anna knits - octopus tea cosy

At the beginning of the summer I was asked to make an ocean inspired tea cosy. Well, it took me the entire summer, but I've finally finished! Enter the octopus tea cosy; modeled after a design on Ravelry by the user Cephalopot. It fits a large, six-cup tea pot.

For the octopus, I used this pattern by Hansi Singh via Ravelry. While the pattern calls for worsted weight yarn, I opted for Kambgarn sport / 5 ply yarn in Rosebloom and Glacier Green, which I had bought in Iceland (read about my trip here!) with size US2 double pointed needles. This of course made the octopus smaller and more delicate, which I liked. You can see more pictures of the octopus, including execution pictures, here.

For the tea cosy itself, I used this pattern by the blog Cast On Cast Off. It is a modified ribbed pattern, which I thought kind of mimicked an ocean rock. I knit it with Cascade 220 Heathers in Dark Charcoal, color no. 4002, which has a nice color variation going on, making it look more earthy, or rock-like in this case.

I then embellished the tea cosy with a seaweed design made using tambour crochet. You can learn how to tambour crochet here. I used a left over green yarn that I had gotten second-hand, so I don't know its specs.

While this project took me a while, it was a lot of fun to knit. I like knitting amigurumi (see my pug, bulldog, tea cup), and the tea cosy itself was quick and easy. Tea cosies are great because you are encouraged to be creative. I'm currently brainstorming ideas for my next tea cosy, so let me know if you have a fun idea!

anna knits - 4 and 6 cup tea cosy patterns

Today I finished two spiral top tea cosies. I was asked to make one medium and one large cosy by a family friend, and I took the opportunity to update the Spiral Top Tea Cosy pattern I posted on this site to include sizes medium (4 cup) and large (6 cup). Check it out here!

anna knits - spiral top tea cosy (large)

If there is one thing Nemo the storm is good for, it is knitting. I finished this spiral top tea cosy today. It is a large (6 cup) tea cosy. You can get the free pattern for the small (2 cup) size here -- I plan to update the pattern for medium and large pots this weekend!

This is made with Cascade 220 yarn from Jimmy Beans Wool.

knitting, etc. - beehive knitting

I love this beehive tea cosy I saw on Etsy:

I found a free pattern for a similar tea cosy on Ravelry here. The bees really make the cosy though.

While I haven't knit anything in a beehive pattern yet, it's something I'd like to try. This hat in a beehive shape - though it is called wurm! - is also fun:

Writing this post is making me want honey... time for some tea!

anna crochets - obama cup cosy

I love making these crochet cup cosies (free pattern here) because the decoration choices are endless. I recently made an obama symbol one:

What would you make?

anna crochets - more cup cosies

This weekend I made a few more cup cosies:

You can find the free pattern for the cosy shell here. Also check it out on Ravelry here! 

The best thing about making these crochet cup cosies is the flexibility. You can make yours a few rows taller or shorter and it will still work fine. And then of course there is the decoration - endless possibilities! 

What would you put on your cosy?

anna crochets - pink rose

I have not crocheted in a very long time, but after seeing this post for a crochet tea cosy with rose adornments on the blog Why Didn't Anyone Tell Me?, I decided to give it a try. I started with a rose, and it was actually much easier than I was expecting. I finished the project all in one sitting, even with reteaching myself how to crochet.

I got the pattern from the blog The Dark Knit via Pom Pom Emporium, which has some great illustrated instructions. I don't think I will attach this rose to the yellow + pink tea cosy I just finished, but I'm sure I will make a tea cosy in the future that it can adorn. Or perhaps a headband?

anna knits - yellow + pink tea cosy

I finished a medium sized yellow + pink tea cosy today. It is a variation on the spiral top tea cosy pattern I posted for free here.

Here is me finishing up the top with four double pointed needles:

And here is the finished product:

Now I want to make a flower to adorn the top of the tea cosy. I like the looks of these crochet roses from blog Pom Pom Emporium.

There are great illustrated instructions here.

crochet, etc. - crochet tea cosy

Isn't this crochet tea cosy adorable?

It is from the blog Why Didn't Anyone Tell Me, which includes wonderful instructions for the cosy (with pictures!) here. I love the pattern because you can adjust it for whatever size/shape tea pot you are working on.

   

The pattern for the roses may be found here.

knitting, etc. - octopus tea cosy

I stumbled across this octopus tea cosy while perusing ravelry for projects using Cascade 220 yarn (I love that you can search for projects by yarn!).

The project and photo are by sputnik of the blog Keeping in Touch. She describes it as "an octopus on a rock" - cute idea! 

The octopus itself, and picture, comes from this pattern by Hansi Singh. It looks so real! She has a bunch of knitted toys on her ravelry site. I will have to try some now that I have stuffing left over from my knit pug. 

anna knits - weekend knitting

Happy weekend knitting! I started a new tea cosy for my esty shop. I am making a medium size one instead of my usual small.

I'm loving the neon yellow (Cascade 220 - 7828)!

anna knits - union jack tea cosy update 5

The London Olympics are in full swing, so it is fitting that I finally finished my union jack tea cosy! The pattern is available as a free Ravelry download here.

I am giving this cosy to my friend Mara who is movie to the UK for grad school this fall. Everyone in England uses an uber patriotic tea cosy, right?

This was a really fun project that I highly recommend to anyone looking to practice intarsia, but I am also glad to be done. Time to sit back and watch some gymnastics!

You can see my progress here, here, here, and here. 

anna knits - union jack tea cosy update 3

Despite packing my knitting up for my trip to Brussels and Amsterdam, I did not get anytime to knit while away. I usually knit on the plane, but I was too busy this time reading the hilarious book The Year of Living Biblically by A. J. Jacobs. 

Since coming home though, I've made a some progress on my union jack tea cosy. I finished the two outside panels - done with intarsia! - and now just have to knit the two inner pieces. 

You can see my progress here and here. The pattern is available as a free Ravelry download here. 

anna knits - union jack tea cosy update 2

So I finished the first panel of the Union Jack tea cosy I started yesterday. I had a lot of time to knit today, and it actually is going faster than I anticipated. You can see my progress via my last post here.

Here is how the back looks after I sewed in the many, MANY loose ends. 

I am a little late on the Jubilee celebrations, but I'll hopefully be done by the Olympics! With London in the news so much this summer, there are some great items for sale that incorporate the British flag. I particularly love this Union Jack Lips Mug by MUGGIN' Mugs on Etsy. 

 

Only three more panels + a pom pom to go! Wish me luck.

anna knits - union jack tea cosy update 1

Inspired by the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, I finally started my Union Jack tea cosy. Despite the challenging intarsia, I think it is going well so far. I first saw this pattern, which is available as a free Ravelry download, on the knitting blog one sheepish girl, which has some adorable pictures of her Union Jack tea cosy process. Let's hope mine comes out as nice!

I am using Cascade Cotton Rich DK Yarn in Rococco Red (3646),  Navy (2625), and White (8001), which I bought from Jimmy Beans Wool.

I am not used to knitting with cotton yarn, but I like the clean lines it's producing.

Here is how the back looks:

* I used this video from Melissa of the blog Life gets in the way of my Knitting! to help with learning garter stitch intarsia. (Very helpful!)

* I used this video to learn to make pretty bobbins. 

Speaking of British things, check out this great slideshow of Queen Elizabeth's life from Time Magazine:

  PRESS ASSOCIATION / AP

anna knits - spiral top tea cosy

Done with another spiral top tea cosy! I mentioned in an earlier post that I was working on a neon yellow tea cosy for my Etsy store. Between then and now, a buyer asked for it specifically, so this neon yellow cosy is not for purchase. There is still another super cute, spiral top tea cosy available though. Get it while you can!

You can also download the pattern for this spiral top tea cosy for FREE here.

Here is how the neon yellow cosy turned out:

I wrap my tea cosies for gifting in a little tissue paper and yarn, and attach one of my business cards with a personalized note on the back. I made my business cards with Avery business cards from CVS.

All the pictures are taken with my iPhone using Instagram, and the collages are made using the iPhone app Pic Collage.

See my Ravelry entry on this tea cosy here. 

anna knits - cosies

I am in the process of knitting a neon yellow and pink tea cosy for my Etsy store. It should be up soon!

In the meantime, I stumbled upon these cup cozies from The Cozy Project on Etsy. 

  

Seems like a great way to be more eco friendly when ordering a cup of joe. I have also been thinking about getting back into crochet for some time now. I haven't done it since high school, but making a cup cozy would be the perfect project to get back into it. 

Here is a free pattern for a mug cozy by Lauren Frank, found on Ravelry:

 

I also love this knitted cup cozy by Kara L. Mayfield (pattern for purchase on Ravelry):

anna knits - spiral top tea cosy

Yesterday I shared one of my favorite knitting patterns: Spiral Top Tea Cosy. Today I wanted to share some pictures of the finished product. I was recently commissioned to knit three of them so I have some new pics. If you'd like to buy a Spiral Top Tea Cosy, check out my Etsy store, or email me at annaknitsetc(at)gmail(dot)com.

My color choices were inspired by spring. I particularly liked these flower arrangements found at the Women's Leadership Conference held at Brown University last weekend. Simple and beautiful!