Carnivale Cushion: Crochet-Along Part 1

CAL Crochet along Carnivale Cushion

I’m so pleased to introduce a new regular contributor to My Poppet, Michelle Robinson from Poppy & Bliss. Michelle is obsessed with crochet and will be sharing her skills with us in the months to come. I’m very excited to learn from her expertise, and I’m very happy to have her as part of the My Poppet team. Welcome Michelle…

I was thrilled when Cintia invited me to write some posts on my favourite topic: CROCHET! For those that don’t know me, my style is modern, fun and colourful. I love to combine bright colours and interesting techniques putting a modern twist on an old craft.

In deciding what to write about, I wanted to cover a few nifty tips and tricks, some pretty stitches and have a play with colour, so I rolled all this into one cushion and thought it would be fun to have a Crochet-ALong (CAL).

CAL Carnival Brights Front

CAL Carnival Brights Back

As the design grew, thoughts of fairy floss and Ferris wheels filled my head so I have named it the Carnivale Cushion. It’s rather bright isn’t it!

But fear not. If eye-popping colour is not your thing, it looks equally lovely in just one colour or in pretty pastel shades. I will be crocheting along in a similar colour scheme but in a more subdued, toned down selection.

Here’s an example of how different it looks made up in just one colour

CAL Carnival Teal Front

CAL Carnival Teal Back

Every fortnight we will work through each stage and at the end you will be the proud creator of your very own fabulous Carnivale Cushion.

What we’ll cover:

Part 1: Gather supplies (read on below)
Part 2 : Cushion front – first half
Part 3: Cushion front – second half
Part 4: Cushion back and blocking
Part 5: Finishing off

Cintia will be popping in between parts 4 & 5 with a nifty tutorial on how to make a round cushion insert.

So without any further ado let’s kick off today and start gathering our supplies.

Carnivale Cushion: Crochet-Along Part 1

The Yarn

The yarn I’ll be using throughout will be 8 ply/DK pure wool but in the bright cushion pictured I’ve used a mixture of pure wool and acrylic yarn to get the colours I wanted. That’s ok too.

The teal cushion has been made using a 5 ply baby yarn which makes up into a slightly smaller version but still works with this pattern.

4 or 8 ply cotton would also work well.

Use whatever you have in your stash or treat yourself to some yummy new yarn. As long as it is all the same thickness then it will all work well together.  I’ve popped more specific details of the yarn I’ve used in the Ravelry group if that helps.

Another word about yarn selection; a smooth yarn works best (no novelty or fluffy stuff). You can use variegated yarn if you like but keep in mind it will obscure all the lovely stitches you will be using and the design will be lost.

You will need:

yarn crochet supplies

Version 1 – multi-coloured
[ I’ve listed the colours I will be using but you can substitute with your favourites. Note these colours will be slightly different than the one pictured ]

1 x 50g ball each of:

Main colour: White
Colour A : Yellow
Colour B: Pink
Colour C: Cornflower Blue
Colour D: Light Teal

Version 2 – one colour

1 x 100g ball in colour of your choice

4.5mm crochet hook
Scissors
Large tapestry needle
1 cup of inspiration
A comfy chair

Cal cushion variation crochet

Support

For any questions or feedback you may have along the way, I’ve set up a Ravelry group where you can drop in with any questions, show off your handiwork or just to say hi. Click over here to join the group and introduce yourself.

That’s all for now but I’m super excited and can’t wait to get started very soon!
Until next time
Michelle

Michelle poppy and BlissAbout Michelle Robinson

Michelle is the face behind Poppy & Bliss. Her passion is crochet and her style is modern, vibrant and fun.

She teaches workshops in various styles of crochet, designs modern crochet patterns, occasionally remembers she has a blog at Poppy & Bliss but shares most of her work on Instagram

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