Tea-Loving Character Actress Starts Line of Tea Cozies

I am a big fan of tea, but I have to admit that I do not own a tea cozy. I have an electric tea kettle and brew my cuppas one at a time. But I love the look of a knitting-bedecked teapot, so I can definitely see the appeal of the Go Ons, a line of tea cozies designed and knit by Pauline McLynn.

If you don’t know who that is you’re probably not a fan of British television. McLynn is an actress and author probably best known for her role as the tea-loving Mrs. Doyle on the Father Ted series. The cozies are named for a favorite line of that character, “a go on!”

McLynn says she learned to knit from her mum and her gran could knit aran-patterned hats from the designs in her head. The cozies are a little less fancy than that, but they are each unique and many have beads, bobbles or novelty trim on them as well as being handknit.

The cozies cost between 50 and 90 euro and are sold in small (2 cup), medium (4 to 6 cup) and large (6 plus).

[Photo by Pauling McLynn.]

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Beautiful people and beautiful sweaters combine in Lasse L. Matberg’s Viking Knits. The book includes more than 40 Scandinavian inspired knits for men, women and children featuring textured stitches and colorwork.

Matberg is known as The Viking and has worked as a chef, naval officer, fitness instructor and model, as well as being on a couple of reality TV shows. He comes from a long line of makers and his book was first published in Norwegian in 2021 and has since come out in an English version.

The book is divided into sections including everyday sweaters, knits for the great outdoors, stylish knitwear, Norse sweaters and accessories. Some of the patterns use the same designs in different versions for men, women and children. I counted seven projects rated for beginners, 19 for intermediate knitters and 17 for experienced knitters. The more difficult patterns tend to have allover colorwork or stitch patterning.

The pattern stitches and colorwork are shown in charts, with a little bit of text to tell you how to make the garment. Most of the book is sweaters, but there are also hats (sometimes coordinating with sweaters), scarves and a couple of sitting mats.

You can check out all the patterns on Ravelry. Some of my favorites are the more basic ones, such as the Power Sweater, a close-fitting (sized for men) ribbed sweater; the Heart Sweater, a raglan with allover lice stitch; and the Midsummer Sweater, with textured stripes and a henley neckline. I also like the Breeze designs (there are versions for men, women and children) that have colorwork diamonds on them.

Sizing on the garments varies, but there are six sizes for the men’s patterns (noted as small through XXL and then Lasse sized), six for women (XS to XL) and three for children (age 2-4, 6-8 and 10-12).

The yarns used in the book aren’t available in the United States but you can find suppliers here if you want to use the same yarns. Otherwise the book gives a lot of details about yarn content and gauge so you should be able to find good substitutes wherever you live.

If you have Norwegian or Scandinavian heritage or just like the look of cozy textured or colorful sweaters, this book is a lot of fun, and the eye candy is pretty great, too.

About the book: 192 pages, hardcover, 43 patterns. Published in English in 2023 by Search Press. Suggested retail price $29.95.

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