Felted (or Not) Pincushion

With some leftover yarn I knit up this adorable pincushion. The unfelted version is good for yarn needles, yarn pins, even small sized needles. The felted version is good for thread needles and sewing pins - but still works for larger sized things because of the rings.

You'll need just a small amount of worsted weight yarn for each ring. Of course, if you wish to felt it, make sure your yarn is mostly wool!

The finished pincushion is about 2.5-3in across (about 6-8cm).

Materials:

Small amounts of 3 colors of worsted weight wool (I used Patons Classic Merino Wool)

US 9 (5.5mm) needles

Yarn needle

Instructions:

With Color A, cast on 15 stitches.

Knit 18 rows in garter stitch (knit all rows). Bind off.

Fold in half lengthways and whipstitch short ends closed.

Roll into a tight cylinder, and whipstitch ends and bottom securely.

With Color B, cast on 13 stitches.

Knit 36 rows in garter stitch (knit all rows). Bind off.

Fold in half lengthways, and whipstitch short ends closed.

Wrap around Color A column, with open long ends flush to bottom.

Whipstitch short ends together, and stitch bottom closed and to Color A.

Important: Keep the bottom as flat as possible!

With Color C, cast on 11 stitches.

Knit 54 rows in garter stitch (knit all rows). Bind off.

Fold in half lengthways, and whipstitch short ends closed.
Wrap around Color B, with open long ends flush to bottom.
Whipstitch short ends together, and stitch bottom closed and to Color B.
Important: Keep the bottom as flat as possible!

Your pincushion is now ready to use.

Felting will cause each ring to solidify but does not actually shrink the width that much. The height will be slightly less, and each row will be closer in height to the next than in the unfelted version.