Quick Knits

 

Chunky Knitted Cushion Cover

 

 

 

£.35.00 Debenhams



I saw some cute chunky knit cushion covers while shopping and wanted one - they were all around £30.00 - £40.00,  so decided I could make my own much cheaper. So ... I searched  Ravelry  and came up with a lovely cushion in a basket weave design that looked very simple. Luckily it had a downloadable PDF for free. I then bought some lovely chunky wool and started knitting. Sadly the wool I bought did not do the pattern justice - it was a basket weave design and it was just too busy with the chosen wool as it had so many different thread colours. I needed a more simple stitch to show off the colour variations.

Pattern by Julia Marsh

So back to the drawing board. I decided on a simple design in stocking stitch with just a little garter stitch band every now and then by way of decoration. The wool knitted up very quickly and I am almost finished in a day ...

Sirdar Super Chunky Faroe in 'Nestle'

Acrylic, wool and cotton mix (3 x DK)

The yarn is Sirdar Super Chunky Faroe in 'Nestle' at £3.50 for 50 gram. It is available online from John Lewis. I chose this dusky pink with threads of fawn, a darker pink and neutral as it goes very well with my sofa in the room that the cushion is for. It is a very thick wool - the equivalent of three strands of double knit and beautifully blended. It is a blended mix of acrylic, cotton and wool and I am knitting it on size 10mm needles. I intend to knit it with a large envelope flap and fasten it with some large decorative buttons.

Buttons from John Lewis at £1.50 each

The simplest pattern is as follows:
For a 15 x 15 inch cushion pad.
4 Balls of Sirdar Super Chunky Faroe - 200 gram
Pair 10 mm needles
4 x Buttons


Cast on 35 stitches
Knit ten rows in stocking stitch
Knit four rows in garter stitch
Repeat these two rows until the knit is about thirty six inches in length and fifteen inches wide
End after the four rows in stocking stitch if possible
Cast off losely

Join side seams (leaving the appropriate flap opening) and sew on buttons - the chunky has very large loops so I feel that buttonholes are really not necessary - but may modify this at a later stage.

I shall post the finished cushion tomorrow. I am so enjoying these easy knits even though they are keeping me away from my sewing machine.