No more cold tea!

Recently I have been having knitting cravings. I had two Knitting Nanas, as well as a Knitting Mama, so it is hardly surprising that I learnt to knit as a small child, and knitted my way through adolescence. I haven't done much lately; the unfinished baby blanket for my 14 year old nephew was my last project! I decided that my teapot is in dire need of a cosy, so I signed up for Ravelry, an online knit and crochet community. I found it very easy to use. I could not believe the number of patterns on there; six pages of free tea cosy patterns! I eventually settled on this one:

Frankie Brown's beautiful tea cosy!

I really like the fairy cake design with the bead decorations. It is by Frankie Brown who has designed lots of beautiful things. When I visited the local craft shop to choose some yarn, I dithered for ages. I am still not convinced by the baby pink, but I couldn't see anything I liked better. 

The first snag is teapot size. Did you know teapots come in standard 3-cup or 6-cup sizes? The pattern thoughtfully gives alternative sizing for both. After much faffing around with measuring cups, I discovered that my beloved teapot is 4.5 cups! So I have decided to go with the larger size, and adapt if necessary.

The second snag was casting on. I never realised there was more than one way, so when instructed to cast on with the "long tail method" I was stumped. After frantic Googling I found this tutorial which comes complete with a video. It looks trickier than it is, and I eventually managed to produce a row of not too higgledy-piggledy casting on. You never know, at some point soon I might be able to keep my teapot happy!