Hello! My latest knitting project has been some cushion covers… I’ve had two cushions on our front bench for years, which had became bleached over time to a very unattractive dirty-greige. I took out the inserts and started planning some new covers…
I could have sewn new covers, however… well, why not knit up some of my wool stash instead? You might recognise this orange-y coral pink cushion cover as my April knitting project. It was a neck warmer but I really didn’t like it in the end. I unravelled the whole thing and re-knitted it… and I much prefer it like this. The resulting cushion cover was quite small so I had to downsize the cushion insert, however I really like it that the two cushions are now different sizes from each other; adds to the casual randomness of the appearance of them now!
This bright unicorn-pastel one was from a stash given to me by my daughter-in-law Lainey… anyone remember the Flurry yarn? I don’t know about outside Australia, but here there was a short-lived fashion for wearing scarves made from this type of wool. There was actually just over three balls of the same colour way in the box Lainey gave to me, which I thought could be enough for a cushion cover. I felt it looked quite nice with the other cushion too. The gods were smiling upon me, because there was the perfect amount for a second cover, with zero leftovers. I knitting in the round, then grafted with Kitchener stitch at the bottom end, I then stuffed in the old cushion insert and stitched up the top end with the leftover wool. So no, you can’t get the cushion inserts out again without undoing a seam, but I’ll probably just hand wash the cover and insert all together and I’m sure it will be fine.
I photographed one of the old covers because it made me chuckle a bit… they used to be dark purple, and those dark purple circles are where the buttons used to be and thus were protected from the sun. Also, because I’m very thrifty I saved the buttons too… guess which button was sewn inside the cushion and thus also protected from the sun?!
Some other maintenance issues:
I made these beige trousers a couple of years ago, using the Closet Core patterns Mitchell pattern.
They initially had got a pink wash, and then a deeper pink dye, and I proceeded to wear them about 10 times during their first year. Then, after about 6 months in the wardrobe without getting another wear, now I’ve dyed them again; navy blue. It’s like having new trousers! btw, I’m wearing them with three different Booragoon tops in these pictures! a white one, pink one, and navy one. Honestly, I wear my Booragoon tops a lot!
Our Carolyn & Cassie Booragoon top pattern is available here
Maintenance issues 2: I did a little mending recently which I though to take pictures of… I wear this dark pink T-shirt a lot and love the colour, the fabric is merino from the Fabric Store in colour Red Clay. It’s so upsetting when a favourite T-shirt develops holes! in spite of lots of mothball thingies they still seem to find their way in sometimes… Honestly, I’d buy more of this fabric and make another top if I had too, it’s such a favourite for me.
Anyway, I did some flower-style mending … it’s not too awful, I think and at least I’ll be able to keep wearing it. I’ve learnt over time that it’s best to mend little holes like this early, before they grow bigger, which they most definitely will before you know it!
I’ve made some new trousers…
