Oh So Cozy!

My first felting project! - A teapot cozy knit in Patons Classic Wool.

I loved making this - working with anything in such a deep crimson red always makes me happy. It was quite simple. I knit it 30% larger than the finished dimensions I was aiming for and away I went.

Prior to felting I did as the book I was working from instructed and basted the open ends together to ensure they would both felt at the same rate and stay even with each other.

I hand felted using two buckets - one in each laundry sink. I didn't use boiling water - only hot and only added ice cubes to the first two buckets of cold. All in all I think I went back and forth about five times in each bucket before it got to where I wanted it to be both in terms of size and degree of felting.

It was a very cold January day when I did it and it was thoroughly enjoyable to be busy mucking around in hot steamy water for the hour or so it took me to finish felting.

After it was dry I tried it on the tea pot and decided to add some embellishments. I had some wooden beads that I saved years ago when a favourite necklace broke and applied them in combination with some simple embroidery using more Patons. I had no real plan when I started out on this part of the project - it was just like doodling with needle and yarn. Very pleasant indeed.

I worked on the front...

Then I added a bit of a flourish to the back and added a beaded handle...

It turned out just the way I wanted - I love it!