Bouquet Tea Cosy

And here she is at last, my finished tea cosy. As you can see, I covered her in daffodils, a lily, roses, poppies and leaves. I'm fairly pleased with how it turned out and will definitely make another tea cosy from a different pattern in the future. Tea cosies rock!

To make it a bit more interesting I broke the rules by using different sized needles so all the flowers were different sizes, and I knitted the leaves in three shades of green.

When I get near the end of a project I always underestimate how long it will take to darn in the ends. This project was no exception, it actually took ages to sew all the foliage on and tidy up the inside but I am quite pleased with my handiwork. You just can't really buy these, only in the every-one-identical, mass produced sense anyway!

Thanks to everyone whose free patterns I used, now everything's neatly stitched down it's ready for a tea party...!

Eureka!

It's been a crisp but sunny day in London today. I've noticed we've had almost an extra 30 minutes of light in the late afternoon and can't wait until spring. Speaking of which, my Spring Explosion tea cosy is progressing really well. Today I made three more flowers: two daffodils – which I am delighted with –and an elegant lily.

Apart from making an i-cord (see third party YouTube clip in previous post for a tutorial on these), I haven't quite mastered using double ended needles yet so worked all the flowers flat. Where possible, I also prefer using regular needles to circular needles. Fingers crossed, I'll have the tea cosy finished by next weekend!

I firmly believe we have our best ideas when we are relaxed and our minds are free. At the crack of dawn this morning I had a brain wave: I still had the little blanket squares I made when I first experimented with knitting a year ago and realised that one in particular would make a fabulous coffee cosy. Wasting no time at all, I frogged an inch or so of it to make it fit our six cup cafetière, and to remove the uneven pattern at the start. When I first knitted the square I hadn't even decided where I was going with it so it was a bit freestyle until a few rows in, where a raised spotty pattern starts to emerge. It took ages to frog as I unpicked the cast-on end (where the pattern was uneven). I've never done this before and it was hard to find and pick up the stitches again to cast off. It's not as neat as the other end, but, in a light bulb moment, I decided I could add two sets of ties, the Isamo Crochet bows I made before and some shell edging and it could look really pretty. My first original design!

Remember the pouffe I made? Well, a lady got in touch on Friday to express her total joy at seeing mine; she is going to have a go at making one herself. All credit goes to the Pickles for supplying such an inspiring pattern, thanks girls!

Back in the Game

Earlier in the week I was offered a new contract starting next month: "That should keep the wolves from the door!" she cried. I have a really good feeling about this year, I just know it's going to be fabulous.

Being a lady of leisure today I have been pondering about what to make new arrival, my friend's little girl, Ella Maggie. I'm having a break from making toys at the mo so perhaps in a couple of months I'll make her some clothes or a baby mobile, we shall see!

I'm really looking forward to adding some more flowers to my tea cosy tomorrow, here's what I've made so far...

Take a Leaf Out of My Book

Flower power reigns today as I construct the knitted and crocheted foliage for the Spring Explosion Tea Cosy.

Do you remember all that *premature* political speak about 'green shoots' at the beginning of the recession? Well, I've created some knitted ones of my own!

So far, we have four leaves in two shades of green and two magenta roses, all courtesy of naturalsuburbia.blogspot.com (where the Rambling Rose pattern stems from). Pictures to follow.

Anyway, that's all from me. Have a great week!

Edge of Glory

Apologies for the poor quality iPhone picture (Steve Jobs will be turning in his grave!); I just wanted to update you on the crochet shell edging I have just mastered and added to my tea cosy.

I initially crocheted it the wrong way round so had to unpick and rework it in the opposite direction. It is pretty, however, I may decide to adapt it later on if it's too large for the cosy.

I love using YouTube and blog tutorials to learn new techniques but there's a lot to be said for quality books with clear pictures and detailed instructions. An aladdin's cave of crochet essentials, Jan Eaton's 'The Encyclopedia of Crochet Techniques' guided me through the basics of shell edging this evening.

Happy New Year!

Happy belated new year to you.

I feel very positive about starting the new year and had a blissful day yesterday (officially the last day of the UK holiday season). I've always admired homemade tea cosies for their uniqueness and eccentricity - the wackier the better I say! Pure 'granny chic'. So, over the break I decided it was about time I created one of these mini marvels for myself. In virtually no time at all I knitted up the base of my new Spring Explosion Tea Cosy as featured on Ravelry and blogspot Crochet with Raymond. It fits really snugly and I can't believe how quick it took me to knit it.

The next stage will be knitting and crocheting the leaves and flowers and stitching them on to this little piece of heaven. I've never made flowers or leaves before so it will be a learning curve, but worth it I'm sure.

...More tea vicar?