Yarn Along and Along and Along

I had hoped to have this cushion cover completed by the time my daughter returned home from university.  I thought it would be a nice welcome home to have a bright cheery cushion resting on her bed when she traipsed her weary post-exam self through her bedroom door.

 

She's been home for two weeks now ... the cushion is still not complete :(  I'll admit I was a bit stuck once I finished all the strips of knitting (at least I hope I've knitted enough strips now!).  I was following the instructions from a book, which have been a bit disappointing.   Keep in mind this is actually a book written to teach children how to knit, so you'd think it would be straightforward.  The increase they explain in the book, is not the increase they used for the cushion.  So I altered the instructions to suit myself with respect to all the increases and decreases, I just kept the same number of stitches so that I would get the same wavy pattern in the end.  I didn't end up with the lacy look that is evident in the book, but I did want a solid looking cushion since it would get a lot of use.

 

This is where I'm at now ...

 

Then I ran into difficulty with sewing up the strips.  I love  sewing, and I smugly thought this part would be a piece of cake!  Not so.  The instructions said to whip stitch the strips together ... no problem.  But it was turning out horribly!  It was looking so messy as you could see every single sloppy stitch.  As you can see each strip is a different colour, so no matter which colour you use, all the stitches will show (with whip stitch).  I was getting very discouraged at this point because it took me all month to knit up these strips and I wanted to get it finished (partially to add it the Stash Buster Challenge ... but I didn't finish it in time for April).  I was stuck.  Then life got in the way and I put it aside for a bit and it sat all messy and ignored for a week or so. 

 

Finally, I dragged it into my lap again yesterday and ripped out all the whip stitched mess (I only had a partial row done, so that wasn't too bad).  Then I checked out YouTube (a knitter's best friend), and found some very clear and wonderful tutorials using the mattress stitch.  So easy!!  I went to work right away and have now got three strips sewn together.  And the stitches don't even show!  Amazing!

 

 

I LOVE this cushion now :)  Hopefully I will have it finished by the end of the week ... fingers crossed.  Just look at that perfect seam.  It's puckering a bit in spots, but I'm hoping the blocking process will take care of that.  This is the first project I've sewn up a seam with the mattress stitch, but it is definitely something I will be using a lot more in the future. 

 

I'm currently reading a very good book which I received for Christmas from my husband.  I cannot put this book down.  It relates true events that happened to a duke's family during WWI.  The author has researched private letters that were held at the duke's castle, and she has put together a very intriguing mystery.  Still not finished yet, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it and would highly recommend it.  I'll next be wanting to get Catherine Bailey's previous book "Black Diamonds" as soon as I finish this. 

 

 

Hope you're all having a lovely day!

 

I'm joining Ginny's Yarn Along today.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Wendy