crochet pattern designed and written by Zoe Deterding
Find me on Facebook and YouTube as "24 Carat Crochet"
Introduction
Skill level - beginner
Supplies
Please follow instructions and guidelines provided with your hot water bottle.
Hot Water Bottle Cover
This is maybe obvious but should be mentioned: please be cautious when using hot or boiling water. An electric blanket is great to heat your bed but there's one major drawback - it's not portable! This is a great heat source for use almost anywhere. I often even take one with me when I'm waiting in the car for my son to finish his nightshift work at 1am. Although I am British, this pattern is written in US crochet terminology. 5mm crochet hook Suggested yarn - medium #4 weight or approximately worsted weight Approximate weight of yarn = 3.5oz (100g) Approximate length of yarn = 150-200y (137-183m) Hot water bottle 7.75 inches x 13 inches Scissors Yarn needle
Recommendations for fiber types
Cotton makes a great choice as it seems to help retain the heat for a long time, is easily washable and is my main recommendation. The yarn used for the cover in the picture above is Bernat Handicrafter. The only other fiber type I have used is acrylic and I have been asked whether this is suitable as it may come into contact with extremely hot water, as well as being in contact with the bottle itself which will be very hot. Before recommending acrylic, I decided to conduct my own tests on different brands of acrylic yarn with boiling water to see what happens and you may wish to do the same if you are unsure of using a particular fiber type. My test involved heating a bowl using freshly boiled water, then I placed pieces of acrylic into the bowl and pour freshly boiled water directly on them. There were no visible signs of any changes to the yarn.
Abbreviations
ch = chain stitch sc = single crochet hdc = half double crochet dc = double crochet
Gauge
Suggested stitches for swatch - dc stitches. 8 rows in 4 inches 13 stitches in 4 inches
Directions
Round 1 has 51 stitches and all other rounds have 50 stitches. The project is worked from the bottom up and starts with a chain a little less than the width of your hot water bottle. For round one, you'll be working stitches into one side of the chain then the other side with several stitches together at each end. This picture shows how your work should look after the first stitch of round 2.
Round 1 (total of 51 stitches) Keeping your tension fairly loose, make a chain of 22. sc into the second ch from the hook, hdc into the same ch, dc into the same ch. dc into each ch stitch until you get back to the first ch, dc five more times in the same ch. dc along the other side until you reach the last ch stitch (which has the ch1, sc, hdc and dc). dc three more times in that last ch stitch. This is now what you should have: 7 stitches at one end (various types of stitches) 6 stitches at the other end (all dc stitches) 19 stitches along each side (all dc stitches) Total = 51 stitches Round 2 (total stitches = 50) dc on the sc from round 1 (effectively also working onto the ch1) dc on the hdc from round 1 dc on the first dc from round 1 dc on every dc stitch Continue to make dc stitches in on every dc stitch. From now on, no increase stitches, no slip stitches, no chain stitches, you are effectively working in a spiral. The hot water bottle cover featured on page one of this pattern has a total of 26 rounds. Carry on for more rounds if you wish or fewer if 26 rounds are too many.
Finishing off
When your cover is about the right height, try it on your hot water bottle. Make adjustments to the number of rows if necessary. The last three stitches need to be different heights to make the top edge slope down nicely. Last three stitches - dc, hdc, sc. Finish off and weave in any loose ends.
Finishing Touch
You do not have to make an icord but it's a nice finishing touch and will help ensure the cover does not slip off the hot water bottle. Make the icord with matching yarn or just take a few strands and plait a cord and thread it around the stitches - about five or six rounds down from the top. These two pictures show before and after making a bow and you'll see the ends don't weave in on the same round (see the middle of the left picture), but when made into a bow (right picture), this makes no difference and can't be seen.
There are many free crochet patterns and a few paid-for patterns in my Ravelry store (search for "Zoe Deterding" on the patterns page) and some paid-for patterns in my Etsy store (search for the shop "24 Carat Crochet). Some free patterns are featured as video tutorials on my YouTube channel.
