MARG'S KNITTING PLACE

Tea Cozy

Recently I saw a cute toque in one of my knitting newsletters.  I was in need of a new tea cozy and thought this would be a very cute project for a wintery afternoon.  So I wound up some yarn, settled down to my Singer 155 and decided to try 2 x 2 rib for the main sections of the cozy.  The pattern indicated casting on 38 sts and knitting about 7 inches (this was for the hat).  So I set up for the tea cozy over 35 needles and knit a length of 40 rows for about 8.5 inches.  Transferred the sts from the ribber to the main bed and knit one row of stockinette.  Took the stitches off on garter bar but you could take them off with waste yarn.  Made another exactly the same.

The next step was to hang both sections side by side on the machine over the 70 stitches.  I knit 4 rows then I transferred every third stitch to make eyelets.  Put all emptied needles back in work and knit 4 rows ending with COR.

Now this is the fun part!  Put all stitches except 4 on the carriage side to hold - and set carriage to hold as well.  Now knit 20 rows or whatever length you want.  Keep weight on the i-cord you are making and just knit in plain stockinette.    Hang a claw weight under the long i-cord you just made (beneath the needle bed) put next four needles to the left in work position. and then transfer the four with the I-cord on them to those needles and knit another 20 or so rows.  Continue with this all the way across. When you come to the last four do the transfer as usual and knit one row at a higher tension and then crochet cast off last 4 sts.

Finally I made another I-cord over 3 needles for 80 rows and used this to weave in and out of the eyelets I made earlier.  Pulled it tight making sure all the loops are out and on top.  Tie the i-cord securely and make a nice little bow.

Then I seamed the sides to accommodate the spout and handle on my teapot.  Got all the ends sewn in and voila a cute little tea cozy.  I think I have fallen in love with 2 x 2 rib now!  Love it!

Here it is: