Zafu

A couple of months ago, I decided we needed a pouf for our living room. I chose a pattern, Zafu, from the book Knit Green (the pattern is also available for individual purchase on Ravelry), to have something that looked more unique compared to the garter stitch poufs that are everywhere. 

It's a great fit for our living room! I used 3 strands of super cheap red heart acrylic yarn because, well, it's a pillow for feet. There are somethings that I feel like really nice yarn would be wasted on, and this is one of them. If I had an unlimited yarn budget, I would probably use something nicer (I'd love to use a nice rug weight yarn), but for practicalities sake, I went with what made sense - this cost me less than $20.

And, to give credit where it's due, the yarn really isn't too bad. It's pretty soft, and I don't think it looks cheap. I stuffed it with fiber fill, and it really holds shape very well. I'm using it as I write this, and it's very comfy! It also makes a good pillow for sitting or laying on the floor, which Jake is sometimes known to do.

I used less than 3 skeins, and size US 15 needles, which would have made for a much quicker knit, had I not been working on other projects at the same time. This was also my first time installing a zipper into a knit, and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I considered omitting the zipper, but I'm really glad I didn't - it came in handy while adding more stuffing and shaping the pouf after I had bound off and closed up the hole.

I would definitely consider making more than one of these for our house. It was an affordable way to add some great knitted furniture to our house - and, I have yarn left over to make a pillow or two!