Jug cover ... with sea glass beads ...

Are you geared up for lemonade season?

It's always the simple things in life that matter most. And one of my favourite summer pleasures is a glass of ice-cold lemonade, sipped in the shade of my London plane tree on a hot, sunny day. It's even better when you make it for yourself. I've worked out own recipe using xylitol in place of sugar so that it's kinder to our tooth enamel. You can find my recipe for pink, homemade lemonade that won't rot your teeth here: The Very Best Homemade Lemonade

But the problem with enjoying that precious glass of anything outside is the flies. There's nothing quite like a dead bug floating on the top of one of those lovely bubbles to put you right off. So I've made this jug cover, weighed down by threaded shells and sea glass that I've beach-combed, to keep those pesky insects at bay:



It's pretty easy to make ...


You could, of course, use normal glass beads. I've gone for a seaside theme and added a few nautical charms (from a craft shop) to my shells and sea glass to complete the look.

I used Wendy Supreme 4 ply 100% cotton yarn in sand and light blue working on 2.5 mm double ended knitting needles (5 of) for the main circle of the cover and a 2.00 mm crochet hook for the border.


You need to start by casting on 8 stitches, and then dividing them so that you have two stitches on each of four needles. You will use the fifth needle to knit in the round. This bit is fiddly, but it gets easier as you knit on. Once you get started the 4 needle arrangement holds itself in place with the natural tension of the knitting. But be especially careful when you start knitting so that your first row doesn't get twisted.



Knit the first row.

On the second row, knit into the front and back of every stitch on each of the needles. At the end of the second row you should have 16 stitches: 4 on each needle.

Knit rows three to five.

On row 6 you double the stitches again by knitting into the front and back of each stitch. At the end of this row you should have 32 stitches in total.

Rows 7 to 11 are knit rows.

Row  12: double the number of stitches by knitting into the front and back of each stitch all the way round. At the end of this row you should have 64 stitches.

Knit Rows 13 to 19.


Row 20: Add another 32 stitches by knitting into the front and back of every second stitch on each of the four needles. At the end of this row you should have 96 stitches in total.

Knit Rows 21 to 25.

Row 26: Add another 32 stitches by knitting into the front and back of every third stitch on each of the four needles. At the end of this row you should have 128 stitches.

Knit Rows 27 to 31.

Row 32: Add another 32 stitches by knitting into the front and back of every fourth stitch on each of the four needles. At the end of this row you should have 160 Stitches.

Knit Rows 33 to 35.

Cast off knitwise.

I was aiming at a circle with a 17 cm. diameter, but if you'd like to make a bigger one, just carry on doing a 32 stitch increase on every 6th row, spreading your increases out evenly along the rows. The next increase row, for example, would be row 38 and it would involve knitting into the front and back of every 5th stitch.


Once you've cast off, you need to block the circle.


I do this on the ironing board, pinning the circle to a towel and then hovering over it with a hot steam iron so that the knitting becomes saturated with the vapour of the ironing water. Don't let the hot surface of the iron touch the textile. Just hold it very close so that the steam from the steam jets sprays across it. 

Then leave it overnight to dry off, and, by the next morning, it will have stretched and flattened into an altogether better-behaved textile that doesn't curl up around the edge. 


When the main circle is blocked, you're ready to add the picot edging.


I used a contrasting blue colour for this. With the right side facing towards you join on with a slip stitch. Chain one, miss the first double crochet and do a double crochet stitch into the next one. Then work your way all around the circumference with a row of double crochet stitches (UK terminology). Join to the first chain 1 with a slip stitch.



Row 2: Chain 1, miss the first double crochet and then work a double crochet into the next one. *Chain 5, miss one double crochet and then work a double crochet into the next stitch. Work another double crochet into the next stitch*. Repeat from * to * all the way round. Cast off, darn in your ends, and sew your beads to the picot edging.


Ta-dah! You're done!


Time to put your feet up and celebrate with a nice glass of lemonade.

All the best for now,

Bonny x