Partly Cloudy: Crochet Pillows for Kids Tutorial

I’m never sure when we can officially declare “summer is here”. Even though I’ve been carelessly sunburned twice already (I should really be more careful), there have been many days when it was quite cloudy, or even worse – sand stormy (yuck!). Given that the weather hasn’t stabilized yet on “hot, humid and unbearable”, I have to check what the weather will be every day, so I can decide if it’s long pants or shorts for the kids. And there it was that inspiration struck me and I HAD to make a partly cloudy set of pillows.

As usual, I started with no specific recipient in mind, and my children took them over as soon as they possibly could. So I guess we’ll have another set of pillows to fill the kids’ beds (as if we don’t have enough junk dolls in there already).

In order to make the partly cloudy set you will need basic crochet-in-a-circle skills, so while making all the pieces might take a while, it shouldn’t be very difficult.

Materials

• 2 balls yellow super bulky yarn for the sun
• 2 balls white bulky yarn for the cloud
• A small amount of worsted weight black and white yarn, for smiles and eyes (smizes?)
• 6.5-7mm crochet hook
• 4-4.5mm crochet hook (for the eyes)
• Blunt needle
• Fiberfill stuffing

Notes

• Gauge is not critical for this project. However, the bulkier the yarn, the larger the pillows – with no extra work. Choose a hook that is slightly smaller than the size required for your yarn, the stitches should be tight so that the fiberfill doesn’t show through.
• All the pieces are worked in continuous rounds, do not turn or join unless instructed otherwise. Place a marker in the last stitch to indicate the end of the round. Move marker up as each round is completed.
• My sun was made with two shades of yellow because that’s what I happened to have (after finishing my sunburst granny blanket), but one ball of the darker yellow was not quite enough to finish the sun’s body.

Abbreviations

• ch – chain
• sc – single crochet
• st – stitch
• [ … ] – repeat instructions in [ ] as many times as specified.

Instructions

Sun Main Body (make 2)

1: With yellow yarn, ch 2. 6 sc in second st from the hook, or use the magic loop method.

2: Work 2 sc in each st around – 12 sc at the end of this round (12)

3: [2 sc in next st, sc in next st] 6 times (18)

4: [2 sc in next st, sc in next 2 st] 6 times (24)

5: [2 sc in next st, sc in next 3 st] 6 times (30)

6: [2 sc in next st, sc in next 4 st] 6 times (36)

7: [2 sc in next st, sc in next 5 st] 6 times (42)

8: [2 sc in next st, sc in next 6 st] 6 times (48)

9: [2 sc in next st, sc in next 7 st] 6 times (54)

10: [2 sc in next st, sc in next 8 st] 6 times (60)

11: [2 sc in next st, sc in next 8 st] 6 times (66)

12: [2 sc in next st, sc in next 8 st] 6 times (72)

13-15: sc in each st around (72)

Bind off leaving a long tail for attaching the pieces (only on one piece).

Sun Eyes (make 2)

1: With white yarn, ch 2. 6 sc in second st from the hook, or use the magic loop method.

2: Work 2 sc in each st around – 12 sc at the end of this round (12)

3: [2 sc in next st, sc in next st] 6 times (18)

Bind off leaving a long tail for attaching the eyes to the sun’s face (on both pieces).

With black yarn and smaller hook, ch 2. 6 sc in second st from the hook, or use the magic loop method.

Go ahead and make 4, as we will be using these for the cloud eyes as well.

Bind off leaving a long tail for attaching.

Attach pupils to the eyes, attach eyes to one face piece (use image as a guide). Embroider a smile onto the sun’s face (we don’t want any angry suns here, thank you very much!).

Attach both pieces of the sun to each other (wrong sides facing) using a blunt needle. When about 3/4 of the way around, stuff piece firmly and sew shut.

I thought it was cute at this stage, kind of like a yellow kermit…

Sunbeams (make 14)

I know that I‘m often guilty of not reading instructions very carefully, so pay attention: in order to get a triangular shape we start with 4 stitches in the first round (yes: 4, not 6).

1: With yellow yarn, ch 2. 4 sc in second st from the hook, or use the magic loop method.

2: sc in each st around (4)

3: Work 2 sc in each st around – 8 sc at the end of this round (8)

4: sc in each st around (8)

5: [2 sc in next st, sc in next st] 4 times (12)

6: sc in each st around (8)

Bind off leaving a long tail for attaching to the sun’s body.

My son complained that the “sunbeams should be longer”, but attach sunbeams to body anyway using a blunt needle and the long tail you left before.

I found that if I attached the first stitch to the body and the previous sunbeam I got a nicer finish.

Let’s move on to the cloudy part of the affair: The cloud is made out of 9 crochet pancakes which are attached together after being stuffed and completed. The following instructions are for all the pieces, just pay attention to the row where you need to stop for each piece.

Cloud Tufts

1: With white yarn, ch 2. 6 sc in second st from the hook, or use the magic loop method.

2: Work 2 sc in each st around – 12 sc at the end of this round (12)

3: [2 sc in next st, sc in next st] 6 times (18) (2 pieces – stop here)

4: [2 sc in next st, sc in next 2 st] 6 times (24) (8 pieces – stop here)

5: [2 sc in next st, sc in next 3 st] 6 times (30) (2 pieces – stop here)

6: [2 sc in next st, sc in next 4 st] 6 times (36) (4 pieces – stop here)

7: [2 sc in next st, sc in next 5 st] 6 times (42) (2 pieces – stop here)

All pieces last row: sc around and bind off leaving a long tail for attaching.

One one of the (36) pieces, attach eyes using blunt needle and embroider a smile.

Now, for each pair of same sized pieces, attach to each other as you did for the sun’s body pieces (don’t forget to stuff the pieces before sewing them closed!).

Attach the pieces to each other as specified below, or if you like a different arrangement – I won’t say anything (though of course my arrangement is the best!).

That’s it! Enjoy the weather… And if you make one – come back and post a picture on my facebook page!

[This pattern is for personal use only. Items made with this pattern may not be sold without my explicit permission. Please read the Terms & Conditions for further details.]