How to use up a bunch of scraps with many different weights and fibres when you’re not in the mood for a crochet blanket? Fair isle cushion! As well as the above yarns I used lots of little leftover bits and pieces, some so small they only lasted for one row.

I cast on 144 stitches (a very good number because it has many factors, which is handy for fitting different patterns in - it just worked out that way with my gauge and the cushion inner I happened to have) and knit bands at whim. Some of the patterns came from Pinterest & Google Image searches, some I just made up on the fly.

The value/contrasts aren’t always ideal, but I was determined not to buy or dye any new yarn so it is what I could do with what I had. Ditto with the buttons, they’re not what I would have picked at the store for this cushion but I had them and they’re doing the job.

Lace weight yarns were held triple, fingering and sport held double, DK and worsted held single.

About 3/4 of the way through I put half the stitches on waste yarn, cast on the same number, and kept knitting in the round. This made the opening. Then after the cushion was done I went back and used the last of my yarns to knit some ribbing to both edges so they’d stay flat and overlap, and added button-holes and buttons.

The bottom edge was grafted shut, and the top edge closed with a three-needle bind off from the inside. In hindsight I should have used a provisional cast on so I could have done the same bind off on the bottom, but I didn’t and you can’t ever see both ends at once so it’s fine! Lesson for next time :)