Cat Tea Cosy

Cat Tea Cosy by Rian Anderson

What is Being Made

The Cat Tea Cosy is a knitted insulating cover designed to fit standard 6-8 cup teapots. This decorative and functional accessory features a cat face design and measures approximately 48 cm all around at the widest part with a height of 25 cm to the top. The cosy includes openings sized for both the teapot spout (8-9 cm) and handle (10-12 cm), making it practical for everyday use while adding whimsical feline charm to your tea service.

Design Options

The pattern offers two distinct variations for crafting your cat tea cosy:

• Single Colour Cat: A streamlined version using primarily one main colour of yarn with small accent amounts for facial features
• Striped Cat: A more visually dynamic option incorporating a contrasting colour yarn to create striped patterning across the cosy

Knitting Techniques and Stitches

This intermediate-level knitting project employs fundamental knitting techniques suitable for crafters with some experience. The pattern utilizes the cable cast-on method to begin your work, establishing a secure foundation for the piece. Seaming techniques are required to join the knitted pieces together, creating the three-dimensional structure of the tea cosy. The pattern includes specific tension requirements that should be measured over a central 10 cm work square to ensure proper fit for your teapot.

Materials and Tools Required

Yarn: The project uses 8 ply yarn (also known as DK weight), which provides an appropriate thickness for both structure and drape in a tea cosy application.

• Single colour version: 120-160 grams in main colour, plus 10 grams in pale pink for details
• Striped version: 80-100 grams in main colour and 60-70 grams in contrast colour
• Small additional amounts of 8 ply yarn for nose and mouth details

Needles and Notions: One pair of 5.5 mm (US size 9) knitting needles forms the primary tool for this project. A large tapestry needle is essential for sewing seams and weaving in yarn ends. Safety pins help hold pieces in position during assembly. The cat face is brought to life with 20 mm joggle toy eyes or safety eyes featuring clip-on backs, and an optional 20 mm triangular clip-on toy nose. Dacron toy filling is available as an optional material to add dimension to the cat's features.

Project Specifications

Designed by independent designer Rian Anderson and copyrighted in 2011, this pattern is formatted as a downloadable PDF for convenient access and printing. The intermediate difficulty level makes it accessible to knitters who have progressed beyond basic techniques but need not be advanced. The finished tea cosy is sized to accommodate teapots measuring approximately 15 cm in diameter with a height of 12-15 cm from base to lid, covering the standard range of 6-8 cup capacity pots.