Easy peasy mug warmer project
Published on January 31, 2019 By Serena
The quickest, easiest project we can think of for an absolute beginner knitter. A project that is simple, useful and beautiful – so much so that it's perfect for advanced knitters too!
If you are a complete beginner, follow the links to learn how to cast on, knit (knit stitch), purl, and cast off.
Materials
- KnitPro Symfonie Single Point Needles 25cm
- Size 12mm
- Rowan Big Wool
- 1 ball in your favorite shade
- Wraparound Wooden Toggle Button
- One large toggle
Garter stitch mug cozy
The simplest pattern. Garter stitch simply involves knitting each row. It is the easiest for beginners, and creates a nice, stretchy, knitted fabric.
1
Cast on: 20 stitches. It really doesn’t matter which cast on method you use; we think backwards loop cast on is the easiest. As you gain more knitting skills, you may prefer the long tail cast on (also called thumb cast-on) for its neater edge.
2
Knit: 8 rows garter stitch (that means you knit each row). The mug warmer may not look wide enough, but remember you don’t want it to come all the way up to the top of your mug – there has to be room for your mouth when drinking! If you’re making it to fit an extra-tall mug you can knit two extra rows.
Fasten the toggle
3
Make two loops. Make two loops in your tail, the mirror image of each other.
4
Attach the toggle. Push the toggle through the first loop and fold the second loop over the toggle so that the loose ends of the two loops are together. Tighten by pulling on the two loose ends.
5
Fasten the toggle. Tie your tail off at the cast-on corner, and adjust the toggle so that it’s held centrally. Make your toggle more secure by pushing it through a natural gap created by the knitted stitches.
6
Tidy the toggle. Thread your two loose ends through the cast-on edge so that your mug cosy looks nice and tidy. To fasten the cozy, just wrap it around a mug with the ends meeting through the handle, and push the toggle through a stitch on the opposite end of the mug warmer. You can fasten the mug cozy as tightly as you like!
Stockinette stitch mug cozy
The next step in becoming a knitting master. Stockinette stitch (stocking stitch in the UK) creates the look most of us immediately associate with knitted fabric, and is created by alternating a row of knit stitch with a row of purl stitch. Stockinette stitch fabric is narrower, longer and less stretchy than garter stitch.
1
Cast on: Cast on 21 stitches to begin!
2
Row 1: Knit a row.
3
Row 2: Purl a row. Repeat these two rows, knitting one row and purling the next, until you have 7 rows of stockinette stitch, finishing with a knit row (the cast on row doesn’t count).
4
Heart mug cozy
Time for something a little more advanced. If you’re ready to try colorwork, you can knit a stockinette stitch mug cozy with a heart on! This pattern will create quite a tall mug warmer, so if your mug is short, leave out rows 1 and 8. The heart is small enough that you can just run the color you’re not using behind your work; you can wrap the two colors around each other every other stitch if you prefer the back to look tidy.
1
Cast on: 21 stitches in your background color
2
Row 1: Knit all 21 stitches
Row 2: Purl 10 stitches, switch to the contrast color for your heart, purl 1 stitch in new color, switch back to 1st color and purl 10.
Row 3: Knit 9 in background color, knit 3 in heart color, knit 9 in background color
Row 4: Purl 8 in background color, purl 5 in heart color, purl 8 in background color
Row 5: Knit 7 in background color, knit 7 in heart color, knit 7 in background color
Row 6: Purl 7 in background color, purl 7 in heart color, purl 7 in background color
Row 7: Knit 8 in background color, knit 2 in heart color, knit 1 in background color, knit 2 in heart color, knit 8 in background color.
Row 8: Purl all 20 stitches in background color.
3
Cast off: Fasten the toggles the same way as for the garter stitch pattern. Weave in the loose ends of both yarn colors in the matching parts of the pattern to tidy up your mug cozy.