Sunday 14 April 2013

Flower Pot Tea Cosy

Hi all,
Mother's Day will soon be here, and I've put up a little Tea Cosy pattern in memory of my Mum, and for all Mums who enjoy a pot of Tea in the mornings.

I started this tradition last year, with my Daylily Tea Cosy
I still make a lot of Daylilies to sell. They were my Mother's favourite flowers and they're quite fun to make, experimenting with an array of different colour combinatons.
They remind me of the garden at my old family home, which belongs to someone else now.
I wonder if the Daylilies are still coming up in the garden every year!

Just recently I saw a little flower pot of Pink Daisies at our local garden centre, and thought  it would make a cute Tea Cosy.
This isn't a new pattern, but a simple variation of my Flower Garden Tea Cosy  with a few alterations.....

FLOWER POT TEA COSY


I've included instructions for only the smallest tea cosy from the Flower Garden pattern. 
You know how much I adore tiny tea cosies :-). This one has 10 crochet daisies so you'll need to do some crocheting as well. 







 Tea cosy measures 32cm circumference, 16cm high, to fit a 1 cup teapot.
This teapot holds about a cup and a half as a guide.

Materials:

50g 8ply/DK yarn - Terracotta

50g 8ply/DK yarn – Green - light or leaf green

50g 8ply/DK yarn – Hot Pink 

50g 8ply/DK yarn - White

25g approx. 8ply/DK yarn – Yellow

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 - make 2

Using 5.5mm needles & 2 strands of Terracotta, cast on 25 sts.

Garter st 3 rows.

Starting with a knit row & continuing in Terracotta, st st 12 rows  

Garter st 6 rows for the rim of the pot.

Now change to Green, with 2 strands of yarn and st st 6 rows.

Next row -  (k2, k2tog) to last st, k1 - 19sts.

Starting with a P row, st st 5 rows.

Next row - ( k2, k2tog)  to last 3 sts, k1, k2 tog - 14sts.

Purl 1 row

Next row - k2tog to end - 7sts.

With a needle, thread yarn back through stitches and pull tight
Fasten Off

Make another to match.




DAISIES - make 6 Pink, 4 White.

For these flowers, start with a magic loop to produce a closed centre to the daisy.

Using 4.00mm hook & 1 strand of Yellow, make a magic loop
1st round - 1ch, 8dc into loop,  join with a sl st to first dc,
pull loop closed tightly and 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.

Making Up
Block tea cosy pieces if required.

It's much easier to sew the flowers in place before you sew up the bottom side seams.
Sew in any ends you won't be using to sew the cosy together.
Sew the front and back cosy together from the top, down both sides until reaching the spout and handle.

As a guide for the flowers...
I've sewn my flowers from the bottom row first, with the petals just a little over the rim of the pot,
Pink, White, Pink along the front - and the same on the back - 6 flowers. You'll have two Pinks next to each other on the sides, and you'll probably have a little bit of the Green showing through as a nice contrast.
Next row up -  place the 4 remaining flowers to fill the top. Have a look at the photo below for a guide.



Now sew up the 2 bottom side seams just up past the garter stitch, or whatever suits your particular teapot, or use a button and loop on one side if you prefer..and you're done!

Hope you enjoy the pattern. Please let me know if there are any mistakes, or if you love it or if you think it's rubbish - that sort of thing lol  (Brave aren't I!)
 Jen.

© Jennifer Stacey 2013
For personal use, not to be sold for profit.


26 comments:

  1. That's so generous of you Jenny to share the pattern for your beautiful design xx

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  2. That's lovely, Jen. Thanks for letting us have the pattern. I just might make one for my husband's Aunt - she's a right tea belly !! :o) Her birthday is in August, so I've plenty of time to get a little tea pot & knit it up :o)

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    1. Thanks Pat - I was thinking of you while I was crocheting all those flowers lol.

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    2. Lol !!! Oh dear, me & crochet, eh ? I fear we will never be friends !! :o)

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    3. Lol you will if I keep making you practice bwahaha!

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  3. Gorgeous, really FAB Jen... I love the big colourful flowers so sweet :)

    Hope you get spoiled for mothers day !!!

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    1. Thanks :-)Hope you get the day off too from the reno and studying. I've told my lot I want a Robocop aka a Robomaid or other robot vacuum cleaner. Can't vacuum and knit at the same time, can I!

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  4. What a beautiful tea cosy!!! I love the flowers on top. : )

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  5. Another beautiful design.....and your generous sharing of this pattern...thank you Jen
    hugs Ginny

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, your miniature knits are amazing! My hands would scream at me if I tried knitting that tiny xx

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  6. karen CrokeApril 15, 2013

    Just gorgeous Jen!!! Love it to bits! Thanks for sharing with others, so sweet of you, but then you are sweet anyway!!!

    Just as an aside, our next door neighbour used to work at a Daylily Farm up at Maleny and as a result we got lots of daylilly bulbs ... they just keep expanding and expanding ... but look very pretty when all out in bloom.

    See you soon

    Love
    Karen

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    1. Thanks Karen, oh lovely that you have Daylilies too! Mum started growing them after she got rid of all her Orchids - now they were MY favourite. She would always have beautiful Orchids for me - they smell terrible though!

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  7. How gorgeous with those huge flowers on top. Love the colours.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Simmone, it's a very easy pattern :-).

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  8. Absolutely beautiful Jen. I'll be sure to do one of these - thank you so much!

    Maureen

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  9. Thank you so much they are all beautiful, thank you for your inspiration.
    Jeanette Cardiff

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  10. Que lindas as flores!! Ficou incrível!
    Quero te convidar pra participar da divulgação de blogs no http://santaclaraartesanato.blogspot.com.br/

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  11. Love this pattern. Made one of my own with a different collection of flowers. Directions were fine. Thank you for sharing!

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  12. AnonymousJuly 02, 2016

    I love this pattern, but wish there was a version for a 4-cup teapot.

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  13. Hi jenny love the tea cosy do you have pattern for knitted flowers as i dont crochet thanks di

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  14. thankyou so much for this pattern. it is exactly what i was looking for to knit.

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I love reading your comments, and I'm very happy to help you with any questions about my patterns. The comments are moderated only to stop spam mail coming through, so your comment will be published as soon as I get a chance to check them - thanks Jen.