Friday, October 13, 2006

P is for Polly and Patience

Now I don't know if it is the same overseas but here in Australia our major pattern producers quite often use a star rating for their patterns, 1 for beginners through to 4 or 5 which means that there will be lace with shaping and or complicated fair isle etc. Some of these even come with a P so while they may be a 2 star rating which means easy if you see a P next to the stars it means that "an additional degree of patience is required for a quality finish" (their words not mine). Well this tea cosy is a 2 star pattern with a P and oh boy did I need patience to finish it. It was a slow tedious knit but well worth it in the end.

It is made of mostly garter stitch fair isle but the difference with this was that the threads at the back had to be pulled tightly as you worked, creating a quilt like fabric that insulates your tea pot keeping your brew nice and hot.

Will I be making more of these? Well that was is the plan because for a while now I have been toying with the idea of having my own Etsy shop to sell my knitting, not that I want to make money out of it but to reimburse my yarn buying habit would be good. My friends are often asking me for socks and hats so I thought that maybe others might like my handknits also. Oh well I can give it a go and see if it works or not, I have set up the shop but as yet there is nothing for sale as I have to get a few pieces together. It will be mainly hats, socks and the Polly tea cosies, I must be a sucker for punishment but I do like the quilting effect of the cosy so I will persevere. I am going to make different coloured ones and will offer to make any colour choice that my potential customers may have, so wish me luck and if I am absent from blogland it is because I am busy knitting.

I have knitted Crafty Bernies square (see previous post) and look how it turned out. There was a lot of red which didn't really show up when looking at the ball of Noro, I have noticed with this yarn what you see is definately not what you get! I mean look there is even purple in this square as well, I am convinced that the people at Noro do not have my taste in colour I mean why else would they keep putting purple in their wool. You would think that a ball of wool that had dark green and deep scarlet red would not have purple in it but it did. Seven squares down and seventeen to go just as well that I enjoy knitting this.


Last but definately not least these dish cloths plus a couple of extra bits and pieces are winging their way to the USA and should be arriving there soon, I hope. I do hope that the person I am sending them too likes them. I chose neutral colours as she didn't have a colour preference and figured these will go with any colour scheme. We have been having great discussions at our knitting group wondering do you guys really use them? Knitted dish cloths are practically unheard of here and we think they are way too pretty to use.

Till next time, happy knitting and have a great weekend.

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's cute and a neat concept.

metal and knit said...

NIce work love the tea cosy I have to make a creative one very soon but the pattern is topsecret for now

Unknown said...

Good luck with the shop. I'm sure you will do well!

Did you see knittingloft.com sells the thicker Lion brand cotton?

Anonymous said...

I love my knitted dish clothes, they clean quite well and are a fun and easy way to try out new stitches.

Anonymous said...

Yes!! Have an Etsy shop!! I really think you should!! Bah Humbug to the tea cosy, but it is very nice despite the **P rating. Lovely dishcloths too. Very cool!!
Oh the Noro people must have a Purple Freak who keeps putting the colour into every ball. I would do that with green if I worked there. Each ball is a colour surprise, isn't it??

Anonymous said...

Love the tea cosy and your lizard ridge squares look great. I *may* attempt the lizard ridge (squares between projects etc). I have never done turn and wrap though so that should be an experience.

Marina said...

I'm too impatient! No time to soak my pots and pans. Just give me my sponge scrubber any day.

Love the colours of the tea pot cosy!

Jennifer said...

Love the tea cozy!

You should definitely start up the etsy shop. A little extra money for the yarn habit is always a good thing.

Tracy Batchelder said...

I have made many dishcloths and have used them. The only problem I have with them is that since it's usually humid where I live and the cloths are thick, they don't dry out quickly enough and begin to smell sour. I've gone back to using thinner cloths for dishes.

Good luck with your Etsy shop!

Anonymous said...

Your tea cozy is really pretty! I think you will do really well if you open the Etsy shop. Please keep us posted!!

Your dishcloths are definitely too pretty to use. But I also put my dishes in the dishwasher. I'm not a "kitchen" person and so the faster I get out of there, and let the machines do the work, the better!!!

sheep#100 said...

The tea cozy is so cute. I love it!

My Five Sons said...

Hi,Sharon I knitted one of these tea cosies ages ago in purple and jade green as we are avid tea drinkers!It was a Granny Meyer,something or other Pattern that I got from the Fibretrend supplier in Melbourns via Ebay! It was a quick knit and gives a very heavy finish with all the extra yarn carried over back.
Tea cosy patterns are a bit hard to find but I like the Simply Knitting Mags in the second last issue! I have plans to do two for gifts to fello tea drinking firends this Xmas!
PS hope your weekend is great too!

Larjmarj said...

Very cute, Believe it or not this yank makes tea in her Brown Betty tea pot every AM. Hard to find good loose tea in Detroit however.

I have heard good things about etsy. I am contemplating a "shop" for myself but not for knitting.....details later ;-P

knightlyknitter.wordpress.com said...

No, how could you? It just isn't fair! Here I am, innocently whiling away some Saturday morning idleness, and you show me a) purple Noro and b) a tea cosy!!
How am I expected to ignore such an undeniable Sign that my little pot has been bare for Too Long??
*sigh*
Now I have to pull out those patterns and do a little stash-diving before I can relax this weekend.
Shame on you!
PS picture me licking my lips, rubbing my hands together and grinning delightedly at the thought of a quickie!

Becky said...

Wow you have been busy Sharon - that tea cosy looks fab - good luck with the Etsy shop - I'm sure it will go down a storm.

I knitted Jacob a washcloth and you know what we actually use it - it's great - he loves it and I'm thinking about doing him some more in different colours with his initial on them or maybe numbers to help him with his number recognition - could be fun !

Can't wait to see that finished blanket it's going to be a stunner !

Suzi said...

Metal and Knit has been knitting that little dog fromt he last Simply Knitting and apparetnly it tried her patience, so as cute as it was I don't think I will knit it any time soon.

As for your tea cosy, as lovely as it is, I wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole!

May the force be with you!

Suzi

Anonymous said...

Great knits! Especially love all the squares.

Anonymous said...

that tea cosy is so cute!! i think i will need to buy myself a set of teapot and teacups for my new house!!!

Anonymous said...

I know what you mean about Noro and purple.
I thought I'd nailed it with a khaki/beige combination, y'know, NEUTRAL, but Noro had other ideas... all of a sudden, a HIDEOUS purple stripe appeared!
It's enough to give someone a heart attack.

The Etsy store is a great idea! Your knits are gorgeous and will sell like hotcakes. x

L. said...

Very cute, Sharon, I love it. By the way, did your booklet arrive yet? I'm hoping it did.:)

AR said...

Love the tea pot cozy!
I use knitted dishcloths everyday. Most of my friends and families have dishwashers (lucky people). They use the knitted dishcloths for wiping down the table, or counters, though.

MsFortuknit said...

look at you go love! I always get motivated to knit when I see your blog, so cheers!

Craftybernie said...

My what a lot of red there is. Hope it's not a disappointment!

Bells said...

Oh lovely tea cosy and dishcloths! I'm going through a big dishcloth phase at the moment. Where did you get those patterns? I quite like the look of them!