Crochet Kaleidoscope cushion |
My first Kaleidoscope
cushion launched in April this year, featured multiple square motifs. The Kaleidoscope collection of three cushions are all inspired by my garden which is a bit wild and rambling! For the
second of my Kaleidoscope cushions You can see the first one here...I had
the idea of one big square motif for the middle of the cushion. I had been
experimenting with free form crochet and making ruffles which in free form add a 3D element to flowers and shells. I could see how using a ruffle
would make a lovely edging for the cushion, so the two ideas came together!
When I
designed this cushion late spring was here and wild campion was growing alongside ‘Lady's
Mantle’ (alchamelia mollis) in the garden. It’s amazing how nature
creates lovely combinations all by itself. The pretty pink of the taller campion was
surrounded by the lime coloured leaves of Lady’s mantle and late spring showers made
sparkly rain drops on the leaves lady’s mantle. This gave me the idea for the
colours and the yarn for the second of the Kaleidoscope cushion.
My first Kaleidoscope cushion has a homely style. I wanted the second one to have a summery look and feel, something that would look good in a conservatory or
on a garden chair. What yarn to use? I love Baby Bamboo! It’s a soft
yarn with a lovely sheen and comes in a gorgeous choice of colours so it seemed the perfect choice. I use Baby
Bamboo a lot, you can see it here in my summer holdall. When I designed this bag I used baby bamboo for the popcorn flowers and it really stands out.
For my second Kaleidoscope cushion, which is design number 13 I used 3 colours of baby bamboo, I used a lovely bright green and turquoise blue for the centre motif and added a pale pink for the ruffle edging. Read my Baby Bamboo review here.
Whatever I am
designing I love combining yarns and the effects this produces. It
makes a big difference to crochet projects. Baby Bamboo is reasonably priced
but does not go as far as other 50gm yarns so it makes sense to combine it
with something else.
I decided on Sirdar baby
cotton it is a rather dull looking yarn but is very soft and lovely to crochet
with. Better still it goes a long way. The idea I had was to create a basic background effect
with a heavier weight yarn to the finished cushion which would show case the lovely shiny
baby bamboo and I think this has come off.
For the second Kaleidoscope cushion, Auriol Crochet design 13, I used 3 colours of Baby Bamboo a lovely bright green and turquoise blue for the centre motif with a pale pink for the ruffle edging.
I love fastening and I feel very strongly they should be a fundamental part of the design not just an add on. Kaleidoscope cushion 1 has big buttons on an envelope style fastening. Kaleidoscope is a bit more sophisticated with a different style of button. I added 2 buttons, but a row of buttons would look really good. You could pick any colour you sued in the cushion for the buttons or ix and match!
I used hook size 3.50 (E4)
I love fastening and I feel very strongly they should be a fundamental part of the design not just an add on. Kaleidoscope cushion 1 has big buttons on an envelope style fastening. Kaleidoscope is a bit more sophisticated with a different style of button. I added 2 buttons, but a row of buttons would look really good. You could pick any colour you sued in the cushion for the buttons or ix and match!
I used hook size 3.50 (E4)
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