Crochet tea cosy pattern… finally!

Is it time for a cup of tea??

As requested… one scrumptious crochet tea cosy tutorial!  I call it the rosy posy tea cosy, because Im such a geek and I love anything that rhymes! Here’s my take on making the perfect simple crochet tea cosy…

This is made using 8ply yarn and a 4mm hook (but any hook and the right weight yarn for the hook will work).

Step 1: Take your tea pot and chain a length which is long enough to fit around the base of your pot. Add two extra chains, then turn and half double crochet into the third chain from the hook, HDC along the length, turn chain two and work back again. At the end of this row, test your tea cosy foundation on your pot and see if it is high enough to sit snugly under your spout.  If not, add another row or two of HDC until it is. Fasten off.  Mark the center of your work. Decide how many stitches you need to leave open for the spout… but don’t leave too many stitches because you want a snug fitting cosy.  My spout is reasonably wide and I only left 1 stitch on either side of the center mark (for a total of three un-worked stitches). The hole tends to stretch and you don’t want it to gap open.

Step 2: Fasten the yarn on the left side and continue working in HDC back a forth to the marked stitches until your cosy reaches the top of your spout – finish on an even row. Fasten off. Working on the opposite side of your cosy (right) work back and forth to your marked stitch for the same number of rows as the first side, you should finish in the middle, next to the spout, now chain the number of stitches you skipped across at the bottom of the spout and join with a slip stitch to rejoin your work:

Fasten off. Now. if your spout and handle finish at the same point yay – you will be working in rounds from here on. If not you will need to work a row or two of HCD back and forth over the entire piece (including along the chain at the spout) until your rows are high enough to fasten over the handle. Once you reach the handle – chain 1or 2 and ss to join the other side and make your tea cosy round.

Round 1: With right side facing work 1hdc in each stitch around (including over the chains at the spout and handle). Join the end of the round with a ss, chain 2.

Round 2: Work *1hdc in the first stitch and HDC 2 together in the next stitch*, repeat between * and * around. Join the round with a ss, chain 2.

Round 3 and beyond.  Continue working in the same fashion until the cosy is right up to the top. If necessary (ie your pot is quite flat) work only round 2 for the last few rounds to keep it nice and fitting. I like to leave a hole of about 1.5cm at the end so the cosy is easy to remove from the pot.

Your cosy should fit snugly over your pot. Voila:

Now for the fun part, it’s time to decorate your tea cosy:

Make some roses:

Row 1:  Leaving a long end, chain 40.

Row 2: Dc into the sixth chain from the hook, *ch2, skip one stitch, dc into the next stitch*. Repeat between * and * to the end of the row.

Row 3: Create petals: chain 2, turn, *6dc into the ch2 gap of the previous row, sc into the top of the dc of the previous row*. Repeat between * and * to the end of the row. Twirl up and sew together.

Make some leaves: Chain 12, SC in the second stitch, HDC in the next, DC in the next 7, HDC in the next, 3 SC in the next, working around so you are now working back up the other side of your chain. HDC in the next DC in the next 7, HDC in the next, sc in the last and ss to the first stitch to finish- leave a long end to sew the leaf on with.

Make some butterflies.  The pattern I used is here.

Repeat as desired and position as you like on the pot so the arrangement looks nice. I made 5 roses, 6 leaves (in two shades of green) and two butterflies.

Of course there are no rules, you don’t have to use roses… there are loads of other flower patterns, check out these ones here.

Sew all your decorations in place using the ends. I sew the leaves first, then the bottom 4 roses and finally sew the top rose (over the lid handle) to the edge of the petals of the other 4 roses.

Now for the frills….  I used a simple picot edge for the bottom of the pot, which goes like this- (right side facing) *sc in the next two stitches, 3 DC in the next*, repeat between * and * around. When you reach the end of the round, chain 6 to make a button loop, ss the chain back to the starting chain to fasten and close the loop.  Attach a button to the opposite side.

Spout and handle picot: *sc in the next stitch, sc in the next stitch and chain 3 then*, repeat between * and * around. I find this gives a pretty, more delicate picot 🙂

Then, sigh… weave in all ends (there’s no getting around that step Im afraid)…

Once you are done, step back and admire your creation! Quick go and turn the kettle on…

And here’s the smaller version, same pattern… same roses…different colors, but……Just as nice!

Or the first one, a tiny tea pot (just right for one) and not a rose in sight, but lots of buttons and flowers….

There are many lovely tea cosies (or should I say cozies) all over the web, which gave me inspiration for my cosies; so if you are looking for inspiration and free crochet tea cosy patterns go and check out this one, this one, this one, this one, and this one…

But whatever you do, don’t forget the most important steps… fill with your favorite brew, put your feet up and enjoy! Janette xx