The Knit Guru

Okay, I have made too many hot water bottle covers…. it’ll keep coming. However, I really wanted to make one with a foot space for Socktober…. and it’s great. This cover is seamless, but you will need to darn in your ends.

You will need:
– 4.5mm straight knitting needles
– DK or Aran weight yarn (100gm is more than enough)
– Darning needle

The instructions say to KFB – or “knit front and back of the stitch to increase”. You can choose 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.

Foot flap – knit on DPN’s – just to make the joining into the main bottle easier.

Cast on 36 stitches
Knit 2, Purl 2 ribbing – do this over 6 rows.

Over the next 50 rows:
RS – Knit all the stitches
WS – Knit 5, purl to last 5, knit 5
This will keep the sides of the “flap” flat. Keep these on hold as we will join these later to the hot water bottle.

Main cover

Cast on 60 stitches. Join in the round.

Row 1-20: Complete 20 rows of Knit 2, Purl 2 ribbing. You may want to mark the beginning and after stitch 30 of your work to make the next step easier.

21: Row of holes – Knit 2 together, yarn over

22-27: Complete 6 more rows of Knit 2, purl 2 ribbing.

28: Knit whole row

29: KFB, knit to 1 stitch before the marker, KFB, slip marker, KFB, knit to 1 stitch before the end of row, KFB (64)

30: Knit whole row

31: KFB, knit to 1 stitch before the marker, KFB, slip marker, KFB, knit to 1 stitch before the end of row, KFB (68)

32: Knit whole row

33: KFB, knit to 1 stitch before the marker, KFB, slip marker, KFB, knit to 1 stitch before the end of row, KFB (72)

34-80: Knit 45 rows in the round

81-86: Knit 2, purl 2 – repeat to the mid way marker. Knit to end of row.

87: Cast off 36 stitches – this should take you to the mid way stitch marker. Insert the flap into this space. You might want to consult the video for visual clarification here. Knit to the end of the row. Treat the flap section as part of the work from here to the end.

88-89: Knit whole rows

90: SSK, knit to 2 before the marker, K2tog, slip marker, SSK, knit to 2 before the end, K2tog (68)

91: Knit row

92: SSK, knit to 2 before the marker, K2tog, slip marker, SSK, knit to 2 before the end, K2tog (64)

93: Knit row

94: SSK, knit to 2 before the marker, K2tog, slip marker, SSK, knit to 2 before the end, K2tog (60)

95: Knit row

96: Kitchener or 3 needle bind off. The stitch marker at the midway point will help in working out where to do this neatly.

Darn in your ends, and create a tie using either a long braid or crochet chain from scrap yarn.