Count = Finished Width x 2 ÷ w *Multiply by 2 because you are folding it in half Construction This pattern is basically one long strip of Tunisian crochet folded in half and sewed together on three sides to form a rectangle that can be stuffed. (See Diagram Below) → → → → → If you are unfamiliar with working Tunisian crochet you can find many informative tutorials on working Tunisian on Youtube (I suggest This One by Staci Perry of VeryPink Knits) Tunisian is built off a foundation chain, the chain number will determine the height of your pillow. The Number of rows you work in Tunisian will determine the width of your pillow, If you work 40 rows each side of the pillow will be 20 rows wide Finishing Up Once you’ve figured out how large you want your pillow to be, worked all your rows and bound off, it’s time to add the finishing touches. Here’s where you can take the opportunity to add a cross stitch design to your Pillow. You can add letters, initials, shapes, stripes, motifs, logos, almost anything you can think of Cross Stitching If you’ve never worked cross stitch into Tunisian crochet before you can follow This example done by Staci of VeryPink Knits You can choose any design you want as long as it fits on the grid of your stitches. You can use a pencil and graph paper or a digital editing tool like Microsoft Paint so design your pattern. Say your pillow is 15 stitches by 40 rows, each side of the pillow will be a 15 by 20 grid but you actually want to design using a grid that's two stitches smaller to leave yourself some room on each side so you aren’t working right up against any edges, so in this case 15 by 20 grid → 13 by 18 grid. Here are a couple of examples Seaming Ideally you want to leave a long tail when you make your slip knot and after you bind off and use those for seaming, but you can always use a new strand of yarn instead. Start by seaming to sides together, then fill most of the way with stuffing, then being seaming the third and final side while continuing to finish stuffing as you go. You can use any method of seaming you wish but I’ll describe the method I use which yields a strong and beautiful result For the first two sides you want to fold the strip in half inside out (seaming on the inside leaves a nicer result on the outside) Use a long strand (about twice as long as the sides you’re seaming and weave it through the stitches along the edge. Go through one stitch from each side weaving back and forth down both edges. When you reach the end just secure your strand and you can just leave it long, it will disappear inside the pillow. Flip it right-side out and fill it most of the way with stuffing, leave a little room at the top for seaming the final side. Seam this the same way as the other two, it won’t be inside out like the others but will still look nice. Keep stuffing as you go until you are satisfied with the filling, seam all the way, secure your end and weave it inside the Pillow You’re Done! Summary Of Tips And Things To Note ✥ It’s very easy to make a mistake in your work and accidentally change the stitch count so try and remember to count your stitches every couple rows to make sure you’re on track ✥ Using a hook that is too small could cause your work to be very tight and curl a lot, it’s normal for Tunisian to curl a little but if it curls too much your pillow could be very deformed and kind of wonky. Using a hook that is too large may cause your stitches to be very loose and the stuffing could more easily poke out Also if you decide to make a pillow wider than ~30 stitches you may need to use a special Tunisian hook so your work doesn’t fall off the end as you’re going across the row ✥ Leave tails for seaming, about 2x the length of the sides you’re seaming with it will be enough ✥ Your cross stitch design grid should be two stitches smaller than your actual stitch count, leaving a stitch on either side so you aren’t working your cross stitch right up against an edge ✥ If you decide to use a wool or other yarn type that changes after washing, make sure to wash your swatch how you would wash your final piece before measuring your gauge .

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