Truls Cushion in Rowan Softyak DK - Downloadable PDF

Truls Cushion by Arne & Carlos in Rowan Softyak DK – Pattern Summary

The Truls Cushion is a beautifully decorative knitted cushion cover designed by the celebrated duo Arne & Carlos and published by Rowan. Available as a downloadable PDF (reference ROWEB-03665-UK), this intermediate-level knitting pattern offers two distinct colourway versions — Version A and Version B — allowing knitters to choose the palette that best suits their interior style. The pattern is rated as intermediate, making it a rewarding project for knitters who are comfortable with colourwork techniques and ready to develop their skills further.

What Is Being Made

The finished project is a knitted cushion cover, worked in two separate pieces — a decorative front panel and a plain stocking stitch back — which are then joined together during making up. The front features a richly coloured, charted design worked across 85 rows, while the back is kept simple and clean, providing a neat, professional finish. The cushion cover is designed to be both a functional home accessory and a striking decorative piece, very much in keeping with the bold, folkloric aesthetic that Arne & Carlos are known for.

Versions Included in the Pattern

Version A

Version A uses a warm and earthy palette drawn from the Rowan Softyak DK colour range. The colourway includes:

• Seagrass (249) – 2 x 50gm balls
• Plateau (239) – 1 x 50gm ball
• Tuscan Red (253) – 1 x 50gm ball
• Terrain (243) – 1 x 50gm ball
• Black (250) – 1 x 50gm ball
• Pampas (235) – 1 x 50gm ball
• Lantana (246) – 2 x 50gm balls

The front of Version A is worked entirely from Chart A, using a combination of intarsia and Fair Isle colourwork techniques across all 85 charted rows.

Version B

Version B offers an alternative colourway using the following Rowan Softyak DK shades:

• Coast (248) – 2 x 50gm balls
• Heath (238) – 1 x 50gm ball
• Plain (232) – 2 x 50gm balls

Version B provides a cooler, more muted tonal alternative to the warmer shades of Version A, making it easy to adapt the cushion to different interior colour schemes.

Yarn and Materials

Both versions of the Truls Cushion are knitted in Rowan Softyak DK, a DK weight yarn that blends the softness of natural fibres with a subtle, characteristic texture. Softyak DK is well regarded for its gentle drape and the slight halo that comes from its yak content, giving finished pieces a warm, tactile quality that is particularly well suited to home accessories such as cushions. All yarn quantities are given in 50gm balls.

The back of the cushion is worked using 4mm (US 6) needles, which are standard for DK weight yarn and produce a neat, firm fabric appropriate for a cushion cover. Needle sizing for the front colourwork panel should be confirmed within the full pattern PDF.

Techniques Used

The Truls Cushion front panel employs two classic colourwork knitting techniques used in combination:

• Intarsia – A technique used when working large, isolated blocks of colour. In intarsia, separate lengths or bobbins of yarn are used for each colour section, and yarns are twisted together at colour joins to prevent holes. This method avoids carrying yarn across the full width of the work and is ideal for bold, pictorial motifs.
• Fair Isle (Str