Crochet Hot Water Bottle Cover

a little write up of the hot water bottle cover I made for Floyd. I wanted it to be closed, because his tiny puppy teeth would of course try to pull it off and play with it. as you can see in the picture, he has been a little rough on it already, chewing the ends and biting it. due to the dense single crochet, the cover stays firm. it is so funny to see him try to pull it out of his crate to play with, while it is too heavy for him to lift.

I made this cover out of a washable 50% cotton 50% acrylic yarn, on hook size 5 mm. My guide was the beautiful photo tutorial Vanessa made on her pretty blog. the essential difference between hers and mine is where they start and end. the one I made starts with the closing end, and then works all away around the bottle in one piece; that will be crocheted together along the side edges later. to make it close firmly, I sewed in some velcro (klitteband, voor de Nederlandse lezers).

keep in mind that this pattern fits a regular sized hot water bottle when crocheted with this yarn, and my tension. when your version seems a little tight or loose, please adjust the pattern accordingly. to find out, fit the cover regularly to see if it still is the right size. most yarns will give a little, so you can make it pretty tight around the edges.

Hot Water Bottle Cover ~ The Pattern

* make a chain of 30 stitches

* make 87 rows of single crochet; the complete pattern is made of single crochet stitches

* start decreasing to make the top of the bottle a little curved: row 88 decreases 3 stitches by making no chain for the height of this row, crocheting together the first two stitches of the row, and two at the end. you now have 27 stitches

* row 89: decrease the same way as row 88, you now have 24 stitches

* row 90: decrease 3 stitches, you now have 21 stitches

* row 91: decrease 3 stitches, you now have 18 stitches

* row 92: decrease 3 stitches, you now have 15 stitches

* row 93: decrease 3 stitches, you now have 12 stitches

* row 94 + 95: 12 stitches of single crochet

* row 96: increase by 2 stitches (increase by making 2 single crochet in one stitch), one at the beginning and one at the end. you now have 14 stitches

* row 97: increase 2 stitches, you now have 16 stitches

* row 98: increase 2 stitches, you now have 18 stitches ~ this should match the height and width of the top of the bottle

* row 99-109: rows of 18 stitches to go around the top

* row 110: decrease with 2 stitches, you now have 16 stitches

* row 111: decrease with 2 stitches, you now have 14 stitches

* row 112: decrease with 2 stitches, you now have 12 stitches

* row 113 + 114: 12 stitches

* row 115: increase 3 stitches, you now have 15 stitches

* row 116: increase 3 stitches, you now have 18 stitches

* row 117: increase 3 stitches, you now have 21 stitches

* row 118: increase 3 stitches, you now have 24 stitches

* row 119: increase 3 stitches, you now have 27 stitches

* row 120: increase 3 stitches, you now have 30 stitches

* row 121-138: 30 stitches of single crochet

if needed, sew in the velcro. fit the cover around the bottle and if it is a good fit, start crocheting the sides together with single crochet stitches.

the F on this cover was embroidered onto it after it was finished

enjoy!

as you can see, Floyd is watching me closely while I take my pictures. and he let's me know when it is time to play again by softly biting my socks or pants. he is such good company, we are having a lot of fun together!