Pin 108

Original pin:

The link associated to this pin is a link to a link to a link to a link to a website in a language I can't read. It is not a tutorial. After a little research, I found it's home on etsy at http://www.etsy.com/shop/KnitStorm

These are adorable. I fell in love immediately. I pinned them to my knitting/crochet boards for the inspiration.

They are sooooo super easy to make. Whether you knit or crochet, you can make this!  If you don't knit or crochet, go buy one from KnitStorm! It is simply a rectangle with a few slip stitches to hold the ends together.

I am not going to post specific directions here because mug sizes are different and such. I started by picking a basic mug. (I knitted both of the ones below). Cast on (or chain if you are crochet) enough stitches to compensate for the height of your mug. Leave a little room at the top. You don't want the cozy to reach all the way to the rim of the mug, otherwise you will have a mouthful of fuzz with your tea!

After you have cast on/chained create a rectangle using whatever pattern suits you. Continue along until your rectangle measures from one side of the handle, around the mug, and is just a little shy of the other side of the handle. You want a little stretch so that the cozy is snug on the mug. Here I picked up the first stitch from the first row with the first stitch on the working needle and knit through both. (With crochet you could either work another crochet row through both the first stitch on the first row or just join the two ends with a slip stitch). I did this again for the second stitch and then cast of the first stitch so that there was only one stitch left on the needle. I knit through the third stitch and then cast off the second. For the fourth stitch I started to knit and cast off without going through the stitch on the first row. I knit and cast off all the stitches until there were only three remaining at which point I knit through the first row again as I cast off.

As I have said before, I am not a knitting pro, so if those directions are confusing, I apologize.

When the cozy was finished, I used some embroidery floss and cheap felt scraps to whip up the little tags and sew them on. I free handed them so they are surely less than perfect.

Before starting this project I looked around for some patterns. There are quite a few that use a button to connect the two sides, so you could go that route if you wanted. I didn't have any buttons handy and I really wanted mine to slip over the handle.

I know you are dying to see them.

I made this one first

Showing the way the cozy fits around the mug handle

Total cost: $0. I used yarn and felt leftovers from other projects.

Total time: About 3 hours each.

Final verdict: Very happy with the way they turned out. Just looking at these makes me want to curl up with a cup of hot tea. These will make great gifts in the fall.  Look out teachers. . .