2015-07-23

Make a Tea Cosy For Your Enamelware

A tea cosy for all your favourite enamel cups is the seamless introduction to knitting. This little project is the perfect beginner’s activity.
Enamel MugsEnamel mug 
Often, knitting involves hours and hours of tedious and finicky handiwork. The beginner will take a number of flawed pieces before they can proudly wear their first item out of the house. Knitting is all about uniform stitching, and so the amateur is likely to drop a stitch here or there which will be obvious on the finished product. The beauty of working on a mug jumper is that the entire project will only take an hour or so. Have a few goes, and voila, you’ll have the confidence to become a pro knitter in no time.

As a brand new knitter, there are some things to keep in mind. The first is that patience is a virtue in this craftwork. The second is that your first piece probably isn’t going to be a masterpiece. Work your way up to the top; slow and steady wins the race. And finally, the steps can be hard to get your head around at first, so it is best to be taught in person. Ask around from parents, grandparents or friends to see if there is someone that can teach you first hand. If this is not possible, consider taking a class, or watching a few online tutorial videos. Pictures and words don’t really convey the movement until you already know what you’re doing.

This makes the perfect first knitting idea because there are no difficult shapes or edges to incorporate. In fact, you don’t even need a pattern really, just work off of your Favourite mug. Stitch a row until it is the height of your mug. Then just keep doing this number of stiches in even rows, leaving a small slit for the mug handle. Stitch up the ends when you’re done and that’s that. Once you learn how, you may want to add a base to the design so that you don’t burn your leg while your tea is resting. For your next one, try including a striped pattern with another colour yarn, and gift it to a friend.

Perhaps one of the main complaints with enamel mugs for drinking coffee and tea is that they can have the tendency to lose heat faster than ceramic mugs. Some people in fact prefer this, because they can cool their coffee relatively quickly and gulp it down at once at the perfect temperature. Those of us that like to slowly sip and savour our beverage may find this a bit of a disappointment. Adding a surrounding tea cosy to keep your drink warm is the perfect solution to this problem, and allows you to enjoy hot coffee with all the other benefits of an enamel mug.

As well as keeping your drinks warm at home, your new little friend can come with you anywhere, from the office to picnics and camping. These latter two find a tea cosy particularly useful to keep the liquid from your thermos hot while it rests in your cup. Beware, if you take your new creation to the office you might cause insane jealousy, or have your next several projects lined up by the end of the day. Be prepared for compliments aplenty when you show off your first knitted tea cosy.

If you would rather work from a pattern, there are plenty available online with a quick search. If you want to pick out a brand New Enamel Mug Colour before beginning, then come visit the Ardena Imports team.

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