HEART CUSHION

Send a hug through the post with this cute heart-shaped cushion. Leave all three yarns attached and loosely strand them up the side of your work as you go to save rejoining each time you add a stripe – or just use a single colour instead.

Measures approx 16 x 17cm. Tension is not essential.

MATERIALS

● One 100g ball each of Cygnet Baby Pato DK Knitting Yarn in Candy (A), Misty Grey (B) and White (C) from cruk.org/shop

● Pair of 3.25mm knitting needles

● Stitch holder

● Toy stuffing.

ABBREVIATIONS

alt alternate; k knit; p purl; foll/s following/follows; inc increase by working twice into the same st; patt pattern; rep repeat; rem, remaining;

RS right side; skpo slip one, knit one, pass the slipped stitch over; st(s) stitches; st st stocking stitch (k 1 row, p 1 row); tbl through back of loop; tog together; WS wrong side. Worked in st st throughout.

FRONT

Using A and 3.25mm needles, cast on 2 sts. Row 1 (RS) [Inc] twice. (4sts). Row 2 Inc, p2, inc. (6 sts). Row 3 Join in B and work as folls: inc, k4, inc. (8 sts). Row 4 Inc, p6, inc. (10sts). Row 5 Join in C and work as folls: inc, K8, inc. (12sts). Row 6 P to end. Keeping three stripe pattern rep as set (2 rows A, 2 rows B, 2 rows C) and increasing as set, inc at each end of next and 16 foll alt rows. (46sts). Next row P to end. Next row K to centre, place a waste piece of yarn at the centre of the row as a marker, k to end. Next row P to end. Next row Inc, k to last 2 sts, inc. (48sts). Work 3 rows without shaping.

Divide for top

Next row Skpo, k20, k2tog and turn, leaving rem 24sts on a holder. (22sts). ***Working on these 22sts only and keeping stripe patt as set, work 3 rows without shaping. Next

row Skpo, k to last 2 sts, k2tog. (20sts). Rep last 2 rows twice more. (16sts). Next row P2togtbl, p to last 2 sts, p2tog. (14sts). Next row Skpo, k to last 2 sts, k2tog. (12sts). Rep last 2 rows twice more. (4sts). Cast off purlwise.*** With RS facing and keeping stripe pattern correct, rejoin yarn to 24sts on holder and work as folls: Next row Skpo, k20, k2tog. (22sts). Complete as given from *** to ***.

BACK

Work as given for front, but in a solid colour. We’ve used grey but this pattern works well in any of the colours used for your stripes.

TO MAKE UP

Join front and back using mattress stitch or backstitch and stuff firmly before closing the seam entirely. Through the stuffed shape, place a few short stitches between the point where tops separate and the markers, to create a 3-dimensional curve, as shown. Darn in all ends.

EDGING

Using 3.25mm needles and B, cast on 3 sts. Row 1 and every following row K to end. Slip all 3 sts back on to right hand needle and do not turn. This technique creates a 3-stitch knitted tube. Give the yarn a tiny tug at the beginning of each row to stop any ladders from forming. Continue until you have 53cm in total, or a length long enough to reach around the entire heart; cast off and sew in place. Darn in ends and send to someone you’ve missed during the pandemic.