Hi All! You know those kind of weekends when it’s so hot outside that all you want to do is sit inside with the air conditioner running and knit? Yeah, me too. In fact, that’s what I did this weekend. And for my efforts, I have another finished object! This happens to be my 75th project in Ravelry…and my 17th completed this year. It’s crazy how much more I can get completed with knitting versus crochet.
I think I had mentioned in one of my comments on a dear friends blog that I wanted to look at knitting some hot water bottle cozies…quite possibly for Christmas presents this year. I have a lot of family in cold weather climates and this might be a perfect gift for those frigid winter nights. I wanted to experiment with a few different patterns and I happened to have this one in my queue. It is a paid for pattern; however I was able to obtain it for free during a 12 Days of Giving Christmas gift last year. It’s very nicely written and I had no issues with any of the instructions. There are a lot of free patterns out there…so if you want to make one for yourself, all you need to do is search!
Ravelled Here: Bee Cozy
Started/Finished: July 16, 2016 – July 18, 2016 (I finished the knitting part last night and then just had the bind off and sewing to complete today.)
Needles: US 10 (6.0 mm) 16 inch circulars and DPNs
Yarn: Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice Solids, Heathers and Twists in the color Purple (I wanted machine wash/dry.)
Extras: Hot Water Bottle (This is the link to Amazon where I purchased mine.)
In the future, I think I would start with Judy’s Magic Cast On instead of knitting in the round and then having to sew up the bottom. I turned the cover inside out and whip stitched it closed. It makes for a very nice bottom and you can’t tell that it was sewn up.
I wasn’t able to get to the full length in ribbing because 16 grams of this yarn was used in two previous projects and my gauge was off (once completing the honeycomb I was at 10.5 inches and was supposed to be at 9.5 inches); however I think it looks nice the way it is. I used JSSBO in rib pattern to bind off and it is extremely stretchy. This will make it easy to take off the hot water bottle for cleaning.
The honeycomb stitch is pretty easy; however maybe not for a beginner knitter. It’s hard to get your gauge just right when working with a cable needle and I’m lucky that I’ve worked with it on a couple of other projects. Have you started thinking about your Christmas / Holiday knitting yet? I think I have a total of two items made so far. I wanted to be much further, but with babies coming and socks galore…it will all work out in the end.
Until next time, Happy Knitting!
Spin A Yarn 
It looks awesome! That’s going to make a really lovely gift. I love the color and I love the pattern’s texture. I also love that it makes it look like the bottle is wearing a cozy turtle neck sweater 🙂 I really need to put that one on my queue!
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Thank you 😀 It really was a well-written pattern and super easy to follow. I’m ready to try out some more patterns and see which ones I like best. Also, this is a great way to use up some of that acrylic yarn in my stash…although I’d rather be knitting my more expensive yarn.
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As soon as I read what yarn you used, my instant thought was hmmm…I could use up my Vanna’s stuff the same way!
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I love this! I bought a kit for this pattern last year, and it’s been sitting waiting to be knit ever since. Yours turned out so well! Is it easy to get the hot water bottle in and out? Such a beautiful finished project!
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Thank you! It is super easy to get it in and out because of the stretchy bind off I used on the rib section. I had no idea it could stretch that much! I would highly recommend checking out the fit before sewing up the bottom if your pattern is like this one and has you cast on in the round. I tested it before I sewed it up and it worked like a dream.
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That’s good to know! The kit I have is, funnily enough, for the exact pattern you used – so I might even try using Judy’s magic cast on like you suggested! Such a good gift knitting idea !
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Ha ha! In the hottest week of the year, you’re posting hot water bottle cover 🙂 Thanks for mentioning Judy’s magic cast on. I keep meaning to give it a go then forgetting. Hopefully I’ll remember now you’ve mentioned it again.
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Hey…at least it was in the air conditioning and not a big blanket, right? Gotta start thinking of Christmas!
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Definitely gotta start thinking about Christmas.
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