As far as old school cozy goes, it doesn’t get better than a hot water bottle. Back when I had surgery last year, all I wanted was the instant warmth of the hottie, and a snuggly knitted cover to boot. This is the simplest of the covers (There will be a total of 3 patterns in this set). Why have I not shared these as yet? Mostly because I figured, why would anyone else want one? Then more and more people have been interested, and I will admit to knitting more and giving them away to friends.
You will need:
– 4.5mm straight knitting needles
– DK or Aran weight yarn (100gm is more than enough)
– Darning needle
I used this here: Lincraft Cakes. (Not sponsored, but an idea of weight and length. The ball made 3 hot water bottle covers)
The instructions say to “make 1”. It does not matter how you do this. You can chose to knit into the front and back of a stitch to add a stitch. You could knit into the jog between the stitches. Whatever method you prefer. I’ll also be rather indescriminate whether I say knit or just k…. and the same with Purl or just p.
Cast on 60 stitches. Place a stitch marker at 30 stitches – the halfway point. This will make it easier to know the middle – as this cover is folded in half and seamed up at the end.
Knit 1 row
Purl 1 row
K2, make 1, knit to 2 before the stitch marker, make 1, knit 2, slip marker, k2, make 1, knit to last 2, make 1, k2 – (64 stitches)
Purl row
K2, make 1, knit to 2 before the stitch marker, make 1, knit 2, slip marker, k2, make 1, knit to last 2, make 1, k2 – (68 stitches)
Purl row
K2, make 1, knit to 2 before the stitch marker, make 1, knit 2, slip marker, k2, make 1, knit to last 2, make 1, k2 – (72 stitches)
Purl row
Stockinette stitch the next 50 rows.
K2, Knit 2 together, knit to 2 before the stitch marker, make 1, knit 2, slip marker, k2, make 1, knit to last 2, Knit 2 together, k2 – (68 stitches)
Purl row
K2, Knit 2 together, knit to 2 before the stitch marker, make 1, knit 2, slip marker, k2, make 1, knit to last 2, Knit 2 together, k2 – (64 stitches)
Purl row
K2, Knit 2 together, knit to 2 before the stitch marker, make 1, knit 2, slip marker, k2, make 1, knit to last 2, Knit 2 together, k2 – (60 stitches)
Purl row
Knit 2, Purl 2 rib – Complete this over the next 24 rows
Cast off with around 40cm of yarn tail remaining. Use this tail to stitch up the side and bottom of your cover.
The Knit Guru 
Great simple pattern – thanks! I think in your decrease rows from 72 to 68 stitches, you did a copy/paste and should have changed the “make1s” to either k2tog or SSK.
Will chunky yarn be too thick?
It would depend…. I would recommend upping the needle size for chunky yarn to at least a 6mm and dropping the number of stitches and rows. If you have your hot water bottle with you, you can use it as a guide to change these things around. As it’s a hot water bottle, it would be a forgiving project to just have a go at pattern alteration if you wanted to use the chunky yarn.
Just finished making this and it turned out really nicely. I adapted slightly for the decrease rows and used SSK / K2tog to get left and right leaning stitches. Looks lovely!
That’s brilliant. And a wonderful alteration.
I’m trying adapt this for a smaller (mini) hot water bottle, but I’m getting a little confused as to how I could do this or whether it’s worth it. I really would appreciate it if you can help!
Ironically I have a mini hot water bottle pattern that I’ve been humming and haaaring about posting…. So I will have to sort myself out and post it for you.