Sunshine and roses – a perfect day for tea in the garden, with my new British yarn Tea Cosy Knit Kit…

Barley

Barley is made in gorgeous blue and green British aran yarn and decorated with a jolly bunch of roses and daisies. There is a loop on the top of the cosy to take it off easily when you have drunk the tea.

The yarn is lovely to work with and shows up the stitch pattern very nicely.

The stitch pattern may look complicated but it is easy to do – there is no cabling involved, in case you don’t like aran knitting! The pattern reminds me of barley sugar canes, hence the name.

It’s taken a while to design and finish Barley, and here is why….

A few years ago I knitted a tea cosy just for me in a similar pattern.

When I ordered the lovely British aran yarn for Barley, I knew I wanted to knit it into the same pattern, but I couldn’t find my notes on how to do it anywhere. I went through all my stitch dictionaries to find out how to do the stitch without any luck. The tea cosy is knitted with 2 strands of yarn held together, to make it nice and thick, and, whatever stitch I tried, it didn’t look the same as the original. There was only one answer: sacrifice my original cosy, take it apart and carefully unravel it to work out how I had knit it in the first place.

The experience was rather unnerving – each row that I unravelled on the precious original could not be remade and it took quite a few rows until I had worked out what all the stitches were.

However I did manage to work it out and this is the result. The kit is available from my shop and there is enough yarn in the new kit to make 2 coasters for your tea cups too. Tea and knitting – could there be a more perfect combination?

P.S. I have now bought a big new knitting notebook for all future pattern notes!

About madebyewe

Hello, and welcome to my blog, where I talk about the ups and downs of running a crafty business, knitting and life. I learnt to knit when I was a child in the 1970s. I think my Mum taught me, though it may have been one of my Nans. Both Nans were great crafters and my Mum knitted, when she had time. My childhood was full of wearing Mum's warm and cosy handknit jumpers to school and playing with yarn by the fire, making presents for my family and clothes for my toys. When I grew up, I started a business designing children's handknitted jumpers. Now I spend some of my time desgining gardens, as well as designing knitting. The garden design business is well established; the knitting design business is just starting out. I love the rhythmic quality of knitting, the feel of woolly yarn in my hands and the way a project grows beneath my fingers. It is relaxing and productive at the same time. I especially love vintage knitted toys and the quirky simplicity of the patterns. They were often made in times of austerity, when money and supplies were short, but the desire to create something fun inspite of this, shines through. I am a supporter of the Campaign for Wool, supporting the British wool industry, and using British yarn for my kits. Where would we be without fields of fluffy sheep to admire? Baa Humbug to acrylic!

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