Mistletoe Bolster Cover Cushion Knitting Pattern

Mistletoe Bolster Cover in Rowan Felted Tweed

What is Being Made

This is a knitted bolster cushion cover designed by Georgia Farrell. The cover is sized to fit a bolster cushion pad measuring 46 cm (18 inches) long with a 20 cm (7¾ inch) diameter. The project creates a cylindrical knitted fabric that wraps around the bolster form, featuring decorative shaping at both ends and a patterned main section in the center.

Techniques Used

The Mistletoe Bolster Cover employs several intermediate knitting techniques appropriate for advanced beginners. The primary technique featured throughout the main section is fairisle, a colorwork method that allows two colors to be worked simultaneously within each round. The cover is constructed in the round using the circular knitting method with double-pointed needles, creating a seamless tubular fabric. The pattern incorporates strategic shaping at both ends of the bolster through increases and decreases, including make-one (M1) increases and slip-stitch decreases (sl 1, K1, psso), which create tapered sections that fit snugly around the cushion pad. The main body features a 40-row repeat pattern worked entirely in stockinette stitch, with the fairisle pattern repeating 18 times around each round.

Stitches Used

• Stockinette stitch (st st) – formed by knitting every round, creating the smooth, classic knit fabric base
• Purl stitch – used strategically at the beginning and end sections for textural definition
• Make-one increase (M1) – creates new stitches for shaping the first end of the cover
• Knit two together (K2tog) – a right-leaning decrease used in the shaping sections
• Slip, knit, pass slipped stitch over (sl 1, K1, psso) – a left-leaning decrease used in the shaping sections
• Fairisle technique – a two-color stranded colorwork method used throughout the 40-row patterned repeat

Materials and Specifications

The Mistletoe Bolster Cover is worked in Rowan Felted Tweed, a yarn specifically chosen for its felted texture and color qualities. Two colors are used: Rage (color 150) requiring 2 balls of 50-gram weight, and Clay (color 177) requiring 1 ball of 50-gram weight. The project uses a set of 4 double-pointed needles in 4mm (US size 6). The pattern specifies two different tension gauges depending on the stitch type: 22 stitches and 30 rows to 10 centimeters measured over plain stockinette stitch, and 24 stitches and 28 rows to 10 centimeters measured over patterned stockinette stitch, both achieved using the 4mm needles.

Pattern Structure

The bolster cover is constructed in three distinct sections. The first end begins with a cast-on of 96 stitches distributed evenly over three of the four double-pointed needles, followed by shaping rounds that increase the stitch count to 132 stitches. The main central section features the fairisle patterned repeat worked from a chart, with the 40-row pattern repeated three times in total, followed by one additional row one of the pattern. After the colorwork is complete, the cover continues in stockinette stitch using only the main color. The second end mirrors the shaping of the first end but in reverse, with decreases that reduce the stitch count back to 96 stitches before casting off loosely.