Motherhood Pillow

Motherhood Pillow by Stefanie Johnson

What Is Being Made

The Motherhood Pillow is an advanced intermediate knitted cushion cover featuring a Celtic knot design that symbolizes the bond between parent and child. The pattern creates a mosaic-style pillow with a Celtic knot of motherhood depicted as two hearts intertwined, representing a parent and child embrace. The reverse side of the pillow can be customized with additional hearts to represent each child in a family, making this a deeply personal and meaningful home décor piece.

Pillow Sizes and Gauge

This knitting pattern is available in two sizes: a 12-inch square pillow (30.5 cm) and a 16-inch square pillow (40.5 cm). The pattern is worked to a gauge of 16 stitches and 22 rows per 4 inches (10 cm) when measured in stockinette stitch on blocked fabric.

Knitting Techniques and Stitches

The Motherhood Pillow requires advanced intermediate knitting skills and incorporates several sophisticated techniques that make this project suitable for experienced knitters looking to expand their skill set. The pattern combines multiple construction methods to achieve its intricate Celtic knot design.

• Slip Stitch Colorwork: This technique is used to create the mosaic pattern of the Celtic knot design using contrasting colors without the need for traditional stranded colorwork. Slip stitch colorwork allows for clean color transitions while maintaining even fabric tension.
• Unique Cabling: Custom cable stitches are incorporated into the design, with the pattern noting that cables can be worked either with or without a traditional cable needle, offering flexibility in the construction method.
• Picking Up Stitches: This essential technique is used during pillow construction to add new sections or borders by picking up live stitches from previously worked areas.
• Short-Row Shaping: Strategic short rows are employed to create dimensional shaping within the pillow cover, adding depth and structure to the finished piece.
• Decreases and Increases: Various increase and decrease methods are used throughout the pattern to shape the design elements and create the intertwined Celtic knot motif.

Materials and Yarn Requirements

The Motherhood Pillow is designed to be worked in worsted weight yarn using two contrasting colors: a main color (MC) and a contrasting color (CC). For the 12-inch pillow, you will need 130 grams of worsted weight yarn in your main color and 90 grams in your contrasting color. For the larger 16-inch pillow, the yardage increases to 174 grams of main color and 120 grams of contrasting color.

The pattern sample shown features handspun yarns: the main color is handspun crepe yarn made from 100% natural colored Coopsworth wool, while the contrasting color is handspun 2-ply yarn made from 100% Ashford Corriedale wool top in a lime colorway. This demonstrates the beautiful results possible with premium natural fiber yarns, though any worsted weight yarn in contrasting colors will work for this pattern.

Needles and Tools

This pattern requires U.S. size 9 (5.5 mm) knitting needles for the main fabric. A cable needle is recommended for working the unique cable stitches, though the pattern notes that cables can be worked without a cable needle if preferred, using alternative methods such as dropping stitches and picking them up later.

Design by Stefanie Johnson

The Motherhood Pillow is an original design by independent designer Stefanie Johnson, created as a downloadable PDF knitting pattern. This advanced intermediate project combines meaningful symbolism with sophisticated knitting techniques, making it an ideal choice for experienced knitters seeking a project that celebrates family bonds through fiber arts.