Flower Garden Tea Cosy

My last blog post for Easter. Here is the pattern for my Flower Garden Tea Cosy. This is the cosy in the background of my blog title.
 It's another tiny cosy fitting a 1 cup teapot, but at the end I've included the instructions to make a  larger  cosy. It's so easy, & the crochet flowers are a breeze as well.
Here it is, again if there are any mistakes please let me know,

Justjen’s Flower Garden Tea Cosy

                                                       

Tea cosy measures 32cm circumference, 16cm high, to fit a 1 cup Teapot.


Also included are instructions to make a cosy to fit a Teapot 39cm circumference.

Materials:

50g 8ply/DK yarn - Grass Green

50g 8ply/DK yarn – Light Blue or Aqua

50g 8ply/DK yarn – Hot Pink

25g approx. 8ply/DK yarn – Yellow

Small amount of a darker green for embroidery

6 yellow buttons

1 pr 5.5mm knitting needles

4.00 mm crochet hook

Tension – 16 sts & 23 rows over 10 x 10cm in st st using 5.5mm needles & 8ply yarn doubled.

Cosy is knitted in 2 pieces with yarn doubled.

Crochet instructions use English Terminology.

FRONT/BACK

Using 5.5mm needles & 2 strands of grass green cast on 25 sts.

Garter st 3 rows.

Starting with a knit row & continuing in green, st st 12 rows (approx. measures 6.5cm from cast on edge).

Change to Aqua & st st 12 rows

Next row (K2, K2tog) to last st, K1 - 19sts.

St st 5 rows.

Eyelet Row - K1, (Yf, K2tog, K1) to end.

St st 3 rows.

Cast Off.

Make back to match.

FLOWERS

Using 4.00mm hook & 1 strand of yellow, make 4ch, sl st into 1st ch to form ring.

1st round - 8dc into ring, join with a sl st to first dc. Fasten off.

2nd round - Join pink with a sl st to any dc, (4ch, leaving the last loop of each dtr on hook, work 2 dtr into same dc, yoh and draw through all 3 loops on hook, 4ch, sl st  into same dc (petal), sl st into next dc) repeat 7 more times working last sl st of the last repeat into the first dc of round. 8 petals made.

Fasten off. Make 6 flowers, 3 for front, 3 for back.

Using photo as a guide, sew flowers on (2 outer flowers are centred on the colour change & the centre flower a little higher). I sew the flowers on around the yellow centre then I also put a couple of holding stitches into each petal from the back to keep them looking tidy.

With a backstitch & dark green yarn, stitch in the stems & work a lazy daisy stitch for each leaf.

Sew a button on each flower centre.

You can add extra bee, ladybug or flower buttons to jazz up the garden if you wish.(I'm really trying to use up those bee buttons!!)

With a flat seam, sew up from the bottom as far as the garter stitch, & down from the top to fit your pot’s handle & spout.

Crochet a chain drawstring with yellow yarn, thread through eyelets, tying in a bow.

Being so small, this is quite a snug cosy, if you’re making it for someone elderly, instead of sewing the seam under the handle you can instead add 2 crochet ties, or a button & crochet loop to make it easier to get on & off, if you prefer.

To make a cosy to fit a Teapot 39cm circumference, 12cm high

Follow the previous instructions but

Cast on 34 sts.

Garter St 5 rows before changing to st st.

St st 14 rows green,

Change to aqua & st st 14 rows.

Next row – (k2, k2tog) to last 2 sts, k2 – 26sts.

St st 5 rows

Eyelet Row – K2, (yf k2tog, k1) to end

St st 5 rows.

Cast off.

Hope you enjoy the pattern, please let me know if there are any mistakes - Jenny

© Jennifer Stacey 2011

For personal use, not to be sold for profit.

Message Bears for Mother's Day

It's been a good weekend for finishing projects. I love these little bears. I've been making them for years in different shapes & sizes, with different messages. They are basic pancake dolls traced on to tea dyed homespun & sewn in one piece. They started out as dolls, not bears, with a wooden shelf doll as inspiration. The first ones I made were twin girl dolls for a friend having twins, they also make lovely bases for Raggedy Anne & Andy dolls, & even a Santa & Reindeer.

The larger bear on it's own is a perfect size for hugging a small box or bag of Choccies, & you can write your greeting on the back of the bear instead of a card.

They take only 30cm of 120cm wide tea dyed homespun, plus a small amount of extra cream cotton fabric for the heart (you can use a wooden heart if you wish). I haven't included the pattern yet but if anyone wants it before Mother's Day (Aus) email me privately & I'll send it (being a bit blog-despondent & lazy at the moment). (Edit - pattern has now been loaded see end of blog)
Here's a bit of the making,

Fold your fabric right side facing in, with the pattern glued onto cardboard, trace around with a 2b pencil or vanishing pen, this is your stitching line. Machine sew around with a small stitch length, leaving open where indicated on the pattern.

Cut out aprox 1cm around stitching line. Clip your curves & snip into the corners of the arms & legs. Turn right side out, poking all your bits out with a chopstick or a similar weapon.

Stuff the bears, using small bits of fibrefill to fill the ears then the rest of the head. Stuff the arms & legs 3/4 full, to enable your joints to bend, then the rest of the body. Be careful you don't overstuff  or you won't be able to bend the limbs. You can stitch across the arm & leg joint to hold the stuffing, I do with the dolls because they're clothed, but I tend to leave the bears without, it's much neater & not necesary.
Draw on the faces, stitching etc with either a laundry marker, or waterproof pigment ink pen, the later tend not to fade as much as laundry markers. Just remember to test for bleeding on a scrap of the same fabric first. Give their ears & cheeks a little colour with either blusher or very lightly with a red or pink pencil.
Before I glue the bears together, I tend to bring the legs in towards the body so they sit well, & sew them into position  with a few stitches on the base.



Now get out the hot glue gun & glue them together like this

Using a lightbox or sunny window, very lightly trace your heart pattern outline onto cream fabric, this will be your stitching line. Also trace the message, or write it freehand if you're gifted with that ability lol. Use a suitable black pen to write the message. Place two pieces of fabric together, right sides out, cut around 1cm out from stitching line. Using 3 strands of embroidery cotton do a running stitch along the pencil line leaving room to lightly stuff the heart then continue stitching & fasten off. Glue the heart into place on the bears see photos.
Sew on the Bee buttons & the Mama Bear's bow. You can of course use other sayings, & different fabrics for the bears & heart.

In a previous post called Gathering Supplies, I gave myself the challenge to use everything I bought at Spotlight that day, before the end of the year. I can now tick off the Bee buttons & the embroidery thread (if only a little of each) lol - Thanks for visiting Jenny
EDIT - 1/5/2011  I have since uploaded the pattern for the bears HERE
The pdf is being a little difficult, it may print out slightly smaller then my original which measures 26.5cm  across, at the widest part of the feet for the Mama bear & 20cm across for Baby bear. I think there's only a minor difference to sizes.

Let Your Hair Down

Hi all,
Hope everyone is enjoying their Easter break, & keeping safe. It's lovely here in Brisbane at the moment, fine & probably going to be about 27 C. The Easter break is notorious for rain, but it seems someone has decided Brisbane has had enough rain for a while. Here's a photo of my latest Tea Cosy. it is a sister to Fester, & while it's ridiculously over the top, it looks a treat on my teapot lol.
I'm off to stock up on some food, I'll try to stay away from the easter eggs, & I'm sure I'll end up going to Spotlight this arvo to check out their sale. In between that I guess I need to sweep the floor & iron a huge pile of clothes waiting for me, - nah Spotlight first!!
Anyway here is "Let Your Hair Down" with Miss Rapunzel on the balcony. It's still a work in progress, & I'll probably fiddle with a few things with the 2nd one,
everyone have a happy Easter.

Ripple Tea Cosy Bag

Just thought I'd post a photo of my Tea Cosy Bag.
I wondered if I could make a bag from the Easy Ripple Tea Cosy  pattern by enlarging it, turning it upside down & adding a strap, so here it is -

I increased the pattern to 12dc between ripples and used a larger 5mm crochet hook.
I made it in one piece, joining every round, but turning & going back each round to keep the ridged pattern.

If I made another I would probably make it a little larger again but make it in 2 pieces, so I could give the bag side seams to prevent it stretching. It's unlined here for the photo but I intend on lining it with fabric so it doesn't stretch.  The buttons here are just temporary until I find some others. They are quite nice actually, they have little cherubs inside a round window, with hearts around the outside, so If I can't find anything I like better, they can stay lol - Jenny.

Little Mouse Tea Cosy

Hi all,

I've given this pattern out a fair bit since I designed it last year.Someone asked me about it on Rav, so I thought it was only fair to put it up here, as quite a few people have copies of it already.

He is a tiny tea cosy, only 1 cup big. As far as I'm concerned little teapots & cosies are my favourite, probably because I'm the only tea drinker in the house. So when it's just me having a quiet cuppa, the little pots are the best, & admittedly because they are so small they need cosies to keep warm.

Of course if you were to make him in thicker yarn & bigger needles he would maybe fit a 2-3 cup pot as well.

Today I've learnt how to put a graph in pdf form into google docs, & I've learnt to link it (well not really I knew about the linking lol). I'm really loving this "blogging" thing - here's the pattern. 

Justjen's Little Mouse Tea Cosy

Justjen-knits&stitches

This is a small tea cosy to fit a 1 cup + teapot.
The teapot I used measures 34cm circumference, 12cm high.
Cosy measures 36cm circumference x 19cm high.


Materials –
100g grey 8ply/DK yarn.
Small amount white 8ply/DK yarn for tummy.
Small amount pink 8ply/DK yarn for ears & nose.
1 pair 4.00 mm knitting needles
1 pair 3.75 mm knitting needles
2 black 7mm round beads for eyes.
Stuffing
For tail – small amount dark grey 8ply/DK & 4mm crochet hook.

Tension – 21 stitches & 30 rows over 10 x 10cm square using 4mm needles & 8ply/DK.
Please check your tension

Back

Using 4mm needles & grey cast on 35sts.
Garter stitch 5 rows. *
Starting with a K row, st st until work measures 10cm from cast on edge ending with a purl row. #
Next Row (K3, K2tog) to end – 28sts.
St st 5 rows.
Next Row (K3, K2tog) to last 3 sts, K3 – 23sts.
St st 3 rows.
Next Row K2 tog to last st, K1 – 12sts.
Next Row P2 tog to end – 6sts.

Leaving a long thread for sewing up, thread yarn back through these 6 sts with a needle & draw tight.
Fasten off.

Front
Work same as Back up to *.
Starting with a K row work in Stocking st & complete graph in intarsia using a separate ball of yarn for each colour section, twisting colours at colour changes to prevent holes in work.
Graph is HERE
Continue until work measures 10cm from cast on edge ending with a purl row. Continue from # as for Back

Mouse Head
Using 3.75mm needles & grey starting at back of head cast on 12 sts.
Next Row Increase in every st – 24 sts.
St st 5 rows.
Next Row increase 4sts evenly across row – 28sts.
St st 11 rows.
Next Row K3, SKPO, K3, SKPO, K8, K2tog, K3, K2tog, K3 – 24sts
St st 3 rows.
Next Row K3, SKPO, K2, SKPO, K6, K2tog, K2, K2tog, K3 – 20sts.
Purl 1 row.
Next Row SKPO, K1, SKPO, K1, SKPO, K4, K2tog, K1, K2tog, K1, K2tog – 14sts.
Purl 1 row.
Next Row SKPO 3 times, K2, K2tog 3 times – 8sts.
Purl 1 Row.
Next Row K2tog to end – 4sts.
Thread yarn back through sts with needle & pull tightly.
Fasten Off leaving a long thread for sewing.

Front Legs - make 2
Starting at top of leg, using 3.75mm needles & grey cast on 6sts.
Next Row Increase in every stitch – 12sts.
St st 23 rows.
Next Row K2 tog to end – 6 sts.
Thread yarn back through sts & pull tight.
Fasten off.

Hind Legs - make 2

1st Hind Leg
Starting at top of leg, using 3.75mm needles & grey cast on 6sts.
Increase in every st – 12sts.
St st. 3 rows.
Next Row (K1,M1) to last st – increase in last st – 24sts.
St st 5 rows.
Next Row (K3, K2tog) to last 4 sts, K 4 – 20sts
Purl 1 row.
Next Row (K3, K2tog) to end - 16sts.
Purl 1 row.
Next Row (K2, K2tog) to end – 12sts. *
Purl 1 row.
Shape foot -
Next Row cast on 12sts at beginning of row, K to end – 24sts.
St st 5 rows.
Cast off.

2nd Hind Leg.
Work as for 1st hind leg to * .
Next row (purl row) cast on 12 sts at beginning of row. Purl across all sts – 24sts.
St st 6 rows.
Cast off.

Ears make 2
Using 3.75mm needles & grey cast on 5sts. Increase in every st – 10sts.
St st 7 rows grey then change to 4 rows pink.
Next row: K2tog to end – 5sts.
Cast off.

Making Up
Sew in ends not needed for assembly.
Place front & back of cosy together, right sides out, using a flat seam sew up
from bottom for 2cm.

Sew from cast off edge at top of cosy, down both sides aprox 6cm each side. Adjust this to fit your own teapot’s spout & handle positions.

At back of head, with right side out, run a gathering stitch at cast on edge, pulling tight to make back of head – secure.
Continue from here, sew head seam using a flat seam, from this point and also from the nose end, leaving a gap in the middle of head seam for stuffing. (head seam sits along the bottom of head).
Stuff firmly, but be careful not to overstuff the nose, or you’ll loose the “mousey look”.

Ears – I could have knitted the ears with more shaping, but because they are so small, I found the shaping & the sewn seam quite messy for my liking. I preferred to knit them fairly straight, then gather the edges down to give a seamless look around the edge of the ear. With right sides out, fold in half, and as you sew the side seams of each ear gather your stitches to bring the top edges down to make them more curved. Sew each ear in position (see photo for placement).

Sew beads on for eyes, (a long doll needle is ideal) bury your wool at the head seam (where head will be sewn onto body so it will be hidden). Sew one bead in position then go across to 2nd bead, this way you can give the head a little more shaping by pulling the face in a bit with the 2 beads. Take needle back down to head seam, fasten off & bury yarn.

Embroider nose with pink yarn.
Sew head to cosy, this is easier if you put the cosy on the teapot for placement.

Front legs – with right sides out join seam & stuff, stuffing very lightly near top of leg. Join to cosy at shoulder aprox halfway between head & opening for spout/handle.

Back legs – with right sides out fold leg in half & sew from top of leg down to beginning of foot. Fold foot section back on to itself so the wrong side is facing out - photo 1.
Sew along top of foot and turn right side out again, now continue sewing leg to foot. – photo 2, this is the inside of the leg & the seam will be hidden by the body.

   

        






You will still have the sole of the foot open. Stuff leg & foot lightly & sew up seam on sole. Sew to front of body in front of side seam.

Tail - to give him a tail, using dark grey 8ply/DK & 4mm crochet hook, ch 26, miss 1st ch, dc (sc – US) in each ch to end, fasten off. Sew tail curving up back of cosy.

Optional.
While I do line some of my cosies, this one is tiny, & a snug fit already for the pot mentioned, so I think it will be too bulky.
If you wish you can crochet (dc) (sc – US) around spout & handle openings to neaten.

Please let me know if I have made any mistakes, or if there is something you don’t understand.

Hope you enjoy the pattern.

© Jennifer Stacey 2010

For personal use, not to be sold for profit.