Opus — Polka Dot Cushion Knitting Pattern

Opus is Védís Jónsdóttir’s cushion cover from Ístex’s Lopi 24, knitted in Álafosslopi on 6 mm needles in two flat pieces: a midnight blue front with 28 big round dots in seven bright colours, knitted in intarsia from a chart, and a back of ten stripes — the seven dot colours and two thin lines of midnight blue. The pieces are sewn together round a 40 × 40 cm cushion pad. One version, one size. Five of the pattern’s eight colours are no longer made — ultra violet (9705), sunshine yellow (0017), orange rust (9988), orchid (0159) and lake blue (9982); midnight blue, happy red and apple green still are.

What you get

• The knitting pattern in English (PDF), emailed right after purchase — nothing is posted
• One size, for a 40 × 40 cm cushion pad
• Two charts — the dots on the front, stitch by stitch, and the stripes on the back
• Yarn and needles are not included. The kit has this pattern and all the yarn: the Opus kit

Yarn used in the pattern (not included)

Álafosslopi — 100 g balls · one size, for a 40 × 40 cm cushion pad
A 0709 midnight blue — 2
B 9705 ultra violet — 1 · no longer made — the kit uses 1233 space blue, a strong royal blue, so those dots come out clearly blue, not violet
C 0047 happy red — 1
D 0017 sunshine yellow — 1 · no longer made — the kit uses 9964 golden heather, clearly deeper — a mustard gold rather than the pale buttery yellow in the photo
E 9983 apple green — 1
F 9988 orange rust — 1 · no longer made — the kit uses 9971 amber heather, close to the warm orange in the photo, a touch browner
G 0159 orchid — 1 · no longer made — the kit uses 1239 winter morning, clearly paler — a light pink rather than the dusty rose in the photo
H 9982 lake blue — 1 · no longer made — the kit uses 9958 light indigo, clearly greyer and duller than the clear mid blue in the photo

Size
One size, for a 40 × 40 cm (15¾″ square) cushion pad. The pattern prints the size as “80 × 40 cm” — by our reading the two pieces side by side. Each piece is 54 stitches and 74 rows, about 41 × 41 cm (16¼″ square) at the pattern’s gauge (our calculation), so the cover fits the pad snugly.

Gauge
13 sts × 18 rows = 10 cm (4″) in stocking stitch on 6 mm needles.

Needles
6 mm (US 10) knitting needles — both pieces are knitted back and forth on 54 stitches, so straight needles or a 6 mm circular needle used back and forth will do (our note)

You will also need
A 40 × 40 cm cushion pad (in the pattern’s list), and a tapestry needle for the seams and the many yarn ends of the dots, which the list leaves out. Small bobbins for the intarsia are handy but not needed (our suggestion).

How it is knitted
Two pieces, knitted back and forth in stocking stitch on 6 mm needles, each 54 stitches and 74 rows. The front is cast on in midnight blue and knitted from a chart with 28 round dots in seven colours — 6 in sunshine yellow, 4 each in ultra violet, happy red, apple green and orchid, and 3 each in orange rust and lake blue — each dot knitted in intarsia, with its own length of yarn. The back is cast on in ultra violet and knitted in ten stripes: 8 rows ultra violet, 13 happy red, 2 sunshine yellow, 10 apple green, 2 midnight blue, 9 orchid, 9 sunshine yellow, 2 midnight blue, 9 lake blue and 10 orange rust. The ends are secured, the two pieces are sewn together with wrong sides facing at the sides and the bottom, the pad goes in, and the top is sewn shut.

Design: Védís Jónsdóttir — pattern from Lopi No. 24 (no. 20), Ístex.

How you get it — the pattern is a PDF in English. It is emailed to you right after purchase; nothing is posted.

Yarn — not included. We sell Ístex lopi by the ball in our yarn shop, or choose the kit, which has this pattern and all the yarn in one parcel.

No email? Check your spam folder, then write to support@icelandicstore.is with your order number. A person answers, Monday to Friday.