These two cushions come from Rachel John's Extreme Knitted Cushion Kit that I purchased from Create and Craft TV for £29.99. Rachel has had a lot of publicity in the magazines and she even popped up on Dragons Den the other week, although she unfortunately didn't get investment. Mostly, I was seduced by the idea of being able to produce a cushion in 1-2 hours.
The kit contained 15mm high quality wooden needles, seven sets of yarn and a 12 inch cushion pad, plus the pattern. Four of the yarns were 100% cotton ribbon and the rest were wool.
The pattern simply gave you a choice between garter stitch and stocking stitch and told you to cast on 14 stitches using all your yarns together and keep going until the cushion fit around the pad.
I was a bit surprised, there wasn't more by way of instruction on how to handle all your strands of yarn, but I set off in faith and garter stitch and, actually, it was easy. My top tip would be simply to keep a firm grasp on all the strands of yarn, as you can leave one behind if you're not careful. Other than that, you just need to knit cleanly through all seven strands on each stitch. I can't believe I used to be nervous about knitting with two stands together!
Once I'd knitted enough, I sewed up the sides and top of the cushion with mattress stitch and there it was. I didn't time myself but I certainly finished in an evening. As there seemed quite a lot of yarn left, I made a second cushion of the same size using stocking stitch, again with good results.
Now, for confession time. I don't actually like the cushions. The inclusion of all the ribbon yarn gives them quite a rag-rug texture. I like my knitting softer and more cuddly. So, although I'd definitely use the technique again (I'm thinking it would be good for a throw), shortly after the photo at the top was taken, the cushions were banished to the charity shop. Cushion space is at a premium in my house so only cushions I love get to stay. Harsh but true...
Melx
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