Teapot cozy

Last weekend while I was reading and drinking tea, I thought I'd like to knit something new while I read. The Mitered Squares blanket requires a little bit of attention, although I have sometimes read while working on it. And Dad's sock is still a work in progress, but I really wanted a new project. One that could be done in an afternoon or evening. One that could use up a leftover skein of yarn. One that did not require a lot of thought.




My tea pot is one Aunt Donna gave us. It originally belonged to a friend of hers who brought it back from Japan. It holds 4 cups (if I use the cups and saucers my grandmother gave me) of tea. It's aluminum and the pot and handle get very hot when it's full of tea. A tiny tea cozy with a little hot pad for the handle seemed like a good idea for a project, so that's what I made. I also decided to be extremely lazy and not get up from the sofa once I began working on it.



Tiny Teapot Cozy with Hot Pad

Materials:
leftover DK/light worsted weight wool yarn
U.S. size 5 16-inch circular needle
size F crochet hook

Pattern:
Cast on 100 stitches. Join in the round. Place marker.
Purl 1 stitch, *knit 8 sts, purl 2 sts* nine times, knit 8, purl 1 stitch.
Do every round for 7 rounds or until work measures about 1 inch from cast-on row.

On 8th round work until final purl stitch, then turn work and work back and forth in pattern (On wrong side: knit 1, *purl 8, knit 2* nine times, purl 8, knit 1; on right side: purl 1, *knit 8, purl 2* nine times, knit 8, purl 1) for about 15 rows, or about 2 inches. (This makes a gap for the spout.)

On right side, begin to work in the round again with purl 1, *knit 8, purl 2* nine times, knit 8, purl 1 on every round for 7 rounds, or until piece measures about 1 inch from top of gap.

Begin decreasing
Round 1: Purl 1, *ssk, knit 4, k2tog, purl 2* nine times, ssk, knit 4, k2tog, purl 1.
Round 2: Purl 1, *knit 6, purl 2* nine times, knit 6, purl 1.
Round 3: Purl 1, *knit 6, purl 2* nine times, knit 6, purl 1.
Round 4: Purl 1, *ssk, knit 2, k2tog, purl 2* nine times, ssk, knit 2, k2tog, purl 1.
Round 5: Purl 1, *knit 4, purl 2* nine times, knit 4, purl 1.
Round 6: Purl 1, *knit 1, bind off 2 stitches, knit 1, purl 2* nine times, knit 1, BO2, knit 1, purl 1.
Round 7: Purl 1, *knit 1, cast on 2 stitches, knit one, purl 2* nine times, knit 1, CO2, knit 1, purl 1.
Round 8: Knit all stitches.
Round 9: Knit all stitches.
Bind off all stitches.

Weave in ends. Crochet a chain about 24 to 28 inches long to weave in and out of eyelets and tie with bow. This probably would be better (prettier) done as a 3-stitch i-cord, but I didn't want to get up and find my dpns to do it and I had a crochet hook in my knitting bag.



I also crocheted a little circular lid to put over the lid of my teapot, but as I have no idea how to crochet such a thing I winged it and cannot write out what I did.

The hot pad pattern is the standard easy one I've done before, only smaller.


The best part is that I used up every inch of that leftover yarn!