Mr Tea Pot Cozy in a Snow White Winter

I am working on creating tea pot cozies that are featuring the 'giant cable' knit. This lovely wool- in colour 'sage'- came in my recent stock delivery from Great Britain. My new lounge room throw is in the process of being made and I am very, very excited about knitting it and sharing the finished product with you ...

amazing colour sage !!!

I am currently away from hot and sunny Australia, enjoying snow white, idyllic Banja Luka, spending some good quality time with my dear Mum & Dad. I am very much enjoying the snow... haven't seen it nor walked in it for 9 years... so it is a real thrill to be here...

my window view

What can be a better treat in the winter cold days, but a hot cup of tea with some honey and lemon! I made this cozy for my dear Mum & Dad and we had our inaugural pot of tea yesterday. In the spirit of this special occasion, we decided to go for a special flavor, an 'apple & cinnamon' tea. If you add some 'fresh high mountain herbs' honey accompanied with some freshly cut lemon, you have yourself a delicious treat indeed...

royal tea pot cozy in action !!!

CHEERS!!!

dark grey and mustard...

This colour combination continues to be on my mind...
Here is a little SunchiB combo - laptop bag and a hot water bottle cozy!

The laptop bag features an upholstered button and a crocheted button loop which secures the flap.

Featured in the photo is the 2013 BRAND NEW DESIGN for the hot water bottle cozies. This cozy has a shorter closing flap, showing more of an entrelac knitting pattern. Also, the pattern around the collar is the 'seed stitch' pattern which gives a different look.

The sides are joined using seamless sewing stitch, which allows the diamonds to align perfectly.

The cozy is lined up with the felt, securing the pattern in place and preventing the knitting from any stretching. These cozies are gorgeous, my kids are all using them and they very much enjoy snuggling with them when their tummies are aching or during the cold winter nights.

It takes a while to befriend the yarn...

This lounge room throw took a while to become what it is today. It is beautiful and I knitted it for myself. ... but this yarn was playing 'hard to get'... it took three attempts to make it into a throw. 

Every yarn knits its own story.....

This beautiful English yarn is 82% acrylic, 10% wool and 8% viscose, is very soft in the hand and very elastic, making every stitch pattern spread beautifully. I first attempted to knit a throw in a rib stitch... as shown below...

This stitch looked lovely but there was too much of a stretch horizontally and I felt that the throw would lose its shape if left in this pattern. The next step was to attempt making it into an entrelac pattern throw... one of my favorite patterns... 

It did look beautiful... love the shades and the pattern... it had that royal feel to it...
as per below...

... however, still same feeling was present... there was too much of a stretch in this yarn and it just wasn't going to work. I like the throw to have the softness and elasticity but it is important that the pattern looks protected and well shaped. This yarn wasn't going to deliver that.

So... what to do??? Well, I thought if I combined the yarn with the more sturdy yarn maybe the texture would change; it just needed an additional yarn that would secure the pattern and the existing yarn from stretching too much.

I added a very thin yarn that is 100% wool in a darker shade of grey and that did the trick.

I added a continuous crocheted edging to give it more definition and a finishing touch.

Through hours of experimentation, comes a very cozy and snuggly throw.

Cheers!!!