Loveknitting.com sent me this gorgeous, squishy bundle of delight that is Tjockt Fat & Sassy Merino and asked me to try it out, so I’m delighted to offer you a tutorial for this squidgy, tactile, chunky scatter cushion. It’s blissfully quick and easy to make.
And it is also a simple introduction to intarsia. This stuff is HUGE, requiring the biggest needles I’ve ever used, at 25mm, which makes it both very speedy and really fun to use.
The cushion measures 30cm x 24cm
You will need:
250g Tjockt Fat & Sassy Merino in Cloud
100g Tjockt Fat & Sassy Merino in Raspberry
25mm knitting needles
Stuffing
Step 1: Cast on 11 stitches and knit 2 rows of stocking stitch.
(Knit 1 row, and purl the next – this cushion is knitted entirely in stocking stitch).
Then we follow the chart:
The first pink stitch is introduced in the middle of the next purl row:
Turn the work and it will look like this:
Now you are ready to knit row 4 of the chart. When you reach the first of the three pink stitches, wrap the pink yarn around the grey behind the work before making the stitch. This will avoid any gaping holes on the right side of the work between the heart motif and the rest of the cushion. Repeat this process each time you change colour.
At the end of this row, the back of your work will look very like this:
Turn your work and purl row 5, remembering to wrap the yarn around the contrasting colour at the back. It is also worth, once you are knitting a contrasting colour of more than 3 stitches, wrapping it around the original colour again before 4th (and so on, in multiples of 2 or 3 stitches depending on the number you are knitting).
You can see in the following picture that the yarn was wrapped again after 3rd stitch:
Continuing working through the chart, remembering to wrap the yarn with each colour change and in multiples of 2 or 3 stitches behind the work.
The back:
And continue working the chart:
When you have reached the end of the chart and have 11 rows, bind off.
Your work will look like this:
And now you need to make another exactly the same, and leave the last length of grey yarn trailing – you will use it to ‘sew’ the front to the back.
Construction:
Since the yarn is so beautifully chunky, no tapestry needle is needed to put it together. You can push the yarn through the stitches with your fingers.
Taking the tail from the second piece and with wrong sides together, right sides facing outwards, push the yarn through the stitch on the corresponding corner of the first piece.
You are now going to ‘sew’ with your fingers, pushing the tail under the outside loop of the one stitch and into the outside loop of the corresponding side. I have illustrated how the yarn travels using a crochet hook in this next image (and you can actually see the previous stitch, too):
Employ the same technique around the sides:
When you reach the fourth side, stuff your cushion to the firmness you like. Don’t be tempted to overstuff as the stuffing will be visible through the large stitches. But one advantage of this gorgeous yarn is that it is almost a cushion when sewn together without any stuffing at all!
Use the same ‘sewing’ method to fasten the last side and weave in the end.
Enjoy your sumptuous new cushion!
You can find more of my patterns on loveknitting.com – search Alice Neal
and in my Etsy shop.
Have a gorgeous weekend ❤
Alice's Adventures in Knittingland 
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