10 December 2015

Cushions for the deep mid-winter

Verwood Cushions by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
Since ancient times, people have been decorating their homes with greenery in the mid‐winter. In the UK, we tend to think that the tradition started with Prince Albert in the 1840's, but in fact the practice of decorating our homes with fir branches goes back several millennia before that.

Earlier Scandinavian and pagan cultures used to decorate their homes and barns with evergreens to ward off evil spirits around the time of the Winter Solstice, and we now know that even the ancient Egyptians used garlands of evergreens to symbolise eternal life.
Verwood Cushions by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
Whatever the origin of the custom, it is hard to think about winter‐time without also thinking about the deep green of fir and spruce. The branches bring in a sense of long life and well‐being from the world outside. Amidst the snow and the cold, they seem to promise the return of Spring and warmer times ahead.

So here’s this weeks “Knitting Ahead” idea: bring that wonderful green into your room by knitting some mid‐winter cushions!
Verwood Cushions by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
And that is exactly what I have been doing! On a recent trip to a local yarn store I came across a wonderful deep green bulky wool yarn and thought immediately how well it would work for some new cushion covers.

These are the Verwood Cushions and they feature a superb cabled design which sits neatly embedded in deep textural ribs. This is Crossed Rib from our Reversible Knitting Stitches book and it really works well in this chunky yarn. The final result is squidgy and huggable – perfect for the time of year.

There are two different sizes of cover so you can choose whichever suits your chairs and sofa best. The smaller size will fit a 40x40cm/16x16 ins cushion insert or pillow form, while the larger is 45x45cm/18x18 ins.

For more information about the Verwood Cushions pattern, please click here. Then all you need to do is to make lots so that everyone has their own cushion to hug this mid‐winter!

Happy Knitting!

Moira
Keywords: Series/Knitting Ahead, Patterns/Cushions,
#knittingahead, autumn, winter, cushion, cushions, pillows, deep green, cables, reversible cables, knitting stitch, reversible stitch,

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