I designed this cushion cover for a workshop trip to the West of Ireland. As the focus of the trip was the knitting heritage of the Aran Islands, that sit at the mouth of Galway Bay, I chose to use traditional cable stitch designs and textural patterns. To give the cover a more contemporary twist, and because I adore a bit of bling, I also added some beads using a slip-stitch method that enables the beads to create a cross pattern.

I used traditional cream yarns as the shade for the first cushion cover with gold and green beads to echo the national colours of Ireland, but I had a feeling it would also look great in red with silver beads, so I set about creating a new version especially for the Festive Season. I really love the way the silver beads sparkle on this cover.

Of course, you can use any yarn shade and bead combinations and I hope you will enjoy making your cushion cover too!