Cob Nut Cushion Cover

Cob Nut Cushion Cover by Sian Brown

Project Overview

The Cob Nut Cushion Cover is an intermediate-level knitting project designed by Sian Brown. This downloadable knitting pattern creates a finished cushion cover measuring 40 x 40 cm, making it a substantial home décor piece suitable for standard cushion pads. The design features a distinctive textured pattern created using cable techniques and decorative stitch manipulation.

What Is Being Made

This pattern produces a knitted cushion cover with a structured construction. The finished piece is a square cushion cover completed in a single knitted fabric with integrated button closures. The cover features a textured front panel with a decorative cob nut stitch pattern, combined with simpler stockinette stitch sections for balance and structure.

Techniques Used

The Cob Nut Cushion Cover employs several intermediate knitting techniques:

• Moss Stitch (Seed Stitch): Used for the initial cast-on edge to create a neat, textured border
• Stockinette Stitch: Forms the main body of the cushion cover, providing a smooth, classic knit fabric
• Cob Nut Stitch (CN1): A decorative cable technique that creates dimensional texture by knitting into the same stitch multiple times without slipping it off the needle, followed by decreasing to return to original stitch count
• Yarn Over (YON): Used within the cob nut stitch construction to add openwork elements
• Decrease Stitches (p3tog): Purl three together decreases are used to reduce stitches after the cob nut expansion, maintaining proper stitch counts at specific intervals
• Increasing Stitches Evenly: Strategic increases are worked across rows to accommodate the pattern expansion

Stitches Used

The pattern utilizes the following stitches and abbreviations:

• k (knit): Fundamental knit stitch forming the base fabric
• p (purl): Purl stitch used in combination with knit for texture and pattern definition
• st/sts (stitch/stitches): Basic unit of knitted fabric
• yon (yarn over needle): Creates decorative increases within the cob nut motif
• CN1 (Cob Nut stitch): The signature stitch of this design, created by knitting once into a stitch without removing it from the left needle, bringing yarn forward, then knitting into the same stitch again, creating a multi-looped effect that is later decreased back to a single stitch
• p3tog (purl three together): A centered decrease that reduces three stitches to one, used to collapse the expanded cob nut stitches

Materials Required

The Cob Nut Cushion Cover is worked in Cascade 220 yarn in Ginger 2414 colorway, requiring 3 hanks of 100 grams each. This aran-weight yarn provides good stitch definition for the textured pattern work. The project requires a pair of 4.5mm knitting needles for the main fabric and a cable needle to assist with stitch manipulation during pattern rows. The finished cover is secured with 6 buttons, providing a functional and decorative closure system.

Gauge and Construction Notes

The pattern is worked to a tension of 20 stitches and 25 rows over a 10 cm by 10 cm swatch in stockinette stitch. This gauge is essential for achieving the correct finished measurements. The pattern begins with a cast-on of 80 stitches and includes specific instructions to count stitches only after rows 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, and 12, as intermediate rows involve temporary stitch increases and decreases that are part of the cob nut pattern repeat. The construction starts with a moss stitch border, progresses through stockinette sections, and incorporates the decorative cob nut pattern panels with strategic shaping.