The Parkway Pillow: An easy to knit chunky pillow project!
The Parkway Pillow started with a quick sketch I drew while painting our kitchen seven years ago. A few days later, I experimented with yarn and needles... trying a couple of options until the knitting looked like my original idea.
My sketch became The Parkway Pillow knitting pattern… named for an iconic boulevard here in Kansas City, Missouri. A wide parkway divides the two sections of road and features beautiful trees, spring and summer flowers, and several historic fountains.
This pillow is simple and easy to knit with super bulky yarn. For the light blue pillow shown below, I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in the beautiful ‘Glacier’ colorway.
Pin the image below to save it on your Pinterest knitting board! Click here to see my Pinterest page.
This is a quick and easy knitting pattern which makes it great for last-minute gifts for Mother’s Day, weddings and birthdays.
The project is knit in one piece. The knitted 16” wide x 32” long rectangle is folded over a 16” x 16” square pillow form.
The project is finished by hand seaming the side edges and bottom.
The pattern includes step-by-step finishing instructions with photo illustrations.
As of March 2021, the pattern has a rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars on Ravelry for overall results and 5 out of 5 stars for clarity of instructions.
Click here to purchase The Parkway Pillow knitting pattern.
FINISHED PILLOW SIZE:
One Size: Instructions to fit a 16” x 16” square pillow form.
SUPPLIES:
220 - 260 yards Super Bulky / Super Chunky #6 weight yarn
US size 13 knitting needles - or size to obtain gauge (straight or circular needles)
16” x 16” square pillow form
Tapestry needle
Stitch markers (optional)
Blocking mats and pins are helpful for blocking
More details and shopping options below!
SUPER BULKY YARN:
I used Lion Brand's Wool-Ease Thick & Quick (80% Acrylic / 20% Wool) in the ‘Glacier’ colorway for the icy blue version shown in the photos. This yarn has a lovely soft, woolly texture with fantastic stitch definition. A few of the many beautiful home décor colorway options include: Denim, Succulent, Slate, Cilantro, Spice and Peanut. Shop: LionBrand.com | Amazon | LoveCrafts.com
Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick super bulky yarn works great for this project. I used the pretty ‘Glacier’ colorway. See the full selection of color options on the Lion Brand website.
A note about chenille yarns: I do not recommend chenille style yarns for this project. Chenille yarn tends to wiggle around and the stitches flatten out. The stitch design would not show up well.
This pattern will work well with many other super bulky yarns including these yarns that have good stitch definition.
Valley Yarns Valley Superwash Super Bulky (100% Superwash Wool) - I used this yarn for my Graph Paper blanket knitting pattern. It’s lovely! Soft, springy texture. Great stitch definition. Pretty selection of colorways. Shop: Exclusively at WEBS Yarn Store
Plymouth Encore Mega (75% Acrylic / 25% Wool) - This super bulky yarn has a rating of 4.2 out of 5 stars on Ravelry. Shop: Yarn Barn of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas (ships to US locations) | Local Yarn Shops (US) | LoveCrafts.com
Rowan Big Wool (100% Merino Wool) - A luxurious 100% wool yarn. Nice stitch definition. Shop: Spun in Ann Arbor, Michigan | WEBS Yarn Store
The Parkway Pillow shown in Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in the ‘Glacier’ colorway.
PILLOW FORM OPTIONS:
The knitting will look best on firm, structured pillow form. Squishy, down filled pillows are so pretty but do not have the structure to neatly display this knitting design.
Look for inexpensive, poly-filled pillow options such as this pack of two basic pillow forms available on Amazon or this 16” x 16” pillow form at JoAnn’s Crafts.
KNITTING NEEDLES & GAUGE:
The project is knit flat, in one piece on straight or circular knitting needles.
This project is designed for a tight gauge of 10 stitches = 4” in stockinette stitch.
Please take the time to do some test knitting with your yarn and knitting needles!
If your gauge has more than 10 stitches per 4”… try one needle size smaller.
I used US 13 Knitter's Pride Nova Platina circular knitting needles in the 32” length. This length allows the needles to be used for small projects or to knit an afghan. For a less expensive option… Knitter’s Pride has a “Basix” wood circular needle.
If you prefer to knit with straight knitting needles… look for a set that is at least 12 - 14” long in order to accommodate the number of stitches. Here’s a set of 14” long US 13 Clover bamboo knitting needles available on Amazon.
A few ring style stitch markers are also helpful to keep track of the changes in the stitch pattern. Here’s a link to see the Clover Jumbo Stitch Markers I used.
EASY TO KNIT PILLOW PROJECT:
The Parkway Pillow knitting pattern is easy to knit. If you know how to knit and purl, and change back and forth from one to the other confidently then you probably have the skills for this project.
You will need to know how to cast on stitches, knit and purl confidently, read a row by row knitting pattern, bind off stitches and weave in ends.
The pattern includes detailed, photo illustrated instructions for sewing up the seams.
The pattern instructions include detailed step-by-step instructions for sewing up the seams of this pillow project. Lots of photo illustrations included!
BLOCKING RECOMMENDED:
For best appearance, I highly recommend blocking the finished knitted piece before sewing up the seams. It really improves in the final appearance of the project!
Click here to see all of my blocking tips including step-by-step photos.
For best appearance… block the knitting before sewing up the seams. Click here to see my blog post with step-by-step tips for wet blocking.
CUSTOMER PROJECTS:
As of March 2021, Ravelry knitters have shared almost 60 projects using The Parkway Pillow knitting pattern. And, the pattern has a rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars on Ravelry for overall results and 5 out of 5 stars for clarity of instructions.
“I am very pleased with how the pillow turned out! The pattern is well written with very good seaming instructions!”
“Very easy and fun project…great for beginners because of the extra bulky yarn.”
Heather used The Parkway Pillow pattern to make two new covers for old throw pillows using Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in the ‘Oatmeal’ colorway. Click here to see the attractive finished projects on Ravelry.
A Ravelry knitter shared this lovely pillow made using Cascade Yarns Lana Grande in the ‘Antique’ colorway.
Cheryl of Kelowna Yarn and Needlecrafts in Kelowna, British Coumbia made a store sample of The Parkway Pillow using Spotted Ewe Fibers Estelle Super Bulky yarn. It looks fabulous!
And, here’s a great looking Parkway Pillow project made with the ‘Fisherman’ colorway of Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick.
I would love to see your project! Share your project on Ravelry and on Instagram with tags: #fiftyfourtenstudio and @fiftyfourtenstudio.
The Parkway Pillow made with Loops & Threads Cozy Wool in the ‘Fleece’ colorway. (This yarn has been discontinued.)
HOW TO PURCHASE THE PDF PATTERN:
ON THIS WEBSITE: Click here to purchase the instant download PDF knitting pattern here on my website.
RAVELRY: Click here to purchase the pattern and add it to your Ravelry library.
ETSY: Click here to buy the PDF pattern in my Etsy shop.
Thank you so much for reading!
Happy knitting!
