My request for contributions to the Masterpiece friendship blanket yielded more than just the knitted and crocheted squares. Several of the contributors sent me the yarn that was left over from their work.
Kate’s square and lovely letter
One such person was Kate (Tall Tales from Chiconia). The wool she included in her package was like nothing I have used before: a fantastic combination of reds and yellows, in a yarn that varied wildly in thickness. She wrote about the colours of Australia being represented in her square, referring to the poem ‘My Country’ by Dorothea Mackellar, which you can read that here. So the spare yarn has been sitting waiting for me to be inspired.
Waiting, that is until I finally decided to do something about my tea. You may remember that I have been fretting about plastic in teabags. I’ve searched for plastic-free teabags. I thought that Jacksons of Piccadilly were the answer, because I read that their teabags have no plastic in them, but a query sent weeks ago has not yielded any response and so this seems just to be a rumour. Finally I bit the bullet (reluctantly) and bought myself a little teapot with an infuser, plus some loose tea.
This pot holds just the right amount for two mugs of tea… which means that when I’m here on my own, it would be a great idea to be able to brew the tea to the right strength, remove the infuser and then keep it warm for a second mug a bit later. Which means that what I really needed was a tea cosy. And what better yarn than this lovely Australian wool? So, I set to work and created this:
Tea caddy and cosy teapot
And, just like Australia, at the centre of my tea cosy, there is a hot red heart!
Thank you Kate… the yarn was perfect!
The Snail of Happiness 
thecontentedcrafter
/ September 28, 2014Since I’ve been following along with a couple of you UK hand-crafters, I am intrigued by the differences in our yarns. We have several available like that one – it is fairly common here. Obviously our yarn manufacturers work with different trends. I looked at the Deramores site and saw such beautiful yarns I almost died. I almost died at the prices as well 🙂
The cosy is perfect, just as you describe. I am certain it will make your tea taste SO much nicer!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ September 28, 2014It ‘s very strange how yarn fashions can be so different around the world. I have a friend who travels in northern Europe quite a bit and finds that she can buy sock yarns for much less in The Netherlands than we can here. Having said that, though, Deramores is an expensive shop and I can usually find the yarns they sell cheaper elsewhere. I love buying direct from some of the mills, which makes it all quite a bit cheaper… although fancy yarns are still very expensive.
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katythenightowl
/ September 28, 2014What wonderful colours, Jen, and such a handy little pot – and cosy to go with it 🙂
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The Snail of Happiness
/ September 28, 2014I’m very pleased with the whole combination!
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nanacathy2
/ September 28, 2014Brilliant solution and lovely cosy
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The Snail of Happiness
/ September 28, 2014Thank you… always good to make something functional 🙂
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katechiconi
/ September 28, 2014I’m glad the great Australian tradition of morning tea, afternoon, tea anytime we need it is being preserved! I can’t think of a better use for the yarn, it will certainly keep the heat in very, very effectively. Meanwhile, the sunflower square you sent me has become the permanent home of my camera, to cushion it and prevent it scratching the desk!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ September 28, 2014Oh. I’d forgotten about the sunflower… I seem to recall making it during a night of insomnia! Glad you’ve found a good way to use it. I have a bit of your yarn left and I’m thinking that I will make it into a circular mat to stand the teapot on for all-round insulation.
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davidprosser
/ September 28, 2014A perfect job for the prefect pot. Such lovely heather colours in there.
xxx Massive Hugs xxx
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The Snail of Happiness
/ September 28, 2014and it’s so toasty too!
xxx hugs xxx
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gentlestitches
/ September 28, 2014Hi Jan, the tea pot and the teacosie are really at the heart of our home here. I enjoyed your post very much. ❤
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The Snail of Happiness
/ September 28, 2014Thank you…I’m going to have Australia in my heart with every pot of tea now!
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Ashie
/ September 29, 2014That yarn is beautiful, and subsequently so is the cozy! What a neat little project!
The infuser is neat, too! I’ve always been interested in the process involved with loose leaf tea, unfortunately for me, I don’t like tea!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ September 29, 2014I’m rather taken by the whole process… although the lazy part of me craves the ease of a teabag!!
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Crochet Crush
/ September 29, 2014Just gorgeous!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ September 29, 2014Thank you!
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narf77
/ September 29, 2014Scrumptious Aussie colours and very fitting that you find your red hot heart at a time when we Aussies are just about to live through a particularly long, hot and dry summer. NO wool needed for my teapot this summer but like Ms Chiconi says, Aussies NEED their tea and even if it is rapidly approaching 50C outside, there is always time for a cuppa 😉
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The Snail of Happiness
/ October 1, 2014We had (for us) a rather warm summer and my tea consumption certainly did not decline! I keep stroking my tea cosy and thinking of all my Aussie friends and their gardens waking up to spring whilst mine is going to sleep for the autumn… well, except the sharks fin melons which are still growing like mad.
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narf77
/ October 1, 2014Did you ever work out how to use them? I hear the Chinese do some excellent things with them 🙂
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