Cable Loop Crocheted Pillow

A few days ago I shared a new crochet pattern on the Fairfield World site. I have been wanting to make a crocheted cable pillow for a long time, I even started one several months ago. The problem is that most cable stitches are kind of time consuming and complicated. I loved the look of the pattern I had come up with but I just felt like with the combination of front and back post stitches and crossed stitches, not to mention having started, ripped out and restarted a few times to get the right number of stitches and the right size, it was going so slowly. I kind of got bored with it and set it aside thinking I would finish it later. I decided that I really wanted to make a cable pillow this month so I was going to pull out that partially done pillow and finish it. The problem is I feel like I have been in kind of a crafting/crocheting funk the last few weeks and the idea of tackling a complicated pattern just didn't sound appealing at all. Instead I decided to put that aside for a little while longer and try out an easier way to make a crocheted  cable type stitch. Someday I will finish the other pattern and when I do it will look awesome, today is just not that day.

The cable loop stitch is made  using only 2 stitches, single crochet and chain. It is mainly just single crochet and every 4th row you make some chain loops. At the end you connect those loops together and they create the braid like chains on the pillow front. The back is simply a single crocheted square.  I decided not to try to make this pillow have a removable insert. The insert is stitched inside. I make a solid piece for both the back and front then single crocheted around the outside to close it up. In the past I have not had great success with trying to make flaps on crocheted pillow covers. It just seems like the crocheted fabric is too stretchy and they never seem to lay right. That is the biggest reason I decided to go a different route this time. I used a 14 inch pillow insert so the pillow is about 14 inches square finished.

You can find the free crochet pattern here.