The only antidote to dripping days is TEA! Wonderful warm comforting, cosy tea. (The dictionary said I could spell it either way, with a z or an s, and I choose “s”). As a matter of fact, the dictionary has been most illuminating on this subject.
As I was researching the correct spelling of tea cosy/cozy/cosies, I found a curious inconsistency. After T.E.A., I found “tea bag, tea ball, tea biscuit, tea cart”, and then a few entries off my subject of the moment on the subject of teaching, and then, back to my subject, “tea cup, teacupful, tea dance, tea house, tea kettle, tea party, tea pot, tea room, tea service, tea spoon, tea table, tea time, tea tray, tea wagon”. But where was the tea cosy, that most basic and useful British accessory? Whoever heard of a tea room without Brown Betty teapots covered with little knit or crocheted caps? So I dug deeper. Could they have stuck my meaning away in the generic “cosy”, completely ignoring the tea connection?
Yes, and No. Under “cosy” the dictionary says “same as cozy” (I don’t quite agree). Under “cozy”, the meaning comes from the Scots to the Scandinavian meaning “to make oneself comfortable, koselig, snug, warm, and comfortable”. TEA! That’s what I’m talkin’ about. You don’t get that kind of cosy without a cup of tea.
As a noun, the meaning is “a knitted or padded cover placed over a teapot to keep the contents hot.” By it’s very definition tea cosy should be alphabetized with the tea words. Tea cosies are much more essential to tea and comfort than tea cart, tea party, tea service, tea dance, don’t you think? Webster should have known that with his English roots.
I have digressed from my point, which is that there is nothing as wonderfully comforting , snuggly, or warming as a cup of tea on a March dripping day. Unless it’s two cups of tea, in which case you need a cosy to keep your second cup warm while you are sipping your first one.
So at last I introduce you to my new Tea Cosy, given to me by my friend Patti for Christmas. As you can see it is mossy green, making it all the more perfect for this timely March subject.
Patti lives in Arizona now where they probably only drink iced tea, but she used to be an Oregon girl so she knows about damp. And she was a traveler so she knows about how good it feels to come home to your own brewed cup. And how wonderful it is to wake up on a foggy morning and stumble to the kitchen to put the kettle on and then sit in a cozy chair with your mug of tea until you can move to face the day. She gets it!
And so, Patti made me this cosy while they were on an extended road trip last summer, bumping along from one backroad to another across the country. She bought the yarn in Leadville, Colorado. It is worsted woolen, “Heather”. The pattern she used is from “One Skein Wonders; 101 Yarn Shop Favorites”, edited by Judith Durant. I just love it. I love the heather-y yarn, the mossy green, and I really love the stitch variety. 
Isn’t the little top-knot cute? Love it!
Patti mentioned that it could serve alternately as a hat for a girl with pigtails. I tried it and though it was wonderfully soft, my ears weren’t big enough to do it justice. The spout and handle show off this cosy to much better advantage.
I would also like to say that there is nothing more cosy than a good friend in this world. Thank you, Patti!
5 comments:
Nice to have something warm and cozy for this drizzly month of march.I was introduced to tea cozies at a tea house here called Serendipi-tea.
It's a lovely cosy! The knitter in me was glued to the computer screen 'disecting' the pattern! Love it.
Your tea cosy is lovely. In spite of being English I own neither a teapot (apart from my gran's old Art Deco one)nor a tea cosy. Neither DH nor I drink tea, we are both coffee drinkers:)
I totally agree with you about Tea! First thing I do in the morning is make a cup of tea! Not too strong (that comes later), but enough to get my throat ready for the day!
Teacosies here are often a sort of round/fluted shape. Just don't know how to describe it. But a section of knitting is pulled up from behind, so you get a shape like ^^^^^^^ only rounded and in a circle.
My daughter had a friend who knitted them, and she got me a lovely one in fawn and brown - right colour for tea!
I'll try and send you a picture by email!
And yes, teapots need teacosies!
Tea or Coffee...you are right...there is nothing better than a good friend!
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