It’s December so that means this month there is another festive project; a knitted figgy pudding tea cosy for a 450ml teapot, 100/400g microwaveable pudding cover and chocolate orange cover. Ideal as gifts, table gifts, to fundraise, sell for personal profit or to keep yourself.
Knitting tea cosies has got be one of my favourite things to do on an evening while telly watching, I can’t just watch telly I have to be doing something else (usually knitting).
The pudding is one of my favourite Christmas icons and I have already started to use my small teapot and cosy when I just want a cuppa for myself, it looks good and does the job of keeping the pot warm for the obligatory top up.
Figgy Pudding Knitted Novelties
There are ‘lovers’ and ‘haters’ of figgy pudding, plum pudding, Christmas pud or whatever you prefer to call it, I personally love it and eat at any time of the year. The pudding icon is also one of my favourites to use in festive crafting – decorating jumpers, baubles, cards, jewellery etc – and I do like to replace my tea cosy at this time of year with a festive version.
The tea cosy with a teapot and box of Christmas tea would make a lovely gift. There is an additional base included in the pattern that can be added to the bottom of the tea cosy to adapt into a door stop, paper weight, or novel-tea to use for festive decoration. There is also a chocolate orange cover, always a popular small gift and fund raiser at this time of year.
For the ‘lovers’ of this Christmas staple there is a cover to disguise and store a microwaveable Christmas pudding – as a Christmas pudding. For the ‘haters’ it can be used to cleverly disguise other microwaveable 100g/400g puddings – chocolate, syrup, butterscotch, jam and others available at this time of year. It may (although can’t confirm as I haven’t tried it out) cover a small truckle/cheese round for those who prefer savoury rather than sweet as the last course of a lovely festive meal.
As with my previous patterns there is no mention of specific branded yarns and therefore no tension to work to, but if you are a knitter you will know what sort of tension you have and whether you use the suggested needle size or go up/down a needle size. The projects are small enough to knit up quickly, as well as being small enough for frogging (means undoing/unravelling – ‘rip it, rip it’ the sound a frog makes) and restarting, as well as for using small amounts of leftover stash from bigger projects you may have.
I do find that smaller items like this sell well at craft markets so please feel free to knit and sell as many as you like for fund raising, adding to hampers or personal profit.
Materials & Instructions:
- 4.5mm and 3.75mm knitting needles
- See individual patterns for colours and quantities of DK yarn required
- Additional small amounts of green and red DK for holly
- Stitch markers (or small lengths contrast yarn)
- Below left – tinsel yarn or similar, a type of eyelash yarn.
- Below right – using a glitter yarn in brown or black will create the impression of shiny dried
fruit.
Abbreviations:
- ( ) work instructions between brackets as many times as given
- alt alternate
- B&T bind and tie, feed yarn through stitches left on needle, pull tight to tie off leaving yarn
length for sewing up - CO cast on
- DK double knit
- K knit
- K2tog knit two stitches together
- K3tog knit three stitches together
- M1 make one, insert right hand needle under horizontal bar between stitches, place on left
hand needle and knit into the back of the stitch - P purl
- R row
- SS stocking stitch created by alternating rows of knit and purl
- st stitch
- yon yarn over needle
Tension:
There is no specified tension as no particular branded DK yarn is mentioned.
All yarns work up differently; some are thicker and some thinner than others.
If you are a tight knitter you can go up a size, if you are a loose knitter go down a size (depending on the thickness of the DK yarns you decide to you).
Mattress Stitch:
I prefer to sew up with mattress stitch which creates an almost invisible seam. Lay pieces side by side, right sides facing up.
Thread yarn through the horizontal bars between stitches on opposite edges, alternating back and forth, using every bar or every other bar at 1-2cm intervals each time, pull the yarn to close up.
Single Holly Leaf
Using one strand of green DK yarn and 3.75mm needles CO 16sts
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: Purl
Row 3: K1, (yon, K2tog) to last stitch, K1
Row 4: Purl
Row 5: Knit
Cast off knit wise
Fold in half lengthways (purl/wrong side inside). Sew cast on and cast off edges together to form a picot edge for the holly spines.
Fold to form a leaf shape. Sew along the centre joining together.
To make a cluster sew two or more single leaves together sewing into the centre to secure.
Add French knots centrally with red DK yarn, knitted berries as given below, or use red beads instead.
To Work A French Knot:
Bring your needle up through the back where you want the knot to be.
Wrap yarn twice, or more to make a bigger berry, around needle and go back down holding yarn firmly but not too tight.
Pull the yarn through slowly giving a small tug at the end to round off and neaten.
Knitted Berries
Using one strand of red DK yarn and 3.75mm needles CO 8sts
Rows 1-2: Knit
B&T through all stitches.
Thread the ‘cast on’ yarn through the cast on edge.
Pull both lengths of yarn tight so it curls into a berry shape.
Knot to secure.
All-In-One Holly Leaf Cluster
To make a four leaf cluster CO on 60sts, for a three leaf cluster CO 44sts, for a two leaf
cluster CO 30sts
Using one strand of green DK yarn and 3.75mm needles CO number of stitches required
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: Purl
Row 3: K1, (yon, K2tog) to the last stitch, K1
Row 4: Purl
Row 5: Knit
Cast off knit wise
Fold in half lengthways (purl/wrong side inside). Sew cast on and cast off edges together to form a picot edge for the holly spines (seven picots per leaf).
Join the leaves at the 1st and 7th picots on each leaf into a cluster.
Continue sewing together the ‘open’ centre of each leaf through the ‘purl’ stitches.
When you reach the leaf tip thread the yarn to the back and run yarn through the ridge back to the centre point.
Tea Cosy
(To fit a traditional 2 cup 450ml teapot)
- 20g brown and 20g black DK yarn
- 10g white DK yarn and 10g white tinsel yarn (or use double strand of white DK yarn)
- Small amounts of green and red DK yarn
Make Two
Using one strand of brown and one strand of black DK yarn and 4.5mm needles CO 27sts
Rows 1-2: Knit
Rows 3-28: Starting with a knit row work 26 rows SS (or until work measures 11cm in length) adding a stitch marker to both end stitches on row 28 (the width at this point will be approximately 15-17cm depending on the thickness of yarns used)
Shape top (change to one strand of white DK yarn and one strand of white tinsel yarn):
Row 1: K2, K2tog, K5, K2tog, K5, K2tog, K5, K2tog, K2 (23sts)
Row 2 and every alt row to R10: Purl
Row 3: K2, K2tog, K4, K2tog, K3, K2tog, K4, K2tog, K2 (19sts)
Row 5: K2, K2tog, K2, K2tog, K3, K2tog, K2, K2tog, K2 (15sts)
Row 7: K1, K2tog, K1, K2tog, K3, K2tog, K1, K2tog, K1 (11sts)
Row 9: K1, K2tog, K1, K3tog, K1, K2tog, K1 (7sts)
Cast off
Sew the top between both stitch markers and place on the teapot. It should now rest just above the spout and handle.
Sew bottom sides together for 3-4 rows.
Make holly leaf clusters as given above and add to the top.
Washing/Drying Instructions:
It is best to hand wash your tea cosy. Machine washing may make it lose its crispness and shape.
Give it a gentle hand wash in room temperature water letting it soak a little to remove any tea stains.
Rinse until water runs clear.
Gently squeeze out excess water, press flat between towels and leave to dry, or place on the teapot to dry.
Additional Base:
Knit the base to adapt the tea cosy into a paper weight, door stop or knitted ‘novel-tea’, fully sewing up both sides. Takes approximately 10g DK yarn used double stranded.
Using two strands of DK yarn and 4.5mm needles CO 54sts
Rows 1-2: Knit
Row 3: (K2tog, K4) x9 (45sts)
Row 4 and every alt row to R14: Purl
Row 5: (K2tog, K3) x9 (36sts)
Row 7: (K2tog, K2) x 9 (27sts)
Row 9: (K2tog, K1) x 9 (18sts)
Row 11: (K2tog) x 9 (9sts)
Row 13: (K2tog) x4, K1
Row 15: K2tog, K3tog
B&T
Sew side seams together to create a circular shape.
Fill with toy stuffing.
Add a well sealed bag of uncooked rice, aquarium gravel or similar if making into a paper weight or door
stop.
Attach the base by sewing through the garter stitch rows of the base and bottom of ‘tea cosy’ as shown below.
400g Christmas Pudding Cover
- 20g brown and 20g black DK yarn
- 10g white DK yarn and 10g white tinsel yarn (or use double strand of white DK yarn)
- Small amounts of green and red DK yarn
Using one strand of brown and one strand of black DK yarn and 4.5mm needles CO 58sts
Rows 1-2: Knit
Rows 3-30: Starting with a purl row work 28 rows SS
Change to one strand of white DK yarn and one strand of white tinsel yarn
Rows 31-32: Knit
Row 33: K3, (K2tog, K5) x7, K2tog, K4 (50sts)
Row 34: Knit
Row 35: K3, (K2tog, K4) x7, K2tog, K3 (42sts)
Row 36: Knit
Row 37: K2, (K2tog, K3) x7, K2tog, K3 (34sts)
Row 38: Knit
Row 39: K2, (K2tog, K2) x7, K2tog, K2 (26sts)
Row 40: K2, (K2tog, K1) x7, K2tog, K1 (18sts)
Row 41: (K2tog) x9 (9sts)
Row 42: (K2tog) x4, K1 (5sts)
B&T
Sew side seam.
Make holly leaf clusters as given above and add to the top.
100g Christmas Pudding Cover
- 10g brown and 10g black DK yarn
- 5g white DK yarn and 10g white tinsel yarn (or use double strand of white DK yarn)
- Small amounts of green and red DK yarn
Using one strand of brown and one strand of black DK yarn and 4.5mm needles CO 34sts
Rows 1-2: Knit
Row 3: K1, (M1, K4) x8, M1, K1 (43sts)
Rows 4-16: Starting with a purl row work 13 rows SS
Change to one strand of white DK yarn and one strand of white tinsel yarn
Rows 17-18: Knit
Row 19: (K3, K2tog) x8, K3 (35sts)
Row 20: Knit
Row 21: K2, (K2tog, K3) x6, K2tog, K1 (28sts)
Row 22: Knit
Row 23: K1, (K2tog, K2) x6, K2tog, K1 (21sts)
Row 24: Knit
Row 25: (K2tog) x10, K1 (11sts)
Row 26: Knit
Row 27: (K2tog) x5, K1 (6sts)
Row 28: Knit
B&T
Sew side seam.
Make holly leaf clusters as given above and add to the top.
Chocolate Orange Cover
- 5g brown and 5g black DK yarn
- 5g white DK yarn and 5g white tinsel yarn (or use double strand of white DK yarn)
- Small amounts of green and red DK yarn
Using one strand of brown and one strand of black DK yarn and 4.5mm needles CO 30sts
Rows 1-2: Knit
Row 3: K1, (M1, K4) x7, M1, K1 (38sts)
Rows 4-12: Starting with a purl row work 9 rows SS
Change to one strand of white DK yarn and one strand of white tinsel yarn
Rows 13-14: Knit
Row 15: (K3, K2tog) x7, K3 (31sts)
Row 16: Knit
Row 17: K2, (K2tog, K3) x5, K2tog, K2 (25sts)
Row 18: Knit
Row 19: (K2, K2tog) x6, K1 (19sts)
Row 20: Knit
Row 21: (K2tog) x9, K1 (10sts)
Row 22: (K2tog) x5
B&T
Sew side seam.
Make holly leaf clusters as given above and add to the top.
