Tag: Highland Cow

Angus – Highland Tea Cowsy

Knitted cover for my teapot in the shape of a highland cow.

At some point, I found a bunch of knitted tea cosies on Ravelry and thought “I need one of those”. However, it wasn’t urgent enough to actually get myself into any sort of gear until around April this year. That’s when I set out to choose one of the tea cosies that I had favorited before. In the end, I settled on the Highland Cow Tea Cosy by K.M. Bedigan.

Knitted tea cosy in the shape of a highland cow with white horns, orange looped fur and dark orange ears and snout. Front view.
Knitted tea cosy in the shape of a highland cow with white horns, orange looped fur and dark orange ears and snout. Side view.
Knitted tea cosy in the shape of a highland cow with white horns, orange looped fur and dark orange ears and snout. Side view.

The first step was to dye some yarn. I chose to use a sock yarn, Krypton 4ply. I would need approximately one skein according to the instructions. That would then be split up into two colours, a lighter and a darker orange. So I threw in somewhat random amounts of yarn dye and liked the result. The light one came out a bit lighter than expected but it still looks nice with the darker one.

Two colours of yarn used to make a highland tea cowsy
Knitted tea cosy in the shape of a highland cow with orange looped fur and dark orange ears and snout. Test nose 1.
First nose
Knitted tea cosy in the shape of a highland cow with orange looped fur and dark orange ears and snout. Test nose 2.
Second nose

I did deviate from the instructions a few times. First was when it called for loop stitches (to create the little loops that make him look so hairy) to be along the same column. I chose to do staggered to create a fuller look, it also meant that I had to recount some of the shaping here and there. I think I added more rounds to the top of his head to make it fit. I also think my gauge was off the entire time so his proportions are a little different. I misread the instructions and made the details (ears and nose) out of the darker colour and not the lighter one, but this is more a happy accident and not a mistake.

Knitted tea cosy in the shape of a highland cow with white horns, orange looped fur and dark orange ears and snout. Side view.
Knitted tea cosy in the shape of a highland cow with white horns, orange looped fur and dark orange ears and snout. Closure view.
Knitted tea cosy in the shape of a highland cow with white horns, orange looped fur and dark orange ears and snout. Back view.

I made the nose in several iterations and eventually gave up on the instructions entirely. The first one was too small and made him look like a pig. The second one was the right size, but I’d angled the nostrils in the wrong direction. So after fixing that, nose three is what ended up on his face. I think the designer missed a pun when they named it ‘Highland Cow Tea Cosy’, so I’ve named mine Angus the Highland Tea Cowsy. We’ll see if he manages to keep tea at a nice warm temperature. Even if he doesn’t, it’s great to just see this little cutie sitting on the table!