Le Corbusier Cushion Knitting Pattern

Le Corbusier Cushion in Rowan Cotton Glacé

What Is Being Made

The Le Corbusier Cushion is a knitted decorative cushion cover designed by Martin Storey, created to fit a 50 cm (20 inch) square cushion pad. This project produces both front and back panels that are sewn together to encase the cushion pad, making it an ideal finishing piece for home décor.

Craft and Techniques

This is an advanced-level knitting project that employs the Fair Isle technique, a traditional method of working with multiple colors in a single row. Fair Isle knitting involves stranding yarns across the back of the work, carrying unused colors until they are needed again. This technique creates intricate color patterns while maintaining the integrity of the knitted fabric.

The pattern instructions specify that stranded yarns should not be carried over more than three stitches at a time. When longer color sections are unavoidable, the floating yarns must be caught under and over the working color to ensure they sit neatly at the back of the work, preventing loose loops and maintaining an even fabric tension.

Stitches Used

• Stockinette Stitch (St St) – The foundation stitch throughout the entire project, worked flat in rows beginning with a knit row
• Fair Isle Patterning – Color work integrated into stockinette stitch using the stranding method
• Cast On – 131 stitches using yarn A (Ecru)
• Cast Off – Purlwise cast off on the wrong side using yarn A
• Seaming Stitches – Back stitch or mattress stitch used to join the front and back panels along three sides

Materials and Specifications

Yarn: Rowan Cotton Glacé, a 50-gram ball weight yarn, in seven coordinated colors:

• Yarn A – Ecru (color 725) – 5 balls
• Yarn B – Blood Orange (color 445) – 1 ball
• Yarn C – Winsor (color 849) – 1 ball
• Yarn D – Persimmon (color 832) – 1 ball
• Yarn E – Dijon (color 739) – 1 ball
• Yarn F – Ochre (color 833) – 1 ball
• Yarn G – Rose (color 861) – 1 ball

Needles: One pair of 3¼mm (US size 3) needles for the main knitting

Additional Materials: One 50 cm (20 inch) square cushion pad for insertion into the finished cover

Tension and Sizing

The pattern is worked to a tension of 27 stitches and 29 rows to 10 cm (measured over patterned stockinette stitch using 3¼mm needles). Achieving the correct tension is critical for both the shape and final size of the cushion cover; even slight variations can alter the finished dimensions. The cast-on of 131 stitches accommodates a 10-stitch pattern repeat worked 13 times across each row, creating a balanced, symmetrical design.

Pattern Construction

The front and back panels are worked identically from a charted Fair Isle pattern. The pattern consists of a 54-row repeat that is repeated throughout the 137 total rows of knitting. The chart is worked entirely in stockinette stitch, beginning with a knit row, and the 10-stitch pattern repeat is repeated 13 times across each row to build the full width. After completing 137 rows (ending after chart row 29 with the wrong side facing), the stitches are cast off purlwise on the wrong side using yarn A.

Finishing and Assembly

Once both panels are complete, they are pressed according to pattern instructions to set the stitches and even out the Fair Isle work. The front and back are then joined along three sides using either back stitch or mattress stitch (a method that creates an invisible seam). The cushion pad is inserted through the open fourth side, and that final seam is closed to complete the project.