The Snowflake cushion celebrates one of my favourite types of weather: snow. Snowflakes are famed for their six-fold symmetry and each one being unique.

The cushion features a large intarsia snowflake, is fastened with four buttons across the back and is designed to fit a 46 cm (18 inch) square cushion with a little negative ease to ensure a nice plump cushion. The cushion is knitted flat in one piece, starting in the middle of the back with a moss stitch button band, then the first half of the back, the front and the second half of the back are knitted in stocking stitch, and finally the moss stitch buttonhole band is worked. The cushion is seamed down the side edges using mattress stitch.

The pattern for the cushion cover is written, and the snowflake section is worked from a clear, numbered chart.

Tools and materials
5 mm (US 8) needles
Aran weight yarn (ideally a plied wool or wool/acrylic blend): MC (blue): 470 m/510 yds; CC (off-white): 110 m/120 yds
Yarn bobbins
Chart row marker
Tapestry needle
Stitch markers × 2
Removable stitch markers × 4
Buttons × 4 4 cm (1.5 in) diameter
46 cm (18 in) square cushion pad

Difficulty level: Advanced (knit, purl, complex colourwork)