The Shell Collector cushion is made in mind my favorite thing to do when walking across the beach and collecting shells in all kinds of colors, sizes, and shapes. You can find the most amazing and unique pieces for free, given to you by the sea. I also had a great yarn collection of sock wool, hand-dyed by the Dutch company Wol met Verve. These colorways were perfect for this pattern, as the colors definitely reminded me of the sea and shells.

Yarn Requirements: The cushion is made with hand-dyed sock yarn by the Dutch brand Wol met Verve. The skeins used are 100 grams and 420 meters long. I used this sock yarn held double to create a DK-weighted thread. You can also choose to use a single DK thread instead of a fingering weight-held double. The yarn is a basic sock yarn made of 75% wool and 25% nylon.

I used the following colors and amounts:

Color A: Slate Blue (40 grams of sock yarn held double OR 20 grams of DK yarn/ 170 meters/85 meters)

Color B: color number 0224 Plume (40 grams of sock yarn held double OR 20 grams of DK yarn/ 170 meters/85 meters)

Color C: not available any longer – white/blue/brown speckles (40 grams of sock yarn held double OR 20 grams of DK yarn/ 170 meters/85 meters)

Color D: not available any longer – white/moss green/brown speckles (40 grams of sock yarn held double OR 20 grams of DK yarn/ 170 meters/85 meters)

Color E: color number 0123 Herb Green (40 grams of sock yarn held double OR 20 grams of DK yarn/ 170 meters/85 meters)

Color F: color number 0124 Beach (40 grams of sock yarn held double OR 20 grams of DK yarn/ 170 meters/85 meters)

Color G: color number 20232189 (30 grams of sock yarn held double OR 15 grams of DK yarn/ 130 meters/65 meters)

Color H: color number 0122 Rust (30 grams of sock yarn held double OR 15 grams of DK yarn/ 130 meters/65 meters)

Color I: color number 0224 Potting Soil (80 grams of sock yarn held double OR 40 grams of DK yarn/ 336 meters/168 meters)

Crochet hook needed: You will use a 4,0mm & 5.0mm hook for the cushion when holding the sock yarn as a double thread or the DK yarn as a single thread.

Size: one finished square for a side will measure approx 36 cm/14 inches in width and height. When adding the cushion, the finished sizes will change to 40cm/16 inches.

Other materials needed: One cushion of 40cm x 40cm/ 16 x 16 inches to fill the cushion cover.

-The pattern is made with fingering-weight yarn (sock yarn) held double to create a DK type of thread. You can also take a DK yarn and use a single thread. However, I decided to use this option because the options for hand-dyed yarns are much more significant in fingering weight. Using up different scraps of sock yarn held double is also a great idea.

-For this pattern, there are written instructions guided by a chart. I didn’t add photos, as the chart give far more insight into the build-up of this dynamic pattern, which is built out of close-to-each-other stitches.

-If you want to add more shells or enlarge the square, you need to add 19 sts for each extra repeat. The pattern is built up from 19 sts for each shell part + 1 additional stitch.

The pattern is available for free in Dutch and English (US) as a PDF download.