Love Heart Cushions

These are my newest creations for Mrs Frills.

I love them, because they are wooly, soft and smell good.

They are also very easy and fun to make.

To make one for yourself, you will need a Ball of Yarn of your choice ( You can use Super Chunky Wool if you want it big, like 25cm, but usually I knit it with Aran Wool, that will give you a 15cm cushion). A 50gr Ball of Yarn will do.

The size of the needles will depend on the type of wool you chose.

Just a few hints: for Chunky Wool, you can use 10mm to 12mm Needles. For Aran Wool, I usually use 5mm to 7mm Needles.

You will also need a Stitch Holder and a Darning Needle.

For the Filling, you can use Polyester or Cotton Wadding (The stuff that comes inside cushions), and a Lavender Sachet.

The lavender sachet is optional, I just like the smell of lavender!

The beauty of this project is that you don’t need to maintain tension, just keep your stitches even and you should be fine.

This is the Pattern for it:

The heart is knitted up in two equal pieces. The heart-shaped pieces are knitted in Stocking Stitch with a band of Moss Stitch across the middle.

Make two pieces and stitch together adding padding (and the lavender sachet) as you go.

FRONT:

Using your chosen needles, cast on 3 sts.

Row1 – Purl.

Row2 – (RS) Inc 1, k3, inc 1. 5 sts.

Row3 – Purl.

Continue in st st, increasing by 2 sts as set every RS row until 25 sts.

Row23 – (WS) (k1, p1) to last stitch, k1. Work 4 further rows in seed stitch pattern.

Row28 – K2togtbl, knit to end, k2tog. 23 sts.

Row29 – Purl.

Row30 – K2togtbl, knit to end, k2tog. 21 sts.

Row31 – P9, p2tog, p10. 20 sts.

Row32 – K2togtbl, k8, turn and work on these 9 sts only, putting remaining stitches on a stitch holder.

Row33 – P2tog, p7. 8 sts.

Row34 – K2togtbl, k4, k2tog. 6sts.

Row35 – P2tog, p4. 5 sts.

Row36 – K2togtbl, k3. 4 sts.

Row37 – Cast off remaining 4 sts.

With RS facing, rejoin yarn to the work and remaining 10 sts.

Row1 – K8, k2tog. 9 sts.

Row2 – P7, p2tog. 8 sts.

Row3 – K2togtbl, k4, k2tog. 6 sts.

Row4 – P4, p2tog. 5 sts.

Row5 – K3, K2tog. 4 sts.

Row6 – Cast off remaining 4 sts.

BACK: For the back, knit the same again.

Darn in any loose ends. Pin out the knitting, right-side down, onto a padded surface or blocking board to form the correct heart shape.

Cover with a damp cloth and press it gently with a hot iron.

Leave to dry completely.

Join the front and back pieces together, facing each other, inside out.

Now, sew the front to the back, starting from the bottom of the heart.

Stuff the heart with soft padding as you sew it. You can vary the amount of padding or stuffing depending on whether you want a relatively squashy cushion or a firmer, more resilient one.

Leave an opening of about 5 cm, and then close the love heart sewing on the outside, very carefully not to leave any yarn sticking out of your lovely cushion.

When your cushion is sewn, you can sew a ribbon and a button to the top of it. Use sewing thread and appropriately sized ribbon and button that tone in attractively with the yarn.

Now you can hang your cushion up and show off to everyone how “crafty” you are!

I have some of these still for sale on my Etsy shop:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/100115740/loveheart-lavender-cushion

They make an excellent present for Valentine’s or Mother’s Day.

Or simply if you are feeling that Love is in the Air!

ABREVIATIONS:

inc- increase

k- knit

k2tog- knit 2 stitches together (1 stitch decreased)

k2togtbl- Knit 2 stitches together through back of loops (1 stitch decreased)

p- purl

p2tog- purl 2 stitches together (1 stitch decreased)

RS- right side

st st- stocking stitch

st(s)- stitch(es)

WS- wrong side

The pattern was adapted from the book: How to Knit: Simple Knits, D&C, David and Charles.