As my regular readers will know, I am having some renovations done at home, which has been going on for a while (seems like since about 2013…).

My new kitchen arrived this week ready for installation to start on Monday.  This is super exciting, but living in an obstacle course of boxes is less fun, except for the cat who is loving finding new hiding places amid the boxes.

Yesterday, after stubbing my toe for the 82nd time, I admit to having a bit of a tantrum.  I had just realised I needed to frog about 6 hours worth of work on another wip, I couldn’t find some important paperwork and then I broke a picture frame.  It was one of those moments where you just want to shout ENOUGH!

So that’s what I did, only there was more swearing!

Then I went and made a cup of tea, put on a podcast (I am currently obsessed with the bhooked podcast and am working my way through the whole back catalogue!) and set about making a little gift to cheer up a recently bereaved friend.

I wanted to make something based on sunshine, so clibmed over my furniture to reach my stash (obviously safely sealed in plastic storage boxes) and pulled out some yellow cotton and some gold metallic thread I had left from last year’s Christmas decoration making.

Oh the wonder of perspective!

30 minutes later and I had come up with the Pin me Sunshine Pin cushion. The name was meant to be a play on the song “Bring me sunshine” (I’ve had the Morcambe and Wise version in my head ever since) but  I think that may be a bit tenuous, I never was good very good at puns!

Then, about 15 minutes after I had finished, I got a message from Lion Brand about sharing some of my work (which made me do a proper happy dance) and I got a lovely message from a friend I hadn’t been in touch with for too long.  The sun really did come out!  It was a sign from the universe that I needed to spread the sunshine, not the expletives!

Sometimes I love to just sit down with some yarn and see what happens.  It’s usually when you put least pressure on yourself that something productive actually happens.

As a designer,  I swing between meticulous planning and winging it.  I think both have their place in crochet design.  I have certainly spent a lot of time frogging both types of projects so I find it helpful to simply accept that things don’t always turn out the way you expect.  Just like in life, sometimes plans lead you down a new and improved route, sometimes they send you right back to square one!

So, it makes me happy that on this occasion things ended in a happy place, and I get to share this super quick free pattern with you.

BEFORE YOU START, THIS IS WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW…

I use US crochet terms and I’ve assumed knowledge of the basic crochet stitches.  Numbers in brackets represent the number of stitches in the row.

MATERIALS AND SIZE

I used a 4mm hook with a small amount  of DMC Cotton Natura (aff) in Yellow  and Anchor Artiste Metallic (aff) gold, both of which I had in my stash.  You can use any yarn and appropriate hook for this project.  I also used a small amount of hollow fibre stuffing to fill the cushion.

The finished pin cushion is about 5in in diameter.

The Pattern

Using the Yellow, make a magic ring (there is a tutorial on this here) or you can ch4 and join with a sl st

Round 1: Work 10sc into the circle (10)

Do not join – we will be working in a continuous spiral

Round 2: Ch1 (does not count as stitch here or throughout), work 2sc in each st (20)

Round 3: Here I added in the gold yarn for a round, working with 2 threads together, just to add a bit of extra sparkle, you can leave it out if you prefer though. Ch1, *work 1sc in next st, work 2sc in next st*.  Repeat *9 more times (30)

Round 4: Back to working just with the yellow.  Ch1, *work 1 sc in the next 2 st, work 2sc in the next st*.  Repeat * 9 more times (40)

Round 5: Ch1, *work 1sc in the next 3 st, work 2sc in the next st*.  Repeat from * 9 more times (50)

Round 6: Ch1, *work 1sc in the next 4 st, work 2sc in the next st*.  Repeat from * 9 more times (60)

Round 7 & Round 8: Ch 1, work 1sc in each st (60)

Fasten off and sew in ends.

Make 2 circles

Round 9: Place the 2 circles with wrong sides facing and join by working a sc through both pieces, matching stitch to stitch  around the circle.  When you are about three quarters the way round, fill the cushion and continue to work the sc around until you meet the start.  Join with a sl st to first joining sc (60)

Round 10: Join the gold yarn so you are working with two threads held together.  Ch1, *sc in next st, hdc in next st, dc and tc in next st, dc in next st, hdc in next st, sc in next st*.  Repeat * 9 more times.  Join with a sl st and fasten off

Now just add pins!!

I would have added more pins to this picture but, naturally, they are currently packed away in a box somewhere!

I hope you like this pattern and I’d love to see your finished projects.  Please tag me on instagram @doraexplored – I love seeing finished versions of my designs, it makes for more of those little happy dances!

Happy Hooking

Dx

P.S.   In the tradition of oversharing, this is a little look at what my toe stubbing causing living space currently looks like…

From time to time, I use affiliate links on this site.  You can read my full affiliate disclosure policy here