Tea cosy Story

The carnation is the flower for January. It represents love, fascination and distinction. Carnations  are such pretty flowers and thanks to modern growing techniques come in a whole variety of colours  including some with very attractive frilly edges. I made a hair decoration with my carnation flower design but it would also  look lovely as part of a corsage or added to a flower wreath.

I decided to add the crochet carnations to a tea cosy and I created the design for the cosy in a slightly different way. It’s made on the horizontal to create a pretty effect from the bands of raised stitches, This makes it easier to adapt the pattern for different tea pot sizes! Simply add more rows to make a taller cosy and start with more chains to make a wider cosy. 5 more chains make about half an inch.

It’s an easy pattern to make and you can make this tea pot with pom poms or hearts if you prefer.
Tea cosies are very English and very traditional! Once visiting France we took a teapot and cosy as we knew neither would be available in the holiday gite we stayed. The French owners clearly thought us very eccentric when they unexpectedly called.

I returned to one of my favourite yarns Sirdar Snuggly double knit, it’s soft and strong and comes in a range of colours. I like it because it is reliable, the quality is always the same and it crochets easily.
I wanted to create a ridge effect and a chunkier finish after all its purpose is to act as insulation.

Special Stitches

For me a special stitch is something that takes a basic dc (sc), tr (dc) and uses it in another way to add another element to crochet projects. This might be by crocheting on the surface or rows of shells added to a baby blanket on garments or cushions or throws.

Special stitches don’t have to be complicated and for a beginner a special stitch will move your crochet projects on to the next level. My crochet rug looks good in its original version but special stitches added looks something really distinctive.

Special stitches can be everything from a cluster to a picot or more difficult such as bullion stitches. With a little planning you can add special stitches to kits or patterns to make them your own and create something truly original. For example if you are making a pattern with 3tr (3dc) groups turn them into a 3tr (3dc) clusters with 1ch worked on either side. Or turn a 4tr (4dc) group into a cross over treble group which looks really smart.

Clusters, shells, picots, spike stitches are all special stitches and all easy to make and to adapt into existing work or patterns.Adding a special stitch makes designs original and really stand out.

1. Use a contrasting yarn for your special stitches if crocheting on the surface and don’t be afraid to try a finer yarn or yarn of a different texture. 
2. A very easy way to add special stitches is surface crochet with surface chain or slip stitch. Image to make
3. Finish the top row of a project to give a very pretty finish with 1ch between dc’s (sc’s) as a very easy way to create picots.
4. If your design includes large areas of chains and spaces, add a picot to the chains. This looks very pretty.
5. Wiggle stitch is a very satisfying stitch to make. Worked through crochet spaces or filet crochet squares it’s a lot easier to work than it looks and very effective. Wiggle stitch tutorial
6. One clever way to use spike stitches, use a contrasting colour to create the effect you like. – tutorial link
7. Use a pair of dc’s (sc’s) worked together in 1dc (sc) then miss a dc (sc). This  looks really good and creates a textured effect
8. Work into the back loop or the front loop only of your stitches. This is a very simple and easy way to create a special stitch and creates a textured finish. Experiment with a sample to create the effect you like.
9. Clusters, bobbles and puffs are all special stitches and look very pretty worked in the same colour as you project or with a contrasting colour or yarn