Our local Interfaith ministries was looking for some stools and cushions for their new yoga and mediation room, so I volunteered to make them a pouf. I found the Red Heart Stylish Pouf pattern for free online. The yarn was no longer available so I found some super chunky Paintbox yarn from LoveCrafts. I chose a light blue and light grey, which really didn’t have a lot of contrast. If I could do it again I’d go for more contrast with the colors.

I bought a 10 mm hook for the pouf, but this hook was really disappointing. There was a rough ridge under the hook that kept snagging the yarn. But my swatch was too small so I ordered this 12 mm hook instead and it was so much better to work with. The pattern calls for filling the pouf with a bean bag. Instead of just buying a bean bag to fill it I decided to make a bean bag. I bought the bean bag liner and filling on Amazon. The Styrofoam beads are horrible to work with. They are filled with static so they either stick to everything or repel against each other. They spilled on the floor and trying to pic them up was a big mess, especially trying to keep them away from the cats. The pouf wasn’t full enough and I decided to fill it with more filler, but this time I chose shredded foam. I still wish it was fuller, but I already spent $50 in filling and didn’t want to spend more.

I also decided to add a zipper to the pouf so the cover could be taken off and washed or refilled if needed. This was my first time sewing a zipper on my work and overall it was ok, the hardest part was lining up the two sides of the zipper, so pinning the zipper to the work helped to keep the zipper sides even.

I was able to donate the pouf along with some baby blankets before Christmas. I hope they are able to enjoy it in the new meditation space.