START

After several false starts ( see notes below ), I restarted the project on February 21 and got so pulled into it that i finished all nine squares by February 27!
Now on to seaming and knitting a back.

August 27: Looks like I need this housewarming gift sooner rather than later. My son and his wife broke ground and their home May be move-in ready before the end of the year.
So, I started on the back for the pillow in black.
Finished the back 9.14. during knitting group and ordered a 18”x18” pillow insert.
Now all that’s left is the seaming including putting in a zipper.

The nine squares came out beautifully and I embroidered the two dogs looking out the windows of the center house.

Used this method to join the front and back of the pillow.
https://youtu.be/V3-zQA2qjLs?si=miFDvbKfO6m_LfgC
Now all that’s left is to add the zipper.

Zipper: using this edging along the edge where the zipper goes; it is similar to the joining stitch.

https://youtu.be/_0OLw99gfDk?si=_tz5gZRzsJtNOw1u

Then I washed the case before actually putting in the zipper.

12.26: I really don’t like putting in zippers and am terrible at it. But I finally put in half the zipper today, yeah!
Used this method :
https://youtu.be/PY9Z6uXQklQ?si=nZIrCanBsbMwFmRc

12.31.: Hurrah, I put the second half of the zipper in and this is FINISHED! Will give it to them February/ March when they should be able to move in!!!

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Start. Started this with my friend Julie. Using left overs from my stash. I don’t have much Aran weight yarn and decided , should I make another pillow, to choose from one of the following ideas ( for using stash):

1. Use worsted weight on a smaller needle (5 or 6) for a smaller pillow.
2. Use sugar and cream cotton as I have lots of that from making washcloths.
3. Buy some inexpensive acrylic yarn of Aran weight. This may be a good idea, too, when given as a gift as it will be easier to care for and wash ( think “ drooling dog and such).

First try: In the first square ( green house) I used worsted and it wasn’t thick enough.
In the second Square I used bulky just for the house ( gray house) and it is too thick.

Third try: worked everything in a Red Heart Acrylic Yarn. Looks a bit better , but there is still some wonky-ness which I attribute to the house being in st st and the rest in garter.
I did notice that some knitters worked everything In garter ( contrary to the pattern instructions).
I also did notice that I made a big oops: the door is 6 rows instead of 12. Yikes

Restart?!. : I decided to restart in all garter. It may be an errata in the book?
I inquired with the designer and she got back to me very quickly. This is what she says:
“Hi Doris,

The Ground Floor of the house is actually worked in Garter Stitch. If you look just above the Chart it says: “Chart shows RS rows only. WS rows are knitted using same color as prev RS row.” Also, you will see that on the right edge of the chart, all the row numbers are odd because these are only the right side rows. There is also a note about this in the Ground Floor text instructions. I hope this helps!! Write back if you have any more issues.

Margaret”

I have no idea how i could be so wrong