Sunday, September 29, 2013

Crochet Owl Pillow Cover Pattern

Hoo's on the couch? I'd been kicking around the idea of making holiday pillow covers for the small (12") pillow on my couch. The big decision was whether to sew or crochet the one for Halloween. This Crochet Owl Pillow Cover idea won out:@) I was inspired by a little granny square owl HERE but wanted a bigger one so I doubled the amount of rows for the owl itself. It turned out cute!

I couldn't wait to show you the owl design as soon as I finished it. It's just pinned to the pillow here, the plan is to make a simple envelope closure backing in straight double crochet so I can slip the pillow in and easily remove it after Halloween. A scalloped edge would be cute too, and do you think he needs some of that crazy orange metallic eyelash yarn? Maybe where his wings would be, might be fun...
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Now, if you've been following my crochet escapades you know things can get a little wonky here... And full disclosure: if I missed a stitch or ended up with an extra one I just worked with it. This is how I made the pillow folks, I think once you get going it will make sense. And don't hesitate to check out the small granny square link above, she has very helpful instructions. The ears are the trickiest part.

Owl Pillow-I used an I hook and regular inexpensive worsted weight yarn
R1~ magic circle, ch 2, 11 DC into circle, pull loop closed. Slip stitch into top of ch 2.
R2~ Ch3, DC into same space, 2 DC in each space around, Slip stitch into top of Ch3. Cut yarn and knot off.
R3~ Change color. Ch3, DC into same space, 2 DC in each space around. Slip stitch into top of Ch3.
R4~ Ch3, DC into same space, *1 DC next space, 2DC next space, repeat from*. Slip stitch into top of Ch3. Cut yarn and knot off.
R5 (Squaring up the circle)~ Change color. *SC into 7 holes, DC next 4 holes, TC, Ch1, TC, DC next 4 holes, repeat from *. Sl stitch to first SC.
R6~ Ch3, *DC next hole to corner, 3 DC, Ch1, 3 DC into hole of TC, repeat from *. Sl stitch to Ch3.
R7 to as big as you need it, changing colors as desired~ Ch3, *DC next hole to corner, 3 DC, Ch1, 3 DC into corner hole, repeat from *. Sl stitch to Ch3.

Eyes-make two:
R1~ magic circle, ch 2, 11 DC into circle, pull loop closed.
R2~Ch 1, 1 SC into same space, 2 SC in each space around, Slip stitch into Ch1.
I added buttons for the black.

Ears-Unfortunately I can't help you too much here folks, I basically attached the yarn at the top outer right of the orange and would Ch2 then slip stitch it to one strand of the white. Just tried to make it a circle and wide enough that it would show up behind the eye. Then I came back and single crochet around the chain, with one little double crochet at the upper "corner" so I could pull it out a little and tack it down.

Feet-Just sew on a few strings or a few chains to look like feet. I only added them to try to help balance out the white at the bottom.

Beak-Just sew on a little bit of contrasting yarn.