When followed with descriptions like ""this cushion couldn't be easier to create!" or "this shaped cushion takes no time at all to make!"...it almost leads one to believe that this could be a little weekend project.

Well, experience has taught me to laugh heartily at such glib teasers - when it comes to knitting, in particular.

My personal experience has shown me that there will usually be several unknown factors that will extend the "no time" into six months. And that "couldn't be easier" means that it couldn't be easier if you, say, purchased the cushion already made.

Because invariably, the cute little knitting book recommends yarn that is no longer manufactured. Or the weight of the yarn you need is not sold except one month out of the year, so of course you have to make do with something else, something far less suitable. Something much thinner which means your end product is about 8 inches smaller than projected....don't even breathe a whisper about gauge here...

Or you have a limited amount of time with which to sit down and figure out how to do Intarsia knitting. And on top of that, you have to teach yourself what to do. And then, if you pause for say, a day or two or a month or two, in between knitting sessions, by the time you pick back up your knitting project, you've completely forgotten how to do what you were doing.

But, it is possible that one day the project will come to an end! And you'll tie off all the loose ends, bind off and sit there with a completed knitted rose in your hand. But THEN, you'll realize that you're supposed to sew on sequins. By hand - cause I don't know another way....Which adds about a week to the project. And then you have to sew on fabric backing and stuff the cushion.

But eventually you DO finish. And you sigh in relief and with a little bit of pride! And whatever you do, you DON'T compare your finished product with the finished product in the knitting book. Because their cushion looks slightly less like a disco-ing starfish.


And then, you hold the thing in your hand and frown. Because it is so tiny. Much tinier than you anticipated. Far too tiny for your chairs.


But then you remember there is one chair in your house for which it is the PERFECT size. Your children's new mini-chair.