Knitted Poppy Tea Cosy

After a few false starts I have knitted a tea cosy which consists of 3 strips on each side.  I then sewed them together, and added a few rows at the top and bottom to neaten the edges and to get the right length.  I toyed with the idea of a green tab to finish it off, but decided that the pom-pom looks better. 

I had intended to do more strips and more poppies but I think that would be better suited to a complicated fair-isle/intarsia design.  With this design, I quite like the way the whole poppy seems to be at the centre of a cross.

I have thought of 3 other ideas for tea cosies with poppies on and I am now off to cast one on.

 

Modular Knitting or Strip Knitting?

In this blog I tend to use the term “modular knitting” to refer to all forms of knitting which involve knitting shapes – squares, oblongs, L-shapes, triangles or even irregular shapes.

Horst Schulz uses the term “patchwork knitting” to describe his modular knitting.  I tend to use this term just for quilts and throws.

Vivian Høxbro uses the term “domino knitting” to describe her modular knitting – but she mainly uses squares and shapes involving squares.

There is another lesser-used term – “strip knitting”.  Much of my modular knitting is really strip knitting.   The photo below shows a commercially bought bag covered in strip knitting.  I was trying to use up very small bits of Fandango yarn – so I knitted very narrow strips.

 

The tea cosy that I am currently working on is an example of strip knitting.  When I say “currently working on” I mean “thinking about” – actually this week I have been knitting a very small jacket for a baby who arrived last weekend.  This afternoon I am going to get on with roughing out a pattern for my tea cosy.

Modular Knitted Bag’s First Excursion

 

I admit it – this post is just an excuse to show you a photo of the other side of my bag.  I used it yesterday with the green side facing outwards, but today I showed off this other side.

What I like about using Fandango yarn is that the modules and stripes of knitting are not clearly defined – they merge together.  You can achieve a similar effect by felting wool, but it involves a lot more hassle.

Now I am at a loose end – what shall I knit next?  I would like to make a start on a jumper but I think that I had better do something easier.  I may attempt a tea cosy to commemorate the First World War.  I have an idea in my head – I hope I will be able to translate it into knitting.

Modular Knitted Bag – It’s Finished – Almost!

 

I have now widened and lengthened the 2 side panels, made handles and made an inner rim for the top of the bag. 

In order to produce the sloped shape I used a basic mitred square of: 9+1+9 at the bottom and 8+1+8 at the top.  In fact there are no individual squares – and so I used oblongs of 9+ 1+18+1+9 and L-shapes of 9+1+18+1+18+9 for the bottom shapes and oblongs of 8+1+16+1+8 and L-shapes of 8 + 1+16+1+16+8 for those at the top. 

All the knitting is stocking stitch but it is hard to tell!

I have said the bag is finished – well it isn’t quite – I need to do some more stitching to secure the inner rim inside the bag and I need to use sewing thread to do a line of stitches along each handle to stop them twisting when I use the bag.