Thursday, June 4, 2009

DIY - Poodle Tea Cosy!

In the spirit of fair play, it’s not enough to merely mock the vintage patterns on this blog, we have to attempt to recreate at least a few of them.

Like this one!

Here is a poodle and a half (the other half is spaniel), photographed outside because my camera isn't very good:

As you can see, my puppy is working on honing her psychic abilities. Can I eat it, Mom? Can I? Huh?

My neighbour walked over at this point and looked down at my latest, greatest home decorating effort. “You actually spent time on that?”

“Only a couple of hours!”

“But, you spent time on that!” He left, shaking his head in disbelief.

Men. They just don’t understand the inherent rewards of domestic creativity.

For more pictures:

I have no idea why people kept slowing their cars down and staring out their windows at me and my poodle tea cosy. Haven’t they ever seen an outdoor fashion photo shoot before?

True, my poodle pal doesn’t look exactly like the one in the picture. He came out a little bit more... plus sized than I’d expected. I’m not sure why. Perhaps teapots were larger back in the sixties.

I just need to find something taller...

There’s a coke bottle under my poodle now. Amazing! It’s a perfect fit!

Poodle-warmed coke, the drink of the new generation. Also works beautifully for extra large bottles of cheap alcohol, and any other drink you might want to serve warm.

Here’s my poodle revealing his handy-dandy super-secret pouring hole. Either that, or he’s showing the effects of a long night of partying.

For the Record: My poodle tea cosy was crocheted in Red Heart Supersaver Worsted, white, on a 6 mm crochet hook – yes, the pattern called for a size 00, but 9 mm seemed ridiculously large, so I went with a smaller sized hook. Tongue is crocheted out of a scrap of red yarn, as my husband expressed some resistance to the idea of cutting up his clothes. And no, you’re not seeing things. Those eyes are indeed two green Christmas tree shaped buttons. This is what happens when patterns don’t come with complete materials lists, and crochet projects become scavenger hunts.

If you are brave enough to recreate any of the patterns listed on this site – including this poodle! – take a picture and send it along to victoriadunnwrites at hotmail dot com. I’ll be happy to display your handiwork here for the whole world to see!

And just think, once something is on the internet, it never, ever goes away.

8 comments:

  1. No, seriously... you spent time on that?

    :::is seekretly jealous of needle skillz:::

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  2. The problem is, you're working with a proper "brown betty" style teapot. Think 60s...think coffee server...

    (the blue one has me thinking of the "give you my boots" scene in ACFS)

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  3. You're right! I'd completely forgotten about those tall metal tea/coffee things. But now that you mention it, I do remember them from when I was a kid.

    Hmm... now I need retro kitchenware to go with my poodle... ;-)

    (I think Hutch would have dated the girl who hand knits her own skorts)

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  4. Aren't these poodles traditionally toilet roll cosies?

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  5. Traditionally, yes. But this one was a teapot cosy.

    Me, I've been trying to imagine what other things could be improved by crocheting poodle slip covers for them. Dish soap. Broom handles. Computers. My dog. ;-)

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  6. Er, steel hooks are way SMALL in USian sizes. Are you on a different sizing scale that allows for use of teeny hooks on anything bigger than thread?

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  7. Felix and Ava - it's a UK/Canadian sizing system, which actually isn't used much any more in Canada. We tend to use millimeters instead. 00 is 9mm.

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  8. This poodle pattern gives me the warm fuzzies. I remember making him in yellow for my bathroom. I loved him very much. The secret in making him look good is to make the pom poms extra full.


























































    make his feet and top notch bigger than his muzzle and ears.

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