Thank goodness for tea cosies

There’s nothing I like to knit more than a tea cosy. It’s becoming something of a joke amongst my friends, but I don’t care. It’s so satisfying knowing that when you give the gift of a tea cosy, you’re not only giving a beautiful object, but a highly practical item that means the receiver of the gift need never suffer cold tea again! I liked the pattern I used for my Grandma’s tea cosy last Christmas so much that I’ve since made two more in that style to ensure the toastyness of tea in the South East region would no longer be at risk.

One blue and white one as a wedding gift for Catherine and Will…

… and one red and white one for Mandy to match her checked table cloth.

Now I just need to get round to making one for me.

 

Strawberry teas forever

Once upon a time, way back in February, Queen Sarah of Knit Club had a birthday (only a birthday of low numbers you understand for Queen Sarah is youth personified). Being Princess of Knit Club I searched high and low throughout the kingdom for a gift to do her justice, but alas a suitable present could not be found. Just when all hope was lost, I remembered Queen Sarah was the proud owner of a beautiful green teapot that made a delightful brew, but remained naked and bereft of a suitable cosy. But where would I find a tea cosy fit for the royal pot? Queen Sarah had often mentioned how wonderful a strawberry tea cosy would be, so off I went in search of one.

But all the available patterns would not do, they just weren’t strawberry-y enough. In the end I used all my Princess of Knit Club skills and made up my own pattern. The result was the strawberryiest of strawberries anyone in the whole kingdom had ever seen. Now Queen Sarah’s teapot need never be naked again and we’ll all live knitting happily ever after!

Using 4mm needles and two strands held together of Patons Diploma Gold DK in a juicy red, I cast on 64 stitches and divided them evenly between four double pointed needles and joined for knitting in the round. (I thought I’d try this method of making a tea cosy instead of knitting two sides and having to sew them together at the end).

- K 1 row around
- P 1 row around
- K 6 rows around
- *K all stitches on first two needles, then turn and purl all stitches back to the start. (Now you’re knitting in two halves to leave the holes for the spout and handle).
- Do 13 more rows in stocking stitch, ending with a knit row* (if you have the tea pot in front of you, make sure this is enough rows to allow for the spout or handle hole). Cut off yarn leaving a long enough tail to sew in later.
- Join in yarn at start of the third needle and repeat above instructions ** for all the stitches on the third and fourth needles.
- You should now have the same number of rows on both pairs of needles.
- Continue with the yarn you’ve just been using, join back together and K 4 rows (in the round again).
- Now for the decreasing: K6, K2tog around
- K 1 row around
- K5, K2tog around
- K 1 row around
- K4, K2tog around
- K 1 row around
- K3, K2tog around
- Change to green yarn, K 1 row around
- K2, K2tog around
- K1, K2tog around
- K2tog around
- K2tog around
- Continue knitting around with these stitches until the strawberry stalk is long enough. Cut off the yarn and using a large sewing needle thread through the remaining stitches and pull tight. Thread down through the middle of the stalk and tie off inside the cosy.
- Use yellow yarn to sew on little ‘seeds’ keeping the yarn at the back and following the ‘v’ shape of the knitted stitches.

For the leaves I adapted Bonnie Sennott’s Mountain Laurel Leaf pattern, which I found on Ravelry, making some of the leaves longer  and thinner and some of them shorter and fatter. I sewed them on at the base of the stalk and hey presto, the cosy was finished. No annoying seams, just a warm and snuggly teapot and a very happy Queen Sarah!

Kat that got the cream

Last Autumn I bought some Rowan Pure Wool DK in a delicious mossy green colour (Shade 022 Emerald) on a rare trip out of Cornwall to a city with a John Lewis department store. I got a bit giddy with all the possibilities of yarns and colours and in the end bought just two balls of the Rowan yarn thinking I would quickly find a lovely pattern to use it for. But I just couldn’t find the right one until Ellen brought a fantastic pattern book to Knit Club a few weeks ago and I saw my dream hat.

The pattern is Kat by Kim Hargreaves from her Precious collection – a really classy set of patterns, beautifully styled and photographed. I could quite happily make every single thing in the collection and a browse around her website has just turned up numerous other books that’ll definitely be on my Christmas list.

The pattern was well written and easy to follow. As is usually the case with hats like this it looked all lumpy and bumpy before blocking and didn’t sit right on my head at all.

But after blocking it overnight over a dinner plate using the old faithful method I found last year, it looks fabulous.

The only bad thing is that I think it might’ve been me finishing the hat that brought an end to all the sunny weather we were having. I wasn’t wishing for it to be Autumn so I could wear it, I promise!

Monkeys spreading like rabbits!

Knitted garden monkeys are continuing to crop up around the country and reports are coming in that they appear to be developing super powers. Click here to read all about the latest sighting in Northampton.

Where will the next knitted garden monkey be spotted? Members of the public are warned to remain vigilant at all times.

Jenny was an octopus…

…not a giant squid!

My friend Kieran has a song about an octopus called Jenny, so when it came to making him a Christmas/birthday present I thought it was the perfect opportunity to try my hand at a knitted cephalopod. Oh, and she has an anchor tattoo because in the song she’s in love with a bucaneer named Billy.

I adapted Jenny from this free Ollie the Octopus pattern from Lion Brand (you have to sign up as a member to view Lion Brand patterns, but it’s well worth doing as it’s free and there’re loads of good patterns). The main difference was that I put in less decrease rows at the beginning so Jenny has a slightly fatter head than Ollie because I wanted her to look less like a squid! I also made Jenny’s legs longer by putting more knit row repeats in.

Better bunting hunting

I’ve been seeing fabric bunting in all the lovely fiddly shops in Falmouth for quite a while now, but it always seems a little bit expensive for what it is. So keen to save a few pennies I decided to work out a pattern for knitted bunting and use up some of my stash in the process. I had to rush to get this string of bunting finished, so it’s not as long as I would’ve liked and I had to fill it in with fabric triangles too, but it’s the kind of project that you can always have on the go, so I might just start another lot sometime soon.
This is how I made my bunting triangles:
- Using double knitting yarn and 4mm needles cast on 29 stitches.
- *K 2 rows
- Slip first stitch, k2tog through front of loops, k to last 3 stitches, k2tog through back of loop, k1
- Repeat from * until you only have 3 stitches left then slip 1, k1, put knitted stitch back on left needle, k2tog.

To make up I hand stitched the triangles to a long strip of binding folded over to hide the top of each triangle.

Just like Grandma used to make

We all love our Grandmas very much, but when it comes to getting them presents for Christmas they can be awkward so-and-sos! “Oh I don’t need anything, my love,” they say or “Just spending time with you is a present enough.” But we all know full well that if, come Christmas day, they didn’t get given anything, they’d be in a sulk until Easter.

So I was relieved when, on a visit to Grandma’s in the Autumn, I noticed that her tea cosy was looking a little worse for wear. Here was something she genuinely needed and it meant I could tick one present off the list. I wanted to make a tea cosy that matched the old design as much as possible, so was thrilled to find this Traditional fluted tea cosy by Yasmin, who also associated the design with her Nan, lovely!

I made a few modifications, like using 5mm needles to accommodate the slightly chunkier wool I used for one of the colours (King Cole Waves Multi in Pampas). My second wool was dk weight so I held that double and it seemed to work out. I also cast on 30 less stitches so I had less folds to fit a 2 cup pot. I finished the cosy off with a flower.

Here’s my Grandma with her new tea cosy on Christmas day. She may be 90, but she can still have a giggle! Happy Christmas Grandma x