It's Saturday, so today we knit courtesy of Grandmother Filomena of The Fabulous Fantoras and with kind permission of the author, Adele Geras.Time to put aside that complicated 12 colour, 24 stitch pattern repeat Fair Isle heirloom you've been working on for 5 years and access your inner knitting child.Gentlemen too, don't be shy, look at Kaffe Fassett, he's turned it into a huge industry all because he's one of the few men casting on.
A Dream Cushion can be any size you like.If you grow tired or bored while knitting it, it can become a Dream Cushion for one of your dolls or teddy bears. If it gets really large, it may even become a Dream Pillow.
You will need:
Knitting needles
Lots of bits of wool
Leftovers from other people's knitting
Anything you can collect
REMEMBER
Thin needles + thin wool = small dream cushions
Thick needles + thick wool = bigger dream cushions
You will also need bits of cut-up laddered tights or clean rags to fill your cushion and make it nice and plump but you can leave that till the end. The tights MUST be washed and dried before you cut them up, otherwise you will have a smelly cushion and dream of dirty feet all night long.
Every row is done in knit stitch.This is called Garter Stitch
The most important part : what you want to dream about
Choose the kind of place you'd like your dream to take place in. For example the seaside, a forest or jungle, under the sea, outer space, a fairground - wherever you like.
METHOD
- Collect bits of wool that suit your "place". Forests will be greens and browns and greys, with bits of mauve for mushrooms. Under the sea will be every shade of blue and green with pinks for corals and shells. The seaside will be yellows and oranges, browns and clear blue.When you've got enough bits in the right colours, join them all together to make a big ball. winding them up as you go. The more wool you have the bigger your cushion will be. As you tie one piece of wool to another, leave nice long ends. When your piece of knitting is done, the ends can be trimmed to make small tassels, or tied into little bows that look like little butterflies.
- Get your knitting needles and begin. If you use size 5mm needles and thickish wool cast on 40 stitches.
- Continue knitting until either a) your wool is finished b) you are fed up c) your cushion is the right size.
(remember that you will have to fold your piece of knitting in half and sew it up round the edges to make a cushion, so it will be half the size of the knitting on your needles)
If you have knitted say. 40 rows, and can't be bothered to do any more but want a bigger cushion, then call those 40 rows the front of your dream cushion and ask a grown-up as pleasantly as you can to to knit another 40 rows in a plain colour like cream or beige. You will then have a dream cushion with a plain back and a fancy front - which makes no difference to the quality of your dreams.
4. When the cushion is the right size, cast off your knitting.
5. Fold your piece of knitting in half with the inside out and the right side in. Sew round two of the open sides.Leave one side open.
6. Turn the cushion the right way round and fill it up with bits of cut-up tights etc. Do not fill too full
7. Sew up the last side as neatly as possible
8. Put the cushion on your bed, and you will dream about the place you have conjured up in your cushion. THIS IS GUARANTEED.You may not remember the dream in the morning BUT
YOU WILL HAVE DREAMED IT!
And here's me ready to start and it looks like I'm off under the sea.Expect ribbons, shiny bits, buttons and who knows what, in fact a thoroughly over gilded lily, splendiferous.
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