Tiny Tea Cosy

The idea for the tiny tea cosy came about when I was watching some hardy tea drinkers sitting outside Coffee etc in Bradford on Avon in the autumn. The individual teapots looked as if they’d lose heat very rapidly in the open air and there’s nothing worse than pouring your second cup of tea only to find that it’s too cold to drink.

I decided to use double stranded DK yarn in a honeycomb brioche stitch to give a really thick insulating layer for the body of the cosy. To knit double stranded, I pulled the thread from the outside and the inside of skein together.

Pattern

Click here for the pattern as a downloadable PDF

Materials

Yarn

I used 30g of Life DK by Stylecraft (75% acrylic 25% wool, washable at 40°C), but you could use any DK that knits to the same gauge.

Needles

4mm, or size to get desired gauge, straight or circular knitted back and forth. Use a smaller size for the ribbing if you want the cosy to pull in more at the top and bottom.

Gauge

22sts and 30 rows using a single strand & 4mm needles, should give you the correct tension: if you knit a 10cmx10cm tension square in the honeycomb brioche you will have knit half the tiny tea cosy!

Dimensions

W: 16cm H: 10cm

Abbreviations

K knit

P purl

K1b knit into stitch below

K1p knit picking up the loose thread from the row below

K2togtbl knit two stitches together through back of loops to decrease by 1 stitch

Instructions

Make two identical pieces: the cosy is made as two pieces and joined at top and bottom ribbing only, to allow for the spout and handle.

Bottom Ribbing

Cast on 25 sts (using smaller needle if desired) leaving a tail long enough for joining.

Row 1 & 3 (RS): P1 K1 rib, ending with a P1

Row 2 & 4 (WS): K1 P1 rib, ending with a K1

Body - Honeycomb Brioche

Row 5 (RS): *K1, K1b (into the knit stitch of your last rib row). Repeat from * to last st, K1

Row 6 (WS): *K1p, K1. Repeat from * to last st. K1p

Row 7 (RS): *K1b, K1. Repeat from * to last st. K1b

Row 8 (WS): *K1, K1p. Repeat from * to last st. K1

These four rows make the pattern. Continue for 6 pattern repeats.

Row 33 (RS): *K1, K1b. Repeat from * to last st. K1

Row 34 (WS): *K1, P2. Repeat from * to last st. K1

Row 35 (RS): *K1 K2togtbl. Repeat from *, K1. 17 sts

Top Ribbing

Row 36 (WS): *K1 P1 rib to last st. K1

Row 37 (RS): *P1 K1 rib to last st. P1

Row 38 (WS): *K1 P1 rib to last st. K1

Row 39 (RS): Cast off loosely in rib, leaving a tail long enough for joining.

Finishing

Join the two pieces at the top and bottom ribbing using the cast-on/-off tails. Weave in the ends. Make an individual pot of tea and slip your new tiny tea cosy on the pot to keep the second cup warm until you are ready for it!

Copyright

Please respect my copyright; do not distribute this pattern, do not use it or items made with it for commercial purposes.