Granny Tea CozyTutorial!

Posted on November 16, 2010 by Crochet with Raymond

Hellooooo!!!!!
*WOW* is all I can say! *THANK YOU* for the overwhelmingly positive response about the Granny tea
cozy! I felt so special when I sat down with my morning coffee to read my comments, you all say such
lovely and kind things, it makes me feel quite joyful!
Many people were asking me to do a tutorial, so of course I will for you lovelies! How can I say no to such
a wonderful and kind group of people really! In fact, it was brilliant timing because I have the day off today,
(theyre a rarity at the moment!!!) so this morning, I got hooking, and clicking, and snipping and most
importantly, scribbling down the pattern, and here it is. it turns out that the second one was a lot easier,
and the kinks have been sorted, so this is a relatively easy pattern with no random stitches added here and
there to force it to fit!
*whispers* I like this one better than the first one! he he he
So shall we get on with it? Firstly, I used a 4mm hook and 8plywool. and here is my little warning, this
cozy will not fit every tea pot, so please adjust the pattern accordingly to fit yours! If yours is taller, add a
row or two before increasing at the top, if it is wider, make the original chain longer etc etc If you get
stuck, please leave me a comment and I will TRY to assist! My tea potmeasures 11cmsfrom base to top
(not including little knobby bit at the top) and 17cmsfrom side to side. Lots of people said they had the
exact tea potand Im not surprised, I bought it from one of those cheap homeware places, so theyre
probably everywhere which is just great pattern-wise!!! ($20 bargain!)
This pattern is a mixture of the Granny Mandala and the Granny stripe which is just such a handy pattern
isnt it! A big *thank you* to the lovely Lucy from Attic24fame for providing such a handy pattern for us
all to use! However, for this pattern, you will see that the new rows need to begin between the first and
second dc of the 3dc clusters, to make it more compact. Ill show you that in the pictures.
Also, if you usually join your new colour like I used to, until just recently (!) with a lovely big knot, it is
important in the pattern to join invisibly so the big knots dont ruin the whole effect to do this, bring the
new colour through stitch and join with a slip stitch, then continue with instructions and fasten later by
weaving in the end with a needle. if anyone would like photographic instructions on how to do this, as I
may have just confused you,let me know!
OK, less words, more pattern.
Foundation Row:Ch 72. sc into 2nd chain from hook, sc to end of row. Turn. Ch3, skip the first two
stitches and make 3dcinto the next stitch. *skip 2 stitches, 3dcinto next stitch* repeat ** until end of row,
1dc into last stitch in foundation chain. Fasten off.
Row Two: Fold the piece in half and find the centre point. Join new colour into the space either side of the
centre point,between the dc clusters of the first row using slst and ch3(counts as 1dc) 2dcinto the same
space, 3dcinto each of the next spaces along the row until the end, 1dc into the end space. Fasten off.
Repeat on the other side.

(Phew, Im glad I took pictures to follow because I was confusing myself there!!!)
The intention, as you will have gathered, is to make a piece of granny stripe with a gap in the middle which
is where the spout will sit!
Now, carry on with these instructions until you have reached the top of the spout and handle. My tea
potneeded seven rows in total, including the foundation row have a good look at this next picture which
shows you these seven rows, you will see that each alternating row begins with a 3dc cluster, and the ones
between begin with a chain space. This is important because we want to keep the edges straight instead of
veering off into a slope!

So youre joining the new rows between the dcs there it looks a bit unfinished at this stage, but dont
forget we will be edging all of the edges with some pretty, yet charmingly discrete frills! (Im so excited
right now, I hope youre loving making this I cant wait to see your results!)
Joining the sides: OK, so when you have reached the top of the spout and are ready to join the sides to make
a circle, join the next colour with a slst in the gap closest to the edge, ch3(counts as 1dc) and make 2dcinto
the same space, 3dcinto each space until you reach the spout edge. Into the very edge gap, make 2dc, then
join the two by making 2dcinto the very edge space on the other side. Make sure you make this nice and
tight, and dont have a big saggystitch in between these two 2dcs. Carry on around the row making the
3dcclusters until you reach the other edge, join the two edge 3dcclusters with a slst into the 3rd ch of
original 3ch and fasten off.
JOINED!

Decreasing: So if you have a tea potlike mine, the decrease will be quite important here, if yours is taller
and not so flat on the top, just carry on making the 3dcclusters into each space until you need to decrease.
For the next row, join the next colour with a slst and make 3dc clusters right around the row, in each space
EXCEPT the spaces where you joined the spout and handle edge, just leave them empty. At end of row, join
with a slst.

Next row, join new colour, we are decreasing a lot in this row, so once again, please ensure that you are
making these stitches nice and tight and that the spaces between the dcs are tight and not floppy and loose!
OK, so youve joined the next colour, ch3(counts as 1dc) 2dcinto same space, into the next space, make
2dc, into the next space 2dc, into the next space 3dc. Repeat sequence of 3dc, 2dc, 2dc until end of row, join
with a slst.
Next row, join new colour with a slst, ch3(counts as 1dc) 1dcinto same space, into each space make 2dc
until end of round, join with a slst.
Next row, join new colour with a slst, make 3dc cluster into every SECOND space until end of the row, join
with a slst.
Next row, join new colour with a slst, make 2dcinto every space until end of round, join with a slst. Do not
fasten off. You are now going to shape the area around the knob, so ch1, 1hdcinto each stitch until and of
round, join with a slst. Ch1, make 1hdcinto every second stitch from previous round, (decreasing here) join
with a slst. Ch1, 2hdcinto 1st stitch, 1hdc into next, 2 into next, 2 into next, repeat until end of round and
join with a slst. Fasten off.

And there we have it! Finished, all we need to do now is the edging!From beginning to end, this took me
about two hours including pattern writing and photographing the process, so its not a huge task.
OK, so lets prettifyit and make it nice and professional looking! Shall we begin with the very top? I got a
couple of comments saying the first one looked like it was wearing a crown, it did a bit! So choose which
edging you want to use, for the first, I used a picotedge, and for this one I used ch and slst so join the top
colour with a slst, ch1and sc into each stitch. Join with a slst at end of round. Ch3, into next 2 stitches
make a slst, ch3 into next 2 stitches make a slst continue around this is cute! It looks like a frilly
flower!

So its up to you how you want to do that remember the carnival edgingI gave instructions for? That
might look cool and very crown-like!
Now for the bottom For both of the coziesIve made, I did a nice big scallop edging, so grab your
foundation colour and attach with a slst to one of the ends, skip 2 stitches and make 5dcinto the next stitch,
skip 2 stitches and make a slst into the next, skip 2 stitches and make 5dcinto next stitch and carry on until
the very end. Now slst around the corner of the work until you reach the edge of the 3dccluster in the
foundation colour, and make 12 chain loop (or longer depending how big or small your gap is between the
two pieces when your tea potis wearing itscozy) to make a button hole. Attach with a slst to same stitch.
Now get yourself a nice button, I found this nice smart looking brass button in my vintage button
collection.

And sew it to the other side!

I hope that photo described what I was muddling my way through before!
OK, now the edging around the spout hole and handle edge. I used the same colour as the top edging, joined
with a slst then made nice even sc around the edges. As you are edging something that doesnt have a nice
clean edge, you may need to make 2scinto one stitch to make it even. Join at end of round, and to make the
3ch, slst into next 2 stitches sequence as around the top!
And a big ta-da to you!

Joyful, happy, granny goodness! I hope you enjoyed that tutorial and find it useful! I cant wait to see more
of these around the place, so dont forget to let me know if you make one so I can come and see!!! Ill be
putting this into ravelry immediately, so hunt it down either by doing a pattern search using Crochet with
Raymond or look up Granny Tea Cozy.
Right,Im off Ive been at thishooking, cropping photos and posting for four hours (gasp!) so its about
time Idrag myself away from the blog world and do some real-world interaction!
Have a lovely, lovely day, sending you many happy thoughts,
Lovefrom Alice and Raymond

A Crochet Leaf!
Posted on January 4, 2011 by Crochet with Raymond
Hellooooo!!!
Im just quickly popping in to give you the instructions on how to make these!

I have just finished cropping all the photos I took for a tutorial on how to make a lovely pointy petal flower,
but as the mist is so think today I cant see past my balcony, all of the pictures have turned out rubbish, so
Ill do it again a bit later on!
Leaf instructions are:
I used8ply wool and a 4mm hook (Im hooking along as I write this to ensure Im getting it right!!!) and
American terminology!
Ch 10. dc into 3rd chain from hook, htrinto next ch, tr into next ch, htr into next ch, dc into next ch, hdc
into next ch, sc into last 2 ch. (You should have run out of chain here!)
Make picotby ch3, slst into 3rd ch from hook.
Now working along the opposite side of the leaf, sc into first 2ch, hdc into next 2ch, dc into next ch, htr into
next ch, dc into the next ch, sc into last ch.
Fasten off and leave a nice long tail to sew your leaf onto whatever you are embellishing!
OK then, I have to fly! Ive got High Tea happening at 2pm today and I have to go and bake a cake!
Lots of love from Alice and Raymond
Pointy Petal Flower
Posted on January 5, 2011 by Crochet with Raymond
Hellooooo!!!
Here I am, back again, to finish what I began yesterday! I wonder if it seemed strange to you all that I post a
tutorial on how to make a leaf.. all will come clear today, I promise!
High Tea was lovely yesterday! Oh I wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiishI had taken my camera so I could have shown you
the beautiful table covered in flower petals and the delicious cakes and fabulousness! Another time Im
sure! It felt like a faery tea party outside in the rose garden. Thank you *S*!!!
I have to say, today I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooexcited to post. Brace yourselves for much
enthusiasm and many exclamation marks! I got a tutorial all ready to do this yesterday, but like I said, the
weather was rubbish and so were my pictures. But Im glad now, because the second lot are soooo much
nicer than the first lot could have ever been, so yay for that.
I told you a few posts back, that I had declutteredmy stash, and sorted all of my wool into categories
consequently, I discovered some stash that I didnt even remember I had. I kind of knew it was there, but
not consciously! JOY! I call this sub-category of stash luxury yarns and I discovered my beautiful half
and quarter balls of TouchYarnwhich is one of my favouritey-favouritistNZ yarn EVER. it is soft and
delicious merino fabulousness. I never crochet with it because it is reasonably costly, so I knitted myself
mitts, then stashed the rest of the ball, and ended up with a little bag of beautiful wool. When I was
photographing this tutorial, I decided to get it out and use it, and wow. what a difference it made the the
end product!
Shall we get on with it?
I love pointy petal flowers very, very much. Pointy crochet actually, and often modify flower patterns to
make pointy petals, but then decided to have a play, and created a flower which lets face it, is probably in
circulation anyway, but its new and exciting to me! And so super-duperly easy too!
So Im going to show you how I made it today, theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen, Im soooooo excited about the second
part of this post!
Lets get on with the tutorial. I used (as usual) 8ply wool with a 4mm hook, and this pattern is in American
terminology. For a photo-tutorial on how to make a magic ring, click HERE.
To begin: Make a magic ring, ch2(counts as 1hdc) 9hdcinto ring. Pull ring nice and tight and slst into the
2nd ch of original 2ch. You should have 10 stitches into which you will work the second round.)
Now here you change colour so weavein those pesky ends right away(!) and bring the second colour
through one of the first round loops. ch2(counts as 1hdc) and into the SAME stitch, make the following
stitches.. 1dc, 1htr, ch3, slst into 3rd ch from hook (picotmade), 1htr, 1dc, 1hdc, slst into NEXT stitch.
Did you fit them all in???!!!

OK, so youve justmade your slst into the second stitch, now make the second petal.. into the next stitch
make 1hdc, 1dc, 1htr, picot, 1htr, 1dc, 1hdc, slst into next stitch.
Continue around until you have five petals, each with a slst between them. Fasten off!

I love these sweet little flowers! And arent they EASY to make! I recommend you make your stitches
reasonably loose so that youre not wrestling with the flower trying to fit in all of those stitches into the one
loop
So the next part of the post is on how to make a lovely little brooch from this sweet flower!
I made the flowers single colour for this adventure, so get yourself a flower happening, then make two
leaves! (Ah ha! The purpose of the leaf is now clear!) You will also need a brooch back or safety pin, and a
nice fun button. I thought I had a fantastic stash of vintage buttons until I went through the bags and bags of
them and discovered 90% of them are BROWN! (I hate brown) But I managed to find a few fun ones to
make some awesome and unusual brooches!
To make the brooch, sewthe button onto the flower, then sewthe leaves together securely. They will form
the back of the brooch, so make them nice and strong. Then, sew the brooch back to the leaves!

Next, with the same colour wool as the leaves, sewthe leaves onto the back of the flower, making sure you
sew into the BACKS of the stitches so none of the green shows through on the front of the brooch. Fasten
off and voila!

I think its fair to say that I am utterly enchanted with these pointy petal flower brooches, and I hope you
love them too! Im going to be making some for my handmade/NZmade 2011 challenge gifts as they are
sweet little present fillers for when the present just needs a little something extra. plus maybe one for
me.. or two!
If they are gifts, make youself a little label to make them professional too!

Have fun making these! They will be such cutie additions to market stalls etc. for those lovelies who e-
mail me asking my permission to sell things I post on here, go for it! Make heaps! I hope you sell heaps
too! Please, however, be mindful of continuing the sharing vibe!
OK Im off Im still on holiday but I have assignments to do and I let myself post this as a reward for a
morning of hard work. Reward time is over and its back to the books!
Have a beautiful day,
Lots of love from Alice and Raymond