The Kendall Cup Cozy

PIN it here!

Brrrr……It’s that time of year again!

Bring out the sweaters, coats, cowls and hats! And if you’re like me, you start drinking a lot more hot drinks in order to keep warm. My favorite is coffee, but I also love a good cup of chai tea.

This post may contain affiliate links that help me to continue to post free content. To skip the ads and have a printable pdf of this pattern, you can find it for relatively little cost in both my Etsy and Ravelry shops.

I decided on a whim to design this cute little cup cozy the other day. I wanted something that had a lot of texture but was still comfortable when holding it in your hand. I also wanted to be sure there was more coverage of the cup. I have noticed a lot of crochet cup cozies don’t cover much of the cup itself. I personally have giant hands and I wanted something that would protect my entire hand from the burning heat of coffee in my mug.

I struggled with choosing a material for this project because I can’t think of a better material than Yarnspiration’s Bernat Home Maker yarn. This yarn is absolutely perfect for cup cozies in my opinion. It’s stretchy, but holds its shape well after it’s stretched, and the polyfil center just makes stitch patterns really “pop”. It’s mostly cotton, and the nylon center only makes it even more absorbent. It’s also extremely sturdy and can be washed and dried. I just couldn’t bring myself to design it using anything else!

I will say that Lion Brand discontinued a yarn very similar to Bernat Home Maker yarn called Dream Maker yarn. It is pretty much identical in material and bulk, but they only ever made extremely bright color ways. If that’s your speed, you may want to see if you can find some! I made a few with it and they still look really pretty!

I will also mention that my testers did a fabulous job making theirs using other materials. I had several who simply doubled up their regular worsted weight yarn they had in their stash and it still looked great. Another tester tried making this cozy using Lion Brand’s Rewind Tape yarn. I personally love that yarn and I think it would be fairly absorbent since it has a sort of spongy feel to it.

Pictured is Lion Brand’s Rewind tape, made by my lovely tester Emily Linsley.

Honestly, if you aren’t making this cozy for cold drinks that sweat, you could probably use just about any material. If your end goal is just to protect your hands from getting burned when drinking hot drinks, you could probably branch out. If you are making this for cold drinks, however, you may want to consider the material’s absorbent qualities. I feel Bernat Home Maker yarn is great for both hot and cold drinks.

I will warn you that Bernat Home Maker yarn can be extremely hard to find. I think that manufacturing and shipping has probably slowed way down since the pandemic, plus is is an extremely popular yarn and Yarnspirations is doing the best they can with what they have available. It’s my absolute FAVORITE yarn, so if you have never tried it and you get the chance to get some, I 100% encourage you to give it a whirl. I have had to hold myself back from using it in every project LOL! I just love it so much.

I recently took several of these to my latest vendor market and they sold out very quickly. I decided to buy those cheaper reusable cups from the Dollar General store that are 2 for $1 and sell them together, but you could certainly sell them by themselves with the little cardboard insert.

They also make really great gifts (hello, Christmas stocking stuffers!), especially for the teachers in your life. I haven’t met a teacher who doesn’t drink coffee or tea, and the teachers I’ve spoken with absolutely love the handmade cup cozies to put on their cups.

I like to add cute little tags on them to give them a more professional look and add a bit of character. My favorites are the ones offered on Angie+Britt’s website. If you want to check them out, you can find them here.

Enough of my rambling! Let’s make this thing!

Supplies Needed:

-60-70 yards of Bernat Home Maker Dec yarn, or any comparable size 5 bulky weight yarn

-Crochet hooks, size J 6.0, size G 4.0 mm, and size F 3.75 mm

-Scissors, stitch marker, tape measure

-Reusable coffee cup (Optional. I used one some the Dollar General that are priced 2 for $1. It helps to have it on hand to try your cozy on every few rounds to make sure it’s fitting correctly)

Terms Used and Abbreviations:

Pattern is written in US terminology.

Back Loop Only - BLO

Begin(ning) - beg

Chain - ch

Fasten off - FO

Place Marker - PM

Repeat - rep

Right Side - RS

Single Crochet – sc

Skip - sk

Slip Stitch - sl st

Stitch Marker - SM

Space(s) - sp(s)

Stitch(es) - st(s)

Wrong Side - WS

Special Stitches:

Invisible sl st: Remove hook from working loop. Take working yarn tail to back of work. Insert hook from back to front in first st of round and hook working loop onto your hook. Draw working loop to back of work and continue as usual. To visualize this process, see my video.

Invisible Join: Complete your last st of the round as usual. Leaving a longer tail, cut your working yarn. Pull that tail all the way through your last st (without doing the usual ch 1). Thread tail onto a yarn needle. Going under both loops of the first st of the round, take the yarn needle from front to back. Insert your needle from top to bottom of the BLO of your last st of the round. Weave in this tail extremely well since you are not making a knot of any kind to secure. To visualize this process, see my video.

Gauge:

13 sc and 12 rows = 4" (10 cm)

Finished Measurements:

5.5" x 3.5" (14 x 9 cm)

Instructions:

Cozy is worked in the round from the bottom up, then adding rounds again at the bottom to clean up the stitches and overall look.

Round 1: Ch 38, sl st in BLO of first st made to create a ring. Ch 1, {sc, ch 1, sc} in BLO of same st as join, sk 2 sts, * {sc, ch 1, sc} in BLO of next st, sk 2 sts; rep from * around. Join with a sl st in first sc. [26 sc, 13 ch-1 sps]

Round 2: Ch 1, working through both loops of your sts {sc, ch 1, sc} in same st as join, PM in first sc made, sk 2 sts, * {sc, ch 1, sc} in next st, sk 2 sts; rep from * around, do not sl st to join. [26 sc, 13 ch- 1 sps]

Continue working in the continuous round, moving your marker as you go.

Rounds 3-5: {Sc, ch 1, sc} in marked st, sk 2 sts, * {sc, ch 1, sc} in next st, sk 2 sts; rep from * around, do not sl st to join. [26 sc, 13 ch-1 sps]

Round 6: {Sc, ch 1, sc} in marked st, sk 2 sts, * {sc, ch 1, sc} in next st, sk 2 sts; rep from * to last st sts, sk next st and sl st in last st of round. [26 sc, 13 ch-1 sps]

Leaving your hook inside your working loop, flip the cozy inside out so that the wrong side of the sts are facing outward before moving on. Visualize this in my video.

Round 7: Ch 1, TURN, sc in BLO of each st around. Join with an invisible sl st.

Round 8: Ch 1, sc through both loops of each st around. Join with an invisible sl st.

Round 9: Ch 1, loosely sl st in the BLO of each st around. Join with an invisible join. Weave in all tails.

Finishing Rounds

Most of these rounds are worked in the continuous round. You may want to utilize a SM for your first st of every round.

Round 1: Join with a sl st in any st of round 1. Sl st in every st around. [38 sl sts]

Round 2: Working in the continuous round, sl st in the BLO of every st around. [38 sl sts]

Round 3: Switch to your size G 4.0 mm hook. Do not ch 1. Sc in the BLO of every st around. Do not sl st to join. [37 sc]

Round 4: Switch to your size F 3.75 mm hook. Going through both loops, sl st in every st around. Join with an invisible join and weave in all tails.

Your Kendall Cup Cozy is complete! I would love to see your finished work! If you want to tag me on IG, I’m @dayscrochetnc. You could also use the hashtag #kendallcupcozy to follow what others are making.  I can’t wait to see your projects! If you would like to see other versions that I will be making after this publication, be sure to check me out on IG!

Please note that you do not have my permission to sell, share hard copies or screenshots, copy, or duplicate this pattern or my photos in any way. Please do not use this pattern for a video, blog, or class tutorial (unless you are asking the class to use my website or purchased pdf). Thank you so much for following these simple rules! Please message me on Facebook or send me an email at dayscrochetnc@gmail.com with any questions.

Come join my Facebook group, Crochet for Days! We have a lot of fun and I often offer discounts and coupon codes to my members that I don’t offer anywhere else! Request to join and answer the questions by following this link.

Did you enjoy making this project? Let me know in the comments!

Happy Hooking!

~Dana