St̆her - Making cushions & pillows

Give your sofa the wow-factor by decorating it with unique handmade cushions and pillows. New cushions and pillows are always fun! They liven up your dcor and can completely change the impression of a room. Even better than a store bought pillow is one that you have made yourself the one you have struggled with that shows small signs of being homemade, the one that almost nobody has a copy of it will be the icing on the cake for your couch. Needlework is rarely seen as value-added. Some like the fact that we amuse ourselves with knitting and crochet needles in front of the tv! Others laugh at the complicated and time-consuming techniques and wonder why somebody would want to spend time, effort and money on making clothes and other artefacts when most of it can be bought much cheaper in a store. Nevertheless, there is a knitting wave going through the country. Hooray for that! Handmade is again relevant.

There are loads of pretty yarns available and the knitting needles are clinking. Some prefer the crochet hook, while others have discovered needles and embroidery yarn. Some desire traditional patterns, while others are inspired by new designs. Hundreds of needlework blogs online testify swarming activity and provoke further creativity. It makes an old needlework enthusiast very happy! I hope that you will be inspired to continue using the needlework techniques that have been passed down the generations and are still so applicable today, translated into current styles that will brighten up your home. I believe the trend for interior design and decorating, reflected in the hundreds of decorating blogs online, will encourage people to want to make unique pieces for themselves, which can be done with a little help from the projects in this book.

Pillows and cushions are so easy to make and you can have fun experimenting with a wealth of different fabrics and styles only your imagination will set the limits on what you can achieve. Nina Granlund Sther All templates can be downloaded from: www.stitchcraftcreate.co.uk/patterns

st stitch k knit ktog knit together p purl ptog purl together CO cast on sl1 slip one stitch psso pass slipped stitch over cn cable needle tk twisted knit yo yarn over needle ch chain stitch sc single crochet sl st slip stitch dc double crochet Unless otherwise noted, use a seam allowance of 1cm (38in). Pillows and cushions are available in different sizes and qualities. Usually they are filled with feathers or down, or with synthetic filling. It is also possible to make the pillows and cushions yourself and fill them with, for example, carded wool. The pillows in this book are bought in various stores; both local boutiques and large chains.

Some are also handmade. I recommend washing and ironing all linen and cotton fabrics used for backs, before use this will prevent them from shrinking.

Renovation addiction is a contagious disease that mainly affects women between the ages of 20 and 40 years old. The disease blooms in the autumn along with other viral diseases, and attacks the parts of the brain that process impressions. At worst, the disease can be chronic and you must live with it for the rest of your life. Treatment of the disease is very difficult, and in some cases, impossible.

The source of infection is usually friends who are renovating, but the virus can also be transmitted through the optic nerves by reading magazines or blogs and seeing how others do things. It is estimated that people who are open to new impulses and ideas are more easily infected than others that is, people who are original, imaginative, creative, curious and insightful. Cushion fever is a mild form of renovation addiction, as it is mainly the sofa that the infected wants to freshen up. The sources of infection are the same as described above. He or she gets an immediate urge to throw away worn and unfashionable cushions and replace them with those that are trendier. There is not always a great understanding of the nature of this disease from potential partners and spouses, as tables and chairs are easily filled with ongoing projects.

Needles, yarn and threads can be scattered around for days sometimes weeks. Chores such as cleaning and dusting are then ignored.

Zip 35cm (1334in) Yarn Mitu from Rauma Ullvarefabrikk (alpaca/wool) 250g (834oz) in sheep white no. 0010 3.5mm (size 4) needles CO 184cm (7212in) on a circular needle and knit in the round. Front: Start with k4, p2, k10, p2, DIAMOND PATTERN, and finish with k1, p2, k10, p2, k4. Back: Knit k the whole time. Back: Knit k the whole time.

Amount of k on the back is only 81cm (32in). This is because of the cable pattern in the front that contracts and shrinks. Diamond pattern:CR means cross right: place 1 st on cn behind the work, k1 from left needle and then k1 from cn (4 CR means to repeat CR 4 times.) CL means cross left: Place 1 st on cn in front of the work, knit k1 from left needle and then k1 from cn. Row 1: *K1, CL1, CR4, k1, CL4, CR1*. Repeat from * to * 3 times (total 22 sts, 3 times is 66 sts). Row 3: *K2, CL1, CR3, k3, CL3, CR1, k1*. Row 3: *K2, CL1, CR3, k3, CL3, CR1, k1*.