Mystery Cushion Club 2025: post 4, September
Debbie AbrahamsHELLO AND WELCOME TO THE PENULTIMATE INSTALMENT OF THE 2025 MYSTERY CUSHION CLUB! With the seasons beginning to change and the weather here in the UK beginning to cool down, it’s the perfect time to start planning your autumn projects and immerse yourself in your knitting. For me it’s a super busy time of year with new projects on the go alongside finishing off current ones. And with several events and workshops lined up over the next few months in the lead-up to Christmas, I feel that the rest of this year is going to whizz by!
We are very close now to the end of this year’s Mystery Cushion, with just the back panels to knit before the finishing touches are added to it. This month you have one large panel to knit – the Lower Back Panel – which is a colourful stripe with textured stitches. It’s a fairly easy one to knit, so if you fancy some stress-free knitting to ease you into Autumn, this is the perfect answer!
Before you begin the Lower Back Panel you will need to sew the nine front panel blocks together. I talked about this in the previous Mystery Cushion blog (August), in which I gave detailed instructions about how to do this. So if this is still on your to-do list, I would suggest that you take a look at the advice I gave and get that task done. Then you can move on to this month’s exciting new pattern!
There are no new tech vids this month, but if you need guidance with any of these techniques, they can be accessed by clicking on the Tutorials tab at the top of our Homepage:
- How to thread beads onto yarn (Tutorials: Beading Techniques)
- Slip-stitch beading (Tutorials: Beading Techniques)
- Hooked-in beads (Tutorials: Beading Techniques)
- How to knit fairisle (Tutorials: Colour Knitting Techniques)
- How to knit intarsia (Tutorials: Colour Knitting Techniques)
- How to carry yarns up the side of the work (Tutorials: Knitting Basics)
- Swiss-darning (Tutorials: Embroidery on Knitting)
- Block 4, On The Dotted Line, How To Knit Rows 3 & 4 (Tutorials: Mystery Cushion 2025)
- Block 4, On The Dotted Line, How To Knit Rows 12 & 13 (Tutorials: Mystery Cushion 2025)
- Block 8, Vivacious, How To Knit Rows 5 & 6 (Tutorials: Mystery Cushion 2025)
ALL OF THE PRINTED PATTERNS FOR BOTH UK AND OVERSEAS WERE POSTED ON THE 10TH SEPTEMBER, so all being good with the postal services, those who added this to their Mystery Cushion package should have their brochure, or if not it will arrive very soon.
The digital file for September is in your Debbie Abrahams account, from which it can be downloaded.
YOU MAY RUN SHORT OF TANGERINE BEADS, which were slightly miscalculated by me (so hands-up, I’m the guilty one here). I counted up the total number used in this project as about ten less than we measured out. However, you actually need about ten more than we measured out. I have used Tangerine beads in quite a few other projects and kits. So if you run short of them, you can of course contact me and I will send you some more. But if you could check your own bead stashes for them first, that would be very much appreciated. By the way, there are no more Tangerine beads used after the front panel blocks have been completed.
SINCE MY LAST MYSTERY CUSHION BLOG WE HAVE LAUNCHED SIGN-UPS FOR THE 2026 MYSTERY BLANKET CLUB! So if you fancy taking your ‘mystery’ knitting to the next level and embarking on a whole new bigger adventure, then pop across to our online shop where you can get yourself signed up today. It’s a global ten-month KAL with knitters taking part from across the world. And you can tailor it to your own preference with options to add on printed patterns, spread your payments across several interest-free monthly payments, or go for patterns-only. This flexibility means you can purchase the membership package that suits you best.
We have a super EARLY BIRD SPECIAL OFFER with benefits and discounts for everyone who signs up before 30th September!
The first 250 members to sign up to our package with knitting kit will receive an exclusive Debbie Abrahams 30th Anniversary pen. This is to commemorate thirty years of Debbie Abrahams Ltd, working alongside my favourite yarn company Rowan. So it’s a huge milestone!
PLUS THESE OTHER EARLY BIRD BENEFITS…
Knitting kit option:
· 5% off the cost of the membership with knitting kit (already applied to the product in the shop).
· An exclusive kit for a Balearic Glasses Case, including all the materials to make the project (yarn, beads, lining fabric, magnetic closure). Included with your second parcel in May.
All members:
· 10% off the purchase of any of Debbie’s knitting kits in her online shop until 30th November 2026*.
· Digital pattern for a Balearic Glasses Case.
· Entry into our Prize Draw with ten gifts up for grabs!
1st Prize: 2025 Mystery Blanket Club membership (for the package you’ve purchased, we will refund what you have paid in full)
2nd Prize: A Festive Mystery Knit Box (with a value of over £80)
3rd Prize: A Mother’s Day Box (with a value of over £60)
4th Prize: Set of 10 printed patterns for the 2026 Mystery Blanket Club
5th & 6th Prizes: Knitting kit from a selection in our online shop (up to the value of £50)
7th & 8th Prizes: Four packs of beads (colour/s of your own choice, size 8 or size 6)
9th & 10th Prizes: set of three Winter Wonderland ready-made socks
*excludes Mystery products, and cannot be used in conjunction with any other special offers or discounts.
Winners of the Prize Draw will be notified by email on the 1st October.
So what can you tell me about the 2026 Mystery Blanket design?
For each new blanket I focus on a totally different theme, and try and make it as different as I can to the previous year’s design, which not only gives you a refreshing new project to work on, but for me it’s great to have a drastic change of direction too! So you can probably guess that next year’s colours are far from quiet and peaceful, like this year’s blanket. The 2026 colour palette is super colourful, with vibrant pinks, teal, sunshine yellow, emerald green and rich red contrasted with brilliant white and deep indigo blue. There’ll be lots of interesting stitch patterns, some beautiful cables, stripes, beads, fairisle and intarsia, so it’s a knitting journey you won’t want to miss out on if colour, pattern and texture are your thing!
I am super excited to be back working with James Laxton and his wonderful team in West Yorkshire in the UK, who are producing eleven exciting new colours in my exclusive Light Merino Wool. I am combining my own-branded yarn with some of my favourites from the Rowan collection – Felted Tweed, Soft Yak and Pure Alpaca. So you’re in for a real treat next year, with a selection of some of the most luxurious yarns combined together in one unique blanket project!
If you want to pay for your Mystery Blanket Club membership in instalments then opt for our Splitit payment plan. You can choose from between 2-4 monthly payments to suit your finances, and can still take advantage of our Early Bird Special Offer if you place your order before 30th September.
To find out more, visit the online shop on our website: https://debbieabrahams.com/products/mystery-blanket-club-2026
I can’t wait for the next exciting journey to begin – see you next year!
WE WILL BE TAKING PRE-ORDERS FOR OUR FESTIVE MYSTERY KNIT BOXES AT THE BEGINNING OF NOVEMBER. So if you’re looking for a fabulous unique gift for a friend or relative, or you want to treat yourself (go on, you deserve it!), then my festive boxes are the perfect solution! We have a limited number, so if you want to purchase one make sure that you keep an eye on your inbox for a news alert from us.
Below: image of previous Festive Mystery Knit Boxes being packed.
STITCHTOPIA HAVE BEEN IN TOUCH TO LET ME KNOW THAT ONE PLACE HAS BECOME AVAILABLE ON MY COUNTY KERRY KNITTING HOLIDAY IN OCTOBER. So if you fancy a magical week away touring the southwest coast of Ireland with several guided tours including a trip to the Kerry Woollen Mills, Killarney National Park and the Ring of Kerry, as well as workshops tutored by me, then come and join me!
I will design a special project for the tour which will be supported by workshops in which you will be given the opportunity to learn new knitting techniques or brush up on your existing skills. The project will use Rowan yarns and will include beading and textured stitches.
If this sounds of interest, then hop on over to the Stitchtopia website where you can book your place on this amazing trip:
https://www.stitchtopia.co.uk/holiday/knitting-county-kerry
THERE IS ONE PANEL TO KNIT THIS MONTH, it’s one of the two back panels.
LOWER BACK PANEL: Efferlicious – stripe pattern with textured stitches:
On each pattern page there is a list of Pattern notes and tips that are worth reading before you start to knit each block. These bits of advice will help you and give pre-warnings as to what to look out for in the pattern instructions. Also take note of the description under the title of each square as this tells you what the stitch structure is.
You can use the tech vids to assist you, but here are a few extra tips:
LOWER BACK PANEL, EFFERLICIOUS: a brightly coloured panel which blends together the textured stitches in Effervescent and Vivacious to create a new exciting stripe pattern.
Tech-vids to watch for assistance with this panel:
- How to carry yarns up the side of the work (Tutorials: Knitting Basics)
- Block 4, On The Dotted Line, How To Knit Rows 12 & 13 (Tutorials: Mystery Cushion 2025)
- Block 8, Vivacious, How To Knit Rows 5 & 6 (Tutorials: Mystery Cushion 2025)
After the nine individual front panel blocks have been sewn together, you need to pick up 125 stitches along the cast-on edge of the completed Front Panel. This means you will need to turn the panel upside down so that the RS of it is facing towards you. I have given specific instructions for picking up the stitches on page 6 of the mail-out, so make sure that you read this as it tells you how many stitches to pick up along the edges of Blocks 1, 2 and 3.
I mention in the Pattern notes and tips on page 6 that it might be easier to use a circular needle to knit this panel. That is not because you are knitting in the round, it is purely because there are a large number of stitches to pick up so it may be easier to manage them on a longer needle.
When picking up stitches along a cast-on edge, I put my needle through the middle of a whole stitch just above (or below as you are looking at the work upside down) the cast-on edge. What you need to remember is because the work is upside down, a whole stitch is not an open ‘V’ shape, but an inverted ‘V’ (ie, it is upside down). So just look at it very carefully before you begin and get familiar with what a stitch looks like, and then you’ll be fine. Just watch out for the edge stitch at the beginning and the end of the knitting – you will be putting your needle through the middle of these stitches, so that means that you’ll have one side of the stitch (one ‘leg’) over the needle. Often the edge stitches get missed, so make sure that you do pick up one at each end of the work.
When you need to pick up extra stitches (along the cast-on edge of Block 2), then you will need to put your needle in the gap between two stitches.
Several different needle sizes are used to knit this panel, so make sure that you read the instructions very carefully. These changes are in purple text so that they are easier to see.
This is a bead-free panel – shock, horror! However, there is still plenty to keep you motivated between knitting the plain stocking stitch stripes. Both of the textured stripes were in some of the front panel blocks for which there were tech-vids to assist you (see the list above). So if you need a reminder you can access them by clicking on the Tutorials tab at the top of our Homepage.
It is quite a lengthy stripe pattern repeat which is worked over 34 rows and knitted twice over (in total). Then you work the final rows at the top edge in striped garter stitch (ie, knit every row). When the panel is completed and cast off, it should measure approximately 45cm x 19cm (as noted in the Pattern notes and tips on page 6). However, if it measures a bit longer than this it does not matter as this panel tucks underneath the Upper Back Panel when they are sewn into place.
When you have completed the Lower Back Panel, you are then ready for the final instalment next month, along with the reveal of the Mystery Cushion title!
THERE ARE JUST TWO MORE MYSTERY CLUB MEETINGS SCHEDULED AT YARN LOFT IN NOTTINGHAM THIS YEAR, so if you live nearby and have a couple of hours to spare, do come and join us at our next meeting, which is on Wednesday 1st October. It’s a great way to meet other members and have a knit and a chat while you knit up your squares. I will be there to help out if any advice is needed, and lovely store owner, Doreen, will keep us all going with a hot drink and a cake.
Yarn Loft is at 118 Hucknall Road, Carrington, Nottingham, tel number 07825 702433, website: www.yarnloft.co.uk. To cover the costs of hosting the meeting there is a small sub to pay (£3.00), which can be paid to Doreen on the day.
THIS IS A REMINDER ABOUT OUR SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS, which can be hugely beneficial if you want to keep up to date with all my latest news or join a Debbie Abrahams group:
Ravelry: Debbie Abrahams Handknits
Facebook: Debbie Abrahams Mystery Knitters
Facebook: Debbie Abrahams Handknits (our own FB page)
Instagram: debbieabrahams_knitting
Pinterest: debbieabrahams@debbieabrahamsk
The Facebook and Ravelry groups are great communities to be part of, especially if you are out there knitting on your own and need a bit of advice or encouragement. They are brilliant for technical support too and there are many very experienced knitters in both groups who are only too happy to help with queries about the projects. They are both free to join and a lot of fun to be part of, so why not join today!?!
NOW IT’S TIME TO HAVE ONE FINAL GO AT GUESSING THE TITLE OF THE MYSTERY CUSHION before all is revealed next month! We have had a few correct guesses sent in recently from Myra Sharp, Sandra Vargas and Gail Coles. So well done to all three of you for guessing it correctly! But if you are still trying to work out what it is, here is one last clue:
This final letter I am giving you is ‘O’:
_ R I _ L O _ _
If you think you know what it is, please email your answer to me at debbie@debbieabrahams.com to see if you are right. And if you are, then with your permission, we will include you in the list of correct guessers in the final blog in October. Good luck everyone!
In just four weeks time we will reach the end of this year’s Mystery Cushion adventure and the theme will be revealed. And if you’re knitting my Mystery Blanket as well, then you are going to be super busy as we move swiftly towards the end of that project too. It’s the perfect season for cosying up indoors and crafting away the hours, so I hope that Efferlicious brings a ray of yarny sunshine to your cooler Autumn days! Don’t forget to come back here one last time in mid-October for all the latest news, tips and advice, and to find out about the inspiration for this year’s cushion design. I just can’t wait to share it all with you! Until then, happy knitting everyone and have a wonderful September! Debbie xx
