When my grandmother moved out of her house and into a nursing home a few years ago, we had to find homes for a lot of her extra belongings. She was never much of a knitter – she much preferred golf, tennis and bridge – but she had a small craft stash that included nine balls of cream yarn.
All but one of the nine balls had its ball band.
The yarn is pure wool, but it is a little too rough to wear on the skin. My friends and I guessed that it must be at least 20 years old, based on the ball band and its price.
My first thought was to knit a cable cushion cover, but I decided to crochet one instead; I knit a lot but I do not use my crochet skills as often. When I crochet, I really enjoy it, so I do not know why I do it so rarely.
I chose a pattern called ‘Harlekinpuder’ by Danish designer Jeanette Bøgelund Bentzen. I think it is simple but rather chic.
The cushion front’s detail is made up of bobbles.
The pattern suggests making the back of the cushion with fabric and adding a zipper. I thought I might have enough yarn to crochet the back, and I did – I even have one ball left.
I made the back simply in two pieces and added buttonholes. I chose the buttons before crocheting the buttonholes to ensure they were the right size.
I chose to crochet a plain back for the cushion, with a button opening.
Something that was not apparent when I was crocheting it was a slight variation in the colour of the yarn. I think it might be the age of the wool. All the ball bands had the same dye lot, and only one had lost its band. The colour variation only shows up in photographs and is not noticeable when the cushion sits on the sofa, so I am not worried by it at all.
The colour variations in this photograph are not apparent in the cushion in real life.
Apart from the yarn, I kept a few other things, including Granny’s button jars. Recently, I sorted through the jars and decided which buttons to keep and which buttons to give away for others to enjoy. I found some treasures in those jars.
As for Granny, she is still going well!
Granny Mauds Girl 
That’s gorgeous, soft and bobbly and chunky. I wouldn’t have noticed the colour variation if you hadn’t pointed it out, I’d have assumed it was an artefact of the photo. Hope you’re getting some relief from the weather, and have your festive plans well in hand. Happy Christmas!
Beautiful, so chic xxx
This is just lovely and the perfect craft for this yarn. I love the front and the back. Reading through your post it reminded me of my mother (passed 5 years ago) and a memory. She was not a crafty person and liked golf, tennis too and boating but the one and only time she did something was to make 2 crochet covers for couch pillows in a deep maroon in the popcorn stitch. (same as on the front)
What great texture! I think the pillow was an excellent choice to use such treasured yarn.
What a delightful choice you made to use this weight of wool. The best material to make a pattern look extra classy. I find the green knitted cushion pictured among the links very appealing as well. Nicely done.
I love what you have made with the old wool. Very classy looking!
As you had exactly placed it through the middle I thought the color change was intentional. This pillow looks perfectly hooked (right term?) and beautifully made.
Well done! It looks great. I learned to crochet before knitting, but I haven’t done any in a long time. Might need to find myself a little pattern. Happy New Year.