Maplecroft Duck Tea Cosy – Knitting Pattern

This duck tea cosy knitting pattern is very much a franken-pattern based largely on the Little Mouse Tea Cosy over at Justen-knits&stitches and Jean Greenhowe’s Rainbow Babies PDF pattern.

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Pattern Updated 23rd June 2014

I’ve updated the pattern to make it easier to follow and corrected any errors I could find. If anyone spots any that I’ve missed please leave a message in the comments below and I will update the pattern for everyone.

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Materials/Tools

• 4mm needles
• less than 25g of double knitting weight yarn for the body and wings
• scraps of orange double knitting weight yarn for the beak and feet
• slightly longer scraps of blue double knitting weight yarn for the hat and scarf

 

Abbreviations

St st	Stockinette stitch	K	Knit stitch
K2tog	Knit 2 together	P	Perl stitch
Sts	Stitches	P2tog	Perl 2 together
KFB	Knit front and back	SKPO	Slip 1, Knit 1, Pass Slipped Stitch Over

 

Tea Cosy Sides (Make 2)

Using 4mm needles cast on 45sts in the main colour.
Garter stitch 5 rows.
Starting with a K row, St st until work measures 10cm from cast-on edge ending with a purl row.
Next Row (K3, K2tog) to end – 36sts.
St st 5 rows.
Next Row: (K3, K2tog) to last stitch, K1 – 29sts.
St st 3 rows.
Next Row: K2tog to the last stitch, K1 – 15sts.
Next Row: P2tog to the last stitch, P1 – 8sts.
Leaving a long thread for sewing up, thread yarn back through these 8 stitches with a needle & draw tight. Fasten off.

 

Wings (Make 2)

Using 4mm needles, starting at the back of the head, cast on 12 stitches in the main colour.
Next Row: KFB into every stitch – 24 stitches.
St st 5 rows
Next Row: K4, KFB, K4, KFB, K4, KFB, K4 KFB K4 – 28 sts.
St st 11 rows.
Next Row K3, SKPO, K3, SKPO, K8, K2tog, K3, K2tog, K3 – 24sts
St st 3 rows.
Next Row: K3, SKPO, K2, SKPO, K6, K2tog, K2, K2tog, K3 – 20sts.
Purl 1 row.
Next Row: SKPO, K1, SKPO, K1, SKPO, K4, K2tog, K1, K2tog, K1, K2tog – 14sts.
Purl 1 row.
Next Row: SKPO 3 times, K2, K2tog 3 times – 8sts.
Purl 1 Row.
Next Row: K2tog to end – 4sts.
Thread yarn back through sts with needle & pull tightly.
Fasten off leaving a long thread for sewing.

 

Head

Using 4mm needles, cast on 24 sts in the main colour.
Next row: (K1, inc in next st) to end ― 36 sts.
Starting with a purl row St st 21 rows.
Next row: (K1, K2tog) to end ― 24 sts.
P1 row.
Next row: (K2tog) to end ― 12 sts.
Break off yarn leaving a long end. Use a darning needle to thread the yarn loosely through the 12 stitches.

 

Beak

Using 4mm needles cast on 28 sts in the beak colour of your choice. (I went with orange)
First row: K3, SKPO, K3, SKPO, K8, K2tog, K3, K2tog, K3 – 24sts
Starting with a purl row St st 3 rows.
Next row: K3, SKPO, K2, SKPO, K6, K2tog, K2, K2tog, K3 – 20sts.
Purl 1 row.
Next row: SKPO, K1, SKPO, K1, SKPO, K4, K2tog, K1, K2tog, K1, K2tog – 14sts.
Purl 1 row.
Next row: SKPO 3 times, K2, K2tog 3 times – 8sts.
Purl 1 Row.
Next row: K2tog to end – 4sts.
Thread yarn back through remain stitches with needle & pull tightly.
Fasten Off leaving a long thread for sewing.

 

Hat

Using 4mm needles and beginning at lower edge cast on 40 sts in the colour of your choice.
1x1Rib stitch for 4 rows.
Beginning with a K row, St st 16 rows.
Next row: (K2, K2tog) to end ― 30 sts.
Purl 1 row
Next row: (K1, K2tog) to the last stitch, K1 ― 20 sts.
Purl 1 row
Next row: (K2tog) to end ― 10 sts.
Purl 1 row
Break off yarn leaving a long end. Use a darning needle to thread it through the remaining 10 sts, pull up tightly and fasten off.

 

Scarf

Using 4mm needles cast on 56 sts in the same colour yarn as used to knit the hat.
K 1 row, noting that this row is on the right side of the scarf. Cast off loosely K wise.

 

Feet (Make 2)

Using orange yarn cast on 3 sts.
1st row: Increment knitwise into every st – 6 sts.
Beginning with a P row St st 3 rows.
Next row: K2tog, Yo, K2tog, KO, K2tog – 5 sts.
Starting with a Perl row St st 4 rows
Cast off.
To make up oversew cast-on and cast-off edges together with the right side of St st outside.

 

Making Up

Sew in ends not needed for assembly.
Place sides of cosy together, right sides out, using a flat seam sew up
from the bottom for 2cm.

Sew from the cast-off edge at top of cosy, down both edges approx 6cm each side. Adjust this to fit your own teapot’s spout & handle positions.

Join row ends of the head from the cast on edge to within 2cm [3⁄4in] of the loose 12 sts at the top of the head. This seam will be at centre back of the ducks head. Turn the piece right side out through the opening in the top of the head. Stuff the head. Close the gap in the seam. Position the head onto the cosy and sew in place. Pull the thread tight to insure the head remains secure.

For the hat; join the row ends. Sew yarn ends into the cap.
Place cap on the duck’s head with the seam at centre back and cast on edge just above neck at back. Pin, then sew the cast-on edge of the cap in place.

For the scarf; placing the cast-off edge against the duck’s neck, wrap the scarf around the neck, stretching it slightly. Overlap the ends at one shoulder as shown in the picture below. Pin at the overlap, then sew the scarf securely to the cosy body at the cross-over position.

For wings; join edges together and sew from the cast-off edge to the cast on edge. The seam is the centre back of the wing. Position each wing to the side of the head and pin, then sew in place.

For beak; join edges together and sew from the cast-off edge to the cast on edge. Stuff the beak and position to the lower front of the head. Pin in position and sew in place to head.

For feet; sew seam edges to front of the duck body, having cast on edges against the duck. I hope you have enjoyed making this duck tea cosy.