To me, tea cosies represent the ultimate in creative, whimsical knitting. That's why I have so many tea cosy pattern books in my knitting book collection, even though I don't drink much tea and don't need tea cosies. These books are simply delightful to look at, and it's always fun to see what new things the designers have come up with.
Loani Prior's REALLY WILD TEA COSIES does not disappoint! It includes 21 complete tea cosy patterns (2 crocheted, 2 made from recycled sweaters, and 17 knitted or knitted with some crocheted decorative parts). The cosy on the book cover is knitted. Although I'm primarily a knitter, my favorite is the crocheted "Coral Punk" cosy that is inspired by the tubes of a coral reef. From the knitted cosies, my favorite is "Pablo", a yellow cube covered with orange bobble balls that is inspired by cubism. The cosies with pompoms and looped skirts are also a lot of fun.
The book has instructions for knitting in the round on two circular needles, and suggestions for sizing the cosies to fit particular teapots. The last part of the book is devoted to instructions for decorative elements: a rose, leaves, a trumpet flower, nuts, cupcakes, felted balls, citrus fruit, and i-cord.
Because the book has beautiful colored photos, is amusing to leaf through, and expresses so many creative ideas, I rate it at 5 stars. A couple of other good tea cosy pattern books are this author's previous book, Wild Tea Cosies, and a book from a British publisher, Tea Cozies (Cozy).
