Juicy Cherry crochet cushion cover

This week is a good week all round: both my sisters are visiting. Well, they are staying at my parents’ who live just over the river from me. So that means I get some sister time, which is rarer than we’d like since throughout our adult lives at least one of us has been living abroad. So all the more reason to be happy that the three of us are in one place for a few days. And the cherry on the cake, this time quite literally is, you guessed it, crochet related.

In the spring, I was contacted by Sara at Simply Crochet magazine and asked if I would like to take part in the Designer Challenge. Now, I do love a challenge, and it being a crochet challenge to boot, there was no way I could refuse. The rules of the challenge are that each designer receives the same yarn and design spec. I was thrilled to learn that the yarn was Caron Simply Soft, which I fell in love with when making my Ice Flower granny squares (and the blanket using the squares, which I am making slow but steady progress with😊). The colours chosen for us to use (Fuchsia, Lavender Blue, Plum Wine, Gold, Pistachio) were just were so perfectly matched and vibrant. They truly fitted our spec of summer cushion.

I had so many ideas of what a summer cushion could look like: a flowery granny square, rows of waves like at the beach, and of course juicy fruits. In the end I decided to go with two giant juicy cherries worked using the intarsia method against a lavender blue background. The cherry motive always brings forth a childhood memory: going to the greengrocers with my father on a summer Saturday morning and walking back home eating ripe cherries out of a brown paper bag. So for me, cherries are the epitome of summer fruit.

Anyway this Monday, after coming home from lunch with my sister, I was thrilled to receive my copy of Simply Crochet featuring the design challenge. Since submitting my design, I had been very curious about what the other designer had made. I wondered what may have inspired her. It was a real treat to see a beautiful cushion using flowery squares reminiscent of an English garden, designed by Rosina Plane. It is so interesting to see a completely different take on the summer cushion using the exact same yarns. Now, it is up to readers to vote for their favourite cushion cover over on Instagram and votes enter UK participants into the draw to win a yarn bundle to make the pillow covers. But whoever wins this challenge, it was a wonderful experience to participate in it and I really enjoyed making my Juicy Cherry Cushion. Hopefully some of you will too.