Crochet Tea Cosy

Wrap up the pot for a warming brew!

Now, I'm a big tea fan. I drink it like it's going out of fashion. I'm also nutty about tea pots, and have a growing collection (my boyfriend is good enough to add to this for me each birthday and Christmas that roles around). However, it only struck me the other day that I had not as yet embarked upon a project which linked my love of tea and teapots with my love of crochet. Why had I not crocheted a tea cosy?? I began to rectify this straight away.

I had a look around for some inspiration and found a lovely pattern called the 'rosy posy tea cosy' (found here: http://thegreendragonfly.wordpress.com/2012/11/11/crochet-tea-cosy-pattern/). I decided to do something similar but wanted a stripy pattern and to keep it slightly more simple with pastel colours. I also have a slightly different way of creating my roses, which I will detail later on.

Before you begin, please note this isn't a definitive pattern, as each teapot is different, so you will want to have your pot to hand to measure against as you go.

I used a 4mm hook and 3 colours of double ply yarn.

For the cosy:

. Begin by chaining around the bottom of your tea pot, to make sure it sits snugly. Hdc into each chain on this row, turn and repeat, until your section sits snugly under the spout or handle of your pot, whichever is lowest. Make sure you chain 2 at the start of each row, and this will act as your first hdc.

. Fold your section in half and mark the gap for your spout. Make this quite snug, as it will stretch and you want the cosy to fit properly and not gape.

. Change yarn colour and hdc from end to the first mark. Turn, and hdc back to start.

. For the next row, you need to start increasing to meet the curve of the pot. Hdc twice into the second chain from hook, then continue the row; ending with 2 hdc into the last chain at before the gap. Repeat this until you hit the top of the spout.

. You will then want to repeat the previous step on the other side of the spout. 

. Change colour, and starting at one end, hdc along until you reach the gap of the spout. Chain along here (about 4 chains) and then continue your hdc row along the second section. 

. Repeat a row of hdc and turn. Remember to keep measuring your cosy against your pot to make sure it is fitting correctly.

. You'll probably now want to start decreasing to make the pot fit the curve of the top of the pot. To do this, Chain 2, yarn over, pull through two loops rather than one to make 2 chains into one hdc. Continue to end of row and repeat this at the end. Turn.

.On this row, you'll want to draw the cosy together to meet the top of the handle (again, you may need to repeat the previous step if your pot is larger). Chain 2, decrease hdc by one, continue to gap, and then chain (approx 4) and hdc into next chain of other section; drawing the 2 ends together. Continue and decrease hds at the end.

. Repeat this, decreasing at each end until you reach the top of the pot (If need be, decrease several times at the start and end of the pot to meet the degree of the curve.) Fasten off.

. You should eventually have your basic cosy, with a hole for the spout and a gap for the handle which flaps open (this will be closed later.)

. Now for the decorations. Of course feel free to play with this as you choose, but I decided to crochet 4 roses and leaves for a classic design. 

. For the rose:

. Chain 36. 

. Dc into the 6th stitch from hook. *Chain 2, and dc into same stitch. Chain 2, miss two stitches and dc into next stitch.  Repeat  from * until the end of the row.

. Turn, and chain 3. Dc 5 into 1st chain 2 gap. *Sc into miss 2 stitches gap. Dc6 into next chain 2gap. Repeat from * until end of row. Fasten off; leaving a long tale of about 10cm.

. Curl your rose around, and using a yarn needle, sew the tail into the rose, joining it into a coil. Fasten off.

I made 4 roses in total, 2 in cream, 2 in pink.

For the leaves:

. In a green yarn, chain 5. 
. Sc into 2nd chain from hook.
. Hdc into next stitch.
. Dc into next stitch.
. 2 hdc into last stitch, chain 2, and another 2 hdc into chain. Turn.
. Dc into next stitch, opposite the other dc in the same stitch.
. Hdc into next stitch.
. Sc into next stitch. 
. Slip stitch together and fasten off.

I made 8 leaves in total; and sewed 2 into each gap between the roses.

Lastly, using a yarn needle, sew a button hole onto the bottom of your cosy, and sew a button onto the opposite side, so you can do your cosy up when it's on the pot.

Pop on a brew, and enjoy a cosy cuppa!

If you have any alternative suggestions or ideas, please drop me a comment!

Enjoy!

Emma :)