Little Flower Pot Tea Cosy - revisited

Wow, it's been so long since I've written a post, I've almost forgotten how to :-).
I think it's time to refresh and move on from the last post, don't you, so here is a different flowery version of an old tea cosy pattern of mine.
Here's the original 1 cup Tea Cosy, with some large daisies on it.

http://justjen-knitsandstitches.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/flower-pot-tea-cosy.html

A friend of mine on Ravelry made the pattern a long time ago, but only being a beginner crocheter back then, made the flowers smaller by accident (you know who you are xx). It looked so cute I always said I'd make another version with smaller flowers from her inspiration. So here is a different version.

It is made to fit a 1 to 1 1/2 cup teapot.

But then another friend told me it needed butterflies, so never one to disappoint, I found some pretty butterflies to attach. These aren't washable and are sticking on quite well actually, but of course if you can find some cute butterfly buttons they will look even better!

The pattern -

Well Hello!

 Happy New Year, Happy Chinese New Year, Happy Year of the Horse ( the year for finding love they say humpf) and Happy February already!

The blog seems to be running itself these days. Thank you to all the lovelies who still come and view, and download my patterns from time to time.

I'm in the process of going through the blogs I follow, here and on bloglovin, and getting them all in the same place. As soon as time permits, I'll put up the list of ones that are still active these days. 

Now an important request from the wonderful Knitting Charity I belong to - Knitting For Brisbane's Needy. If anyone can help out with any of the following requests,
please don't hesitate to contact the group, either on their website (linked in pink), their facebook page, or contact me here to pass on. 

Thank you so much for anything you can offer. Winter is fast approaching, and the group gets no funding or grants. It relies solely on the generosity of it's members, donations from members of the public, and the little bit of fundraising it does every year. 

If you can't knit or crochet, but love to sew, any clothes, toys, or donations of fabric are also very appreciated. The group hands out 1000's of hand made hygiene bags full of essential items each year, to those in need. 

Of course we also need YARN :-). 

A lot of our members are pensioners, and rely on donated yarn to knit warm items. If you have bags of yarn you know you'll never use, let us know. There are several places around Brisbane you can drop it off, or if you can't get there, someone who lives close by, will gladly do a pick up. 

AND if you love to knit or crochet, or have a relative who does, and would like to meet up with other ladies, instead of sitting at home alone, the group has several Knit and Natters around Brisbane. Check the website for details. There is always a range of all ages at the meetups. All will welcome you in warmly. 

Last time I looked the Kallangur Knit and Natter wasn't listed as it's fairly new.

It's held every 3rd Friday of the month, at Kallangur Library, 1480 Anzac Ave Kallangur from 1pm to 3pm Jen.              
This is what the group needs coming up to Winter

From Karen Croke 

1. Hope everyone has/is having a great day.
   
   Have been getting asked what do we need the most in the way of donations for this year.
   
   BLANKETS are our biggest need....for the homeless, big enough to wrap around an adult is great. For Domestic Violence Shelters etc, sizes to go over a single bed is fantastic, baby/children's blankets; blankets (can be preloved but still clean) fo...r animal refuges.
   
   Even squares or strips to be sewn into blankets are great!
   
   BEANIES, all sizes - adults, teens, children, babies. For adults/teens dark coloured beanies or all football code colours are very popular. Children and some adults, love the very bright colours. Babies , this includes from small premature baby size up to about a 2 year old.
   
   JUMPERS/CARDIGANS/VESTS...once again all sizes from adults down! (and we do encounter some very BIG adults).
   
   FINGERLESS GLOVES, GLOVES, MITTENS - all sizes.
   
   TOYS - knitted, crocheted, sewn, loomed. "trauma type" teddies are very popular especially with the police, ambulance, fire brigade. NEW brought toys, books are always very well received as well.
   
   NEW CLOTHING...either brought or hand made.
   
   and basically whatever you want to make!
   
   ALL ITEMS - can never get enough of everything in indigenous colours, (black, red and yellow) and also Torres Strait Islander colours!
   
   NOT NEEDED THIS YEAR ...
   
   SCARVES ... for some reason last year, scarves weren't that popular with the needy but LOTS of scarves where donated, and we have more than enough scarves to see us through this year BUT if you like making scarves...if they are just plain you could make them into strips to be sew in to blankets....we can never get enough blankets!
   
   ALSO PLEASE NOTE .... due to lack of storage we will NOT BE ACCEPTING PRELOVED CLOTHING, OR SHOES.
   
   We have a big list of organisations who love to receive preloved clothing such as 139 Club in Fortitude Valley; Signal Flare (to give out at their BBQ's; Dressed for Success if the clothing is suitable for people to wear to job interviews, and heaps more. Just ask we can give you more organisations. I have just done a bit of a search and have found another organisation I will be looking into more..Uplift Bras ... they take new or used good condition, clean bras for the needy in Australia and third world countries. They seem to have three drop off points...Boronia Heights; Milton and Underwood!
   
   ALSO NEEDED ... TOILETRIES, unused... motel size ones are ok. We at present desperately need deodrants, combs/brushes; sunscreen; women's hygiene products; baby nappies.
   
   Our hygiene bags are very well received and asked for continuously.
   
   NEW UNDERWEAR/SOCKS ....All sizes and sexes! NEW PJ's for children and adults.
   
   THANK YOU for all your help, please know it is very much appreciated!
   
   Karen
   

A Fabulous Little Crochet Book & What I Made From It.

I love this crochet book, I bought it a couple of months ago ....

                                                 500 Crochet Blocks

I have A LOT of crochet block books from over the years, but this one has taken my fancy.
It's very new and modern, with 283 pages of different squares, rounds, hexagons, triangles ...

As well as blocks, there's hearts and leaves, spirals and flowers, pot holders, ripples, stars.
All the new stitches like crocodile stitch (above), the very popular African Flower Hexagon, Spinning Wheels plus lots of old favourites.
And not to mention,  a lot of the block patterns can be increased and repeated to make some very yummy scarves and fingerless glove, like the pink flower block above.

Even though I should be concentrating on getting 3 projects finished at the moment, I couldn't go past this snowflake block, especially this time of year!

          So...what did I make?

Can you guess?

 I bet you can lol.

Here's the block below finished and ready to go. 

The pattern for the block itself can be found in the book   500 Crochet Blocks  

My directions are only to show you how to use the block to create a Tea Cosy. 

Naturally due to copyright the pattern for the block can't be printed here - sorry :-).

Fits approx a 4 cup Teapot. English Crochet Terms are used throughout.

I used 8ply/Dk yarn and a 3.50mm crochet hook. The smaller hook makes the snowflake design tighter and more prominent I think. (Make 2 blocks).

I didn't fasten off from the last round of the block so my directions continue from there.
Starting with 3ch (counts as a tr) tr in every st, do the corners the same as previous rounds in the pattern, and join to the 3rd ch at the beginning. Fasten off.

Don't work across the bottom from here on. Make sure you place the fastened off edge to one side, not at the bottom, so you have a nice neat finished bottom edge for the cosy (see where it is in the previous pic?).
Fasten yarn to the right hand bottom edge, work facing you. 3ch and 1 tr in the corner space. Tr up the side and work the corner as before.
Across the top -  tr2tog until you get to the next corner, work the corner as in the pattern.
Tr down the other side and finish with 2 tr in the bottom corner space. Fasten off.

Finish the other block to this stage as well. 

Now you can join both pieces and finish the rest of the cosy in the round. 

Fasten yarn to the top right hand corner space of the front piece (work facing you).  

3ch, (counts as a tr), tr in every st across top to the other top corner, 1 tr in the corner space. 

Take the back piece, making sure it's also facing right side out, and tr in it's corner space, tr in each st across the top, then 1tr in the other top corner. 

You're back to the beginning now so slst into the 3rd of the 3ch at the start to join both pieces.

Sorry this one looks a little lopsided, I hadn't straightened it into position before the photo - I know, it's bugging me too :-)

Tr 5 more rounds in red and 1 round in white. fasten off.

Sew both sides up a little from the bottom, and down from the top to fit your Teapot's spout and handle. Sometimes when I'm making tea cosies for sale or a gift, I'll use a crochet tie at the bottom instead of joining both sides. Teapots are all different sizes. 

At the top end, make a chain stitch drawstring to run through either the decrease row, or the next tr round of the pattern, depending on what fit's your Teapot better. It's easy enough to thread it in between the stitches. 

Don't pull it in really tight, just enough to fit it to your teapot (see photo below). The Tea Cosy is designed to be a little open at the top to mimic a sweater :-).

Fold the top down to form the top like a Turtle Neck Sweater. Sew on a button or decoration to finish. 

                                             

                         © Jennifer Stacey 2013 - for personal use, not for profit

Christmas Cheers - Jen xx.

The Little Zombie

Here is the 2nd little Halloween pattern, The Little Zombie.
As I mentioned in the previous Little Vampire post, I did try to make him look scary, but he still looks quite friendly even with his bloodshot bulging eyes and his bloodthirsty smile :-).
I had a lot of fun making him, hope you do as well .

The Little Zombie

The Little Zombie measures only 11.5cm tall and is knitted in DK/8ply yarn.

The Little Vampire

Just thought I'd pop in and post these two patterns before Halloween. Hope everyone has been well, I haven't been able to visit much of late.
We don't celebrate Halloween to the same extent as other countries, but I made the next two little people a while ago, similar to my Toy Soldier Christmas Decoration. We've always been a ghoulish family, loving our spooky, scary stuff. Not that these two are very scary, I tried to make the Zombie look scary but he still looks like a softie.
The first one is here, the second one, the little Zombie will be in a couple of days. Hope you like...

    The Little Vampire

                       The Little Vampire is only 11.5cm tall, and is knitted in DK/8ply yarn.