Egg cosies

Does anyone actually use egg cosies any more? I remember them occasionally being used for a weekend breakfast during my childhoodbut haven't seen one pressed into service for years. Now is the time to start the egg cosy revival with this knitting pattern to match the tea cosy from the Harmony Odd Ounce book.

When you use an egg cosy, do you have to boil your egg for slightly less time than you would sans cosy? Will it thicken slightly as it is left on the table, snug under its knitted dome? And how long can you leave it there before the cold sets in? We need answers!

To knit an egg cosy you need scraps of DK wool, in main (M) and contrast (C) colours, and UK size 7 knitting needles.

Cast on 32 sts. Join in contrast (C) and work as follows, making sure that C is twisted over M before starting next row. Note: Yf (yarn forward) in this pattern always refers to the colour used for last 8 sts.

1st row: * K8M, draw C across back of work to 3/4 inch and k8C, draw M across back of work in same way; rep from * to end. Twist M over C before commencing next row.

2nd row: *K8C, yf, bring M across front of work, draw up to 3/4 inch and take to back of work, k8M, yf, bring C across front of work, draw up to 3/4 inch and take to back of work; rep from * to end.

Repeat these 2 rows until cosy measures 4 inches, ending with a wrong side row.

Shape top:

1st row: Keeping pattern correct *sl 1, k1, psso, k4, k2tog; rep from * to end.

2nd row: *Sl 1, k1, psso, k2, k2tog; rep from * to end.

3rd row: *Sl 1, k1, psso, k2tog; rep from * to end.

4th row: K2tog to end.

Thread yarn through the remaining stitches, draw up and fasten off. Join seams. Crochet round 2 small curtain rings to decorate the top - or maybe add a pompom or some buttons.

Severus Snape knitted doll

***UPDATE October 2010: Professor Severus Snape has proven so popular that if you would like a Snape doll of your own, check out my Etsy shop. Otherwise contact me for Snape doll commissions. The world needs more knitted Snapes.***


I have finally finished knitting the Severus Snape doll. Here he his, playing the piano with his feet - a sight you'd normally only ever see at the Slytherin house Christmas party.


Snape is about 40cm high and knitted from acrylic DK yarn. I'm normally a make-do-and-mend craft recycler, using things from charity shops and Freecycle, but this time I splashed out and bought some tiny, tiny doll's buttons to sew on his jacket as a finishing touch. This was the first time I'd knitted a doll without using a pattern, so I'm pretty pleased with the final result.

My daughter's verdict? "He's very cute." (He got a big hug, too).

Knit your own slippers

Here's some toasty knitted slippers from Emu wools which are perfect for knitting novices as they are only made out of squares of garter stitch - no increasing and decreasing, no purling, and definitely no more than two needles required.

You'll need double knitting wool in a main colour (MC) and a contrast colour (CC). You'll also need 4mm knitting needles (UK 8). Tension is 10 stitches to 5cm, measured over garter stitch.

To fit shoe size 3 (4, 5, 6, 8)

Make 3 small squares:

Using 4mm needles and MC, cast on 12 (14, 16, 18, 20) sts and k18 (22, 26, 32, 36) rows. Cast off.

Make 1 large square:

Using MC, cast on 24 (28, 32, 36, 40) sts and work in the following stripe sequence for 36 (44, 52, 62,, 72) rows: K2 rows MC, 2 rows CC. Cast off.

To make up, using a back stitch, join squares as shown in diagram, working from nos 1 to 8, joining edges 1 to 1, 2 to 2, 3 to 3 etc, so they all correspond.

Make a pompom and sew in the centre. Repeat pattern again for other slipper (assuming that you're going to want two...)

Medieval woes

"I should do no other work in the day but read my psalter, work in gold or silk, play tunes on my harp, checkmate someone at chess, or feed the hawk on my wrist" - Galeran de Bretagne.

This 13th century lady is complaining about her day here. It sounds pretty good to me. Maybe I'd swap that psalter for a slice of battenberg cake, but otherwise that's a pretty perfect way to pass the time.

1970s things in plastic

Every now and then a fad or a fashion takes over the world of craft. For a while, you can't move without finding people making, say, knitted cupcakes, or busily knotting macrame owls. And then suddenly everyone stops, sits back, and says, "Why am I doing this?" They move onto the next big thing. Scrapbooking, maybe. Or making pictures out of nails and string.

One such fad I remember from my murky past is the 1970s love of embedding unlikely objects in plastic. You mixed up polyester resin with hardener, poured a little into a mould, then added your objects - coins, flowers, keys - and the topped the whole things off with more plastic resin. After an agonising overnight wait for the plastic to set, you were left with the petrochemical age's equivalent of a fly caught in amber, as shown in the above examples from Ideas For Unusual Handicrafts by Susan Simmons.

There wasn't a great deal that could be done with the final result. A paperweight or ornament was a good bet, and Ideas For Unusual Handicrafts suggests making fingerplates for doors - which is more than you can do with a knitted cupcake.

The diagram below from Ideas For Unusual Handicrafts shows:

a: How to embed a dead grasshopper in different coloured gradients of resin to create a subtle fading effect within the mould

and

b: Why no-one was particularly pleased with their Christmas present from Susan Simmons that year.

How to make doll's hair for a knitted doll

I have nearly finished the Severus Snape doll, and have just spent a pleasant morning making his hair.

To make doll hair for a knitted doll, you need to cut lengths of yarn that are twice as long as you want the finished hair to be, plus maybe an inch and a half more, to allow for the knot and a final trim - it's always better to make hair too long, so you can trim to the exact style you want, rather than hair too short, which doesn't look right.

Insert a crochet hook into the doll's head where you would like a strand of hair to be.

Fold one of your strands of yarn in half and put it on the crochet hook...

...then pull a loop through.


Take the two ends of the yarn and pull them through the loop you have just created...

Then pull gently to create a firm knot. Voila - your first two strands of hair. Repeat all over the doll's head. This method gives you great control over your doll's hairstyle! Try using a mixture of different yarns and different thickness.


And here is the finished result, enjoying a cup of tea with Lucius Malfoy - you can buy both dolls and patterns in my Etsy shop.

OMG sewing thread

"Exquisite colours - guarantee of fastness! Three different sizes! Wonderful strength! Coats Satinised has all of these - and glamour!" From a Coats Satinised advert, 1952.

When did we lose our capacity to be this excited about sewing thread? We have become a sad and jaded nation. Bring back the thrill of a sewing thread with a guarantee of fastness, and shout it from the rooftops, using lots of exclamation marks! OMG sewing thread!!!!11!! LOL.