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Teapots (FAO: Americans)

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I'm staying with friends in New Orleans for a few weeks and because they are English I thought I would knit them a tea cosy as a present. But it turns out they don't have teapot here and Walmart don't sell them.

So - where can I buy a teapot on this tea-deprived continent?!

Thanks.

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Buy it in the states? Linens N Things... though alot of stores are closing as they have delcared bankruptcy... Bed Bath and Beyond also. Target also. Target is awsome ;) Please don't shop at walmart! When Chicago decided to raise theri minimum wage to $7 an hour over several years, walmart was very against it, even threatening to not build anymore stores in the area and not operate others. They also try their hardest to only hire part time workers so they don't have to pay for health insurance and other benefits, even though most of their workers are people in desperate need of full time work and insurance. and the ones that they do have to endure extremly long waiting periods and unnecessaryly expensive payments. Their enviromental problems are a scare and a half and their level of discrimination is appaling. http://walmartwatch.com/
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Ok. I don't use ASDA at home it's just where my friends shop. And we don't drive (annoyingly) so we have to go where they do.

    I'll look out those stores in NOLA. Ta.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    :thumb:

    Other stores that might sell them that I just thought of are department stores that will most likely be in any mall... JC Penny, Sears... Bloomingdales I think too? They are always having sales too and are dead cheap. LInnens and things have sales but BB&B don't. Though I'm sure every person in the country has a stack of 20% coupons they send out every week, if you are looking for a deal.

    My parents are really into tea, let me call and ask

    Ok, they have a really cool castiron which they bought at http://www.teavana.com/shop.axd/StoreLocations ... though it doesn't look like there are any stores there... don't know if you have any layovers or are stopping anywhere else. They also buy most their tea off http://www.theteatable.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=teapots and you could have it shipped to the person you are staying at... not to mention think of how cheap that would be for you with the exchange rate :p

    The ones at the big chain stores are most likely to be ones similar to http://www.theteatable.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=teapots just modern plain teapots, as opposed to teavana or other stores similar to that
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Hello!

    Have you already started knitting your tea cosy? I thought this was a perfect thread to show off a photo of a tea cosy that I knitted over Christmas, I was given a knit-a-hat kit for Christmas from a lady at my church but there was loads of left over yarn from the hat so I made my Dad a tea cosy too based very much on the same pattern but adapted a little bit so it has a pom-pom on top and holes for the handle and spout. I finished that on the same day I started it, it just took a few hours (I was staying at my Dad's so I was pretty bored with not much else to do to distract me!!)

    Also, I'm not sure if you had a pattern in mind but I found this one a while back on knitty.com which I thought looked fun (although I've not tried it yet):

    http://knitty.com/ISSUEwinter04/PATTkureyonkozy.html

    I hope you enjoy knitting your tea cosy and that your friends like it :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Randomgirl that tea cosy is lovely! I've just ordered some wool to make a hat but I've a feeling there may be some left over so I might make a little cosy!

    Am I right in thinking you have used ribbing stitch for the hat? I can knit and purl and do stocking stitch but for some reason I can't do ribbing! Please oh please will you share the secret!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    kangoo wrote: »
    Randomgirl that tea cosy is lovely! I've just ordered some wool to make a hat but I've a feeling there may be some left over so I might make a little cosy!

    Am I right in thinking you have used ribbing stitch for the hat? I can knit and purl and do stocking stitch but for some reason I can't do ribbing! Please oh please will you share the secret!

    Thank you :)

    I've been knitting for almost a year now and it has certainly got a lot better in that time! I think it is mostly practice. Also I've found reading a bit about techniques to be helpful, I've got a few books on knitting to refer to.

    You are right that the hat (and therefore the tea cosy too) was done with a rib stitch. It starts of with a 2x2 rib for a few inches and then reduces by knitting two together and purling two together every few stitches. It seems a bit daunting at first but it was actually quite easy.

    I'm not sure what the 'secret' to ribbing is, I remember not being able to do it though and now I can. I think that making lots of practice swatches helped me a lot as well as reading up on how to do it. When you look at stitches on your knitting needles can you tell if they are knit or purl yet? That helps! A lot!! (I couldn't tell them apart for my first couple of projects, they all looked much the same to me!) Also, once you have done knit knit you then always move the yarn BETWEEN the knitting needles to do the purl purl at the front and again BETWEEN the points of the knitting needles when doing more knit stitches.

    Also it depends on the maths a bit as to how to line them up but if you follow a pattern you shouldn't need to think about this too much! The total number of ribbed stitches needs to be a multiple of two (for a 2x2 rib stitch), or three (for a 3x3 rib stitch) etc. If you do a total number of stitches that is an even number multipled by say two (for a two by two rib stitch) then each row is exactly the same so it is easier. If it is an odd number multiplied by two (for a two by two rib stitch) then you do the reverse every other row. Hmmm not sure I've explained that very well at all.

    If you cast on 12 stitches and do k k p p k k p p k k p p then the next row will be exactly the same (because 2 x 6 = 12, and 6 is an even number). If you were to cast on 10 stitches and do k k p p k k p p k k then the next row will be the reverse i.e. p p k k p p k k p p (because 2 x 5 = 10, and 5 is an odd number). This is how they line up (or not if it goes wrong!!)

    That's probably about as clear as mud :yeees:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    This was the kit I used:

    http://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/cap-puccino-cup-of-yarn

    Although I wouldn't particularly recommend that one, it reads as if the person who wrote the thing doesn't know how to knit. But it was quite easy. I think mine was the colour called "ice blue".
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I :heart: Target - its great

    Otherwise you could try William Sonoma - i'm pretty sure they would have a teapot.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I found one in a random mall, so I've finally been able to sew it together; I'll post it soon. (Although if anyone uses Stitch'n'Bitch it's from the teacosy on p.250 of S'n'B Nation.)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    How funny... I just got a pink teapot from Target today for my birthday!

    Macademia rooibos is in there right now :yum:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Macademia rooibos is in there right now :yum:

    That sounds :yum:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    do they have a kettle?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Yes, they did have a kettle. Being British expats, but they didn't take a teapot.

    Anyhoo, finally uploaded my pics from holiday so here it is!

    n202900450_34030141_7691.jpg
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Wow that's great!!! :heart:

    I saw the pattern on the S'n'B website (well pics of the project, the actual pattern wasn't listed), did you design that lettering yourself?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Yeah, but I only needed to design the 'V' of Vicar and the comma, the rest of the letters are already in "Coffee, Tea or Me?". So it was a bit cheatish ;)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    How funny... I just got a pink teapot from Target today for my birthday!

    Macademia rooibos is in there right now :yum:
    I'll have to knit you a tea cosy for it, then... :yum:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Hmmmm ... my knitting pattern didn't seem to fit a teapot ... :confused:

    il_430xN.5156045.jpg
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    :lol: teagan!!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    lollll "tea cosy". It's a hat for a tea pot, hilarious.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    StrubbleS wrote: »
    lollll "tea cosy". It's a hat for a tea pot, hilarious.

    It's so that the tea stays warm in the pot whilst you drink your first cup so that your top up cups are still nice and warm :yes:
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