Felted Tea Cozy Adventure - Part One

Last week my tea drinking college boy informed me that he needed a tea cozy, a masculine looking tea cozy, if you please. In other words, one of the sweet, floral models available in my shop simply would not do. After discussing his wishes, we decided a felted wool cozy might be just the thing. So off to the local thrift store we went in search of a thick, wool sweater.

The ladies at the store told us this is a great time of the year to look for wool sweaters, as many people are doing their spring cleaning and the donation bags were rich with sweaters. We were directed in the right direction and the hunt began. Some were too thin, and some contained synthetic fiber which does not felt. Many were the wrong color, but then my son spotted just the right sweater. His choice was a Pendleton Shetland wool sweater with a great pattern of blues and grays AND some poor soul had already started the felting process for us. The price on the tag was $3.75 but we were delighted to discover sweaters were 50% off! Can't beat that for an experiment! :-)

Back at home I tossed the sweater in the washer with some detergent and washed it in hot water with high agitation. (Note: Next time I will follow wise advice and put the sweater inside a large lingerie bag or pillow case closed with a rubber band for washing! Lots of fibers come off these sweaters and it is not a good thing for your poor washing machine!) I washed the sweater twice to really felt it down thickly and then tossed it in the dryer to damp dry before patting it out flat on a towel to finish up.

I quizzed my son on his design preferences and he decided he would like the cozy to fit rather snugly over his 6-cup teapot, and to have the spout and handle poke out so he can pour his tea without removing the cozy. Hmmmm...... Now to come up with a pattern.

Check back next week to see the rest of the project, and retrieve directions. In the meantime, if you are so inclined, go find yourself a old wool sweater and catch up with us!