DIY: Chunky Knit Wool Seat Pads

Knitted & Felted Seat Pad | Design Mom

Knitted & Felted Seat Pad | Design Mom

By Gabrielle. Photos by Anette.

Remember that big knit mega scarf that I shared in November? Well, Anette sent me another chunky knit project, and I immediately wanted to share it with you. I continue to find big knit everything hugely appealing.

In this case, the project is for your home. It’s a thick wool cushion for your chairs, and it looks so cozy and easy to make — Anette knits these with her fingers!

Knitted & Felted Seat Pad | Design MomKnitted & Felted Seat Pad | Design Mom

I want 8 of these, pronto, for our kitchen chairs. Or maybe to use as a stack of floor cushions!

Before we jump to the how-to, I’d love to know, have you ever knit something with your fingers? And do you know how to follow knitting instructions — chains, rows, casting on, etc.? I have experimented a bit with knitting, but I’m a complete novice. I usually depend on my daughter Maude to help me with knitting projects because she’s taken more lessons. What’s your take on knitting?

Knitted & Felted Seat Pad | Design Mom

Here’s what Annette says:

Did you read my recent post about our chair-odyssey? In that post, you can see a photo of our table and Adelaide chairs with little sheepskin pads. I ordered those little fur pads because the plastic chairs seemed a bit cool, especially in wintertime. However, I was unhappy with the little sheepskin pieces when they arrived.  I do not like artificial treatments on natural product, and unfortunately the white ones had been bleached and the grey ones dyed. However, we kept them anyway because we needed something in the chairs.

But then, I came up with a new idea for seat pads because chunky wool is always on my mind :) Using my spare 500gr samples of un-spun wool roving, I  knitted seat pads with my fingers in stockinette pattern. Of course, you can also use large (25mm thick) needles for knitting these.

Knitted & Felted Seat Pad | Design MomKnitted & Felted Seat Pad | Design Mom

The roving and large needles I used are from where I am located in Germany which I wrote about here. I chose these varieties of wool simply because they were less expensive. I would recommend using any type of wool, except the Herdwick! It looks interesting, BUT it’s extremely linty — even after felting.

I started by chaining 7 or 8 with just my fingers. This number can change depending on the thickness of your roving and on how large you want your seat pad to be. Last year, I made a video showing how to chain with your fingers. Out of the back of this chain, I cast on my stitches. Knit about 9-11 rows, or until almost all of the yarn from the 500r ball is gone. Now, cast off and weave in the endings. (I just left the endings as is because I think it looks kinda cool.) When deciding the size of your pad, keep in mind that the finished product will shrink a bit in the washing machine during felting.

Here you can see how large mine were before felting. I put my flip-flops next to it so you get an idea about the actual size.

Knittingandfeltingaseatpadfromunspunwoolbylebenslustiger4(500)Knitted & Felted Seat Pad | Design Mom

I felted with a normal, but shortened 30degree celsius cycle. Since the seat pads must regularly support more weight, this shortened cycle increases the durability. It is still a good idea to start felting in the wool cycle though, because you can always run another cycle over your piece if it is not felted enough. However, you can’t undo it if you already felted too much. Also, remember that every washing machine will be a bit different. If you are going to use the normal 30degree short cycle like I did, your felted pice will look pretty crumpled when you take it off the machine. Don’t worry!

To bring the still wet pad back to its original square or rectangle form, pull strongly on all sides. It’s easier to do this with another person so you can both pull in opposing directions. Once you have brought it back to the preferred shape, lay the pad flat and let it completely dry.

Here you can see my finished felted seat pad.

Knitted & Felted Seat Pad | Design MomKnitted & Felted Seat Pad | Design Mom

This was the first one I made a few weeks ago and I am using it in my Muuto chair. You can see my original post here.

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Thank you so  much, Anette! I truly adore how yours turned out. I can’t wait to try making my own!

Credits: Images, styling & tutorial by Anette. Assistance by Amy Christie.

8 thoughts on “DIY: Chunky Knit Wool Seat Pads”

  1. This is fantastic! I’m working on brining some mid century cane chairs back to life and upholstering the seat but I have been worried about my messy toddler destroying the upholstery. His seat could have one of these!!! Thanks for the idea :)

  2. Lovely! I love the texture of them!
    Am I the only one who wants to know more about the flip flops? What brand are those?

  3. My question is where to find super bulky yarns?! I want to make the pouf from Knitting Without Needles, but I can’t find super bulky yarn anywhere! I’ve found it once online, but it was like $120 for one skein.

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