Fiber Monday: Cozy and Scrappy

 

In Which I Made A Thing

I have probably annoyed you all at this point with my repeated harping on my recent descent into tea drinking, but here's the thing...

It's getting cold, and I hate cold tea that isn't supposed to be cold.

Solution: Tea Cozy!

But there's one other problem - my teapot has a vertical handle, and 99% of the patterns I've found for tea cozies are for pots with handles on the side, not the top. 100% of the vertical-handle patterns I did find and could read needed money, which I respect, but could not afford at the time!

New Solution: Make my own pattern!

So I now present to you - possibly the ugliest tea cozy on earth.

Made with leftover yarn I cannot identify

Here is the free version of the pattern:

TEA COZY

MATERIALS

• Yarn (any size – pretty sure mine was DK/Light/3)

• Hook (I used a 3mm)

• Yarn needle

• A ribbon or other closure (optional)

STITCHES (US TERMS)

ch = chain

sl st = slip stitch

sc = single crochet

hdc = half double crochet

dc = double crochet

INSTRUCTIONS

START: Ch as long as you need to go around the narrow bottom of your teapot, sl st to first chain to form a loop, trying not to twist. I needed 90 chains – yours may be different depending on hook, yarn, and teapot!

Round 1: Ch1, sc in each ch, sl st to first sc

Round 2-?: Ch1, increase around evenly (so if you have 90 ch, you sc in the next 14 sc, then sc twice in the next sc, repeat around), sl st to first sc of each round, ch1 to start the next.

When your sc increase rounds reach the bottom bulge of your spout, we’ll switch from crocheting in the round to crocheting in alternating rows!

Remember to fit to your teapot constantly so that you don’t get any nasty surprises at the end like “oops, too small, no cozy for you!”

Pattern Rows

Row 1: ch1, sc across

Row 2: ch 1, turn, sc in first sc, then alternate dc and sc stitches around, making sure the dc stitches pucker outwards like a bobble or popcorn stitch! My pattern was sc in first sc, *dc in next, sc in next 2 st repeat from * until last 2 stitches, then dc, end with sc. You may want to have more or less sc stitches between your dc stitches, depending on how wide your rows are.

Row 3: ch 1, turn, sc across

Row 4: ch 1, turn, hdc across

Row 5: ch 2, turn, dc across

Row 6: ch 1, turn, hdc across

Row 7: ch 1, turn, sc across

Repeat from Row 2 until you pass the top of where your spout attaches to the pot

When you pass the top of your spout, sl st in to the first stitch to resume crocheting in the round. Repeat the pattern rows until you reach the top of your pot, hopefully ending on a Row 5, 6, or 7 repeat so you can use that for your ribbon.

When you’re done, just tie it off and weave in the ends.

If you don’t have a spare ribbon or cotton strip laying around, you can, of course, make one by crocheting a long chain in the same yarn or one that would look nice with it and tying that off, weaving in the ends, and using that as a cinching tie. I prefer my cotton ribbon because it isn’t stretchy.

You should have a nice sweater for your teapot now!

Go Enjoy Something!