Yummy cupcake tea cosy

Calling all beginner knitters: I challenge you to make this as your next project.

Once you've mastered scarves (gotta love those straight lines) it's time to put your new found skills to use and try making something a little more challenging. Plus scarves aren't all that useful in August...

This tea cosy helps you pratice decreasing and shaping and sets you up really well to attempt your first hat.

I decided to make this cupcake design for a friend's birthday as she's got a bit of a thing for tea and cake and it also allowed me to get a bit creative.

There are lots of patterns available online but I adapted a couple to make sure it fit her teapot. Try and have one at hand when it comes to shaping so you know when to switch colours.

The pattern

Use 4mm needles with a 4ply DK wool in two colours, as well as a small section for the cherry and a few beads for decoration.

Cast on 53 stitches in your beige cake base colour
Row 1: *K1, P1 repeat from * to last stitch, K1
Row 2: *K2, P1, repeat from * to last two stitches, K2
Row 3-36: repeat rows 1 and 2 alternately
Change to your icing colour
Row 37: Knit inc every 4 sts evenly along (57 sts)
Row 38-40: Knit
Now begin shaping
Row 41: (K6, K2tog) to end. Row 42: (K5, K2tog). Row 43: Purl. Row: 44 (K4, K2tog) to end. Row 45: Purl. Row 46: (K3, K2tog) to end. Row 47: Purl. Row 48: (K2, K2tog) to end. Row 49: Purl. Row 50: (K1,  K2tog) to end. Row 51: Purl. Row 52: (K2tog) to end. Row 53: Purl (7sts remaining).
Thread the yarn through the remaining stitches and pull tightly
Make an identical piece for the other side
Sew the two pieces together leaving gaps for the spout and handle, allowing it to slide on easily.

Now for the finishing touches!

Cherry
Cast on 12 sts, knit 8 rows in stocking stitch.
Cast off and pull tight then sew a running stitch around the outer edges to create the shape.

Sew it on to the top and then sew beads around the top randomly to look like icing. You could go a lot wilder than me using different sizes and knitted bobbles remember, go on - experiment!

Next thing to do is boil the kettle and enjoy a good cuppa!

Love Bethany

x x x x

Easy-Peasy Peg Bag!

I have been fairly lax with the blogging recently even though I have a couple of exciting projects in the planning stages. I am in the process of knitting a cardigan although I'll admit I'm only around 10 inches into that, so a long way to go yet! However it has gone on the back-burner a bit because of a few more exciting projects on the horizon - more posts on all of that later!

Now, however, I'm going to share with you a little project I did a few weeks ago. It's easy-peasy and I did it in around 20 mins but saved me hours of trawling around town for exactly what I wanted. Yeh that's right, its a peg bag! *cue cheers from the crowds*

Ok, so not the most exciting of projects but genuinely useful, which is what homemade crafting is all about at the end of the day.

So to start with I dug a child's coat hanger out of the wardrobe (why we had one I do not know) and then trimmed off the corners so it was about the same width as a piece of A4. Then I cut out some fabric slightly wider than the trimmed-down coat hanger (to allow for a seam) and roughly double the length that I wanted it to be when complete. It's all very ad hoc, hence the lack of measurements!

First I hemmed the short edges of the fabric as these will be exposed.

Next I created the 'shoulders' of the bag. To do this fold the fabric twice so that it creates an envelope, with the bottom flap overlapping the top by around an inch (making sure the hem is on the outside). Along the top fold, cut a small slit and insert the hook of the coat hanger. Now simply sew along the top of the arms of the coat hanger. 

Remove the coat hanger and now sew the edges up so that you create a fully sealed bag. Turn it inside out (or right-side out) and you're nearly finished. All you need to do now is re-insert the coat hanger, and stitch neatly  in a line following the underside of it. This will keep it in place.

Fill with pegs and wait for a sunny day! (Warning: this could be several months).

Enjoy! Until next time, happy stitching!

Love

Phili

xxx