Knit Apple Cozy {Iron Craft Challenge}

This week’s Iron Craft challenge was all about fruit and flowers.

It took me a long time to come up with something I wanted to do, but I finally landed on a knit apple cozy, which could certainly protect an orange, too. It’s a simple little bag that I jazzed up with a stitched on flower motif, but you could also leave it plain or work it in stripes or a multicolored yarn.

This is a project you can easily finish in an afternoon (ask me how I know) and is really useful if you like to take fruit in you bag and don’t want it to get all bruised up.

Materials

• about 33 yards of medium/worsted weight cotton or cotton blend (I think mine is actually Lion Brand Cotton Ease, but it was unlabeled stash)
• a couple of yards of contrasting medium weight yarn for the flower motif
• set of size 7 US (4.5 mm) double-pointed knitting needles, or needles of your choice for working in the round
• yarn needle for stitching the flower

Gauge

About 17 stitches and 26 rounds per 4 inches/ 10 cm in Stockinette Stitch in the round; Gauge is not all that critical but you want it to be firm enough to hold your fruit

Size

My finished bag is almost 3 inches/7.5 cm across the base and almost 4 inches/10 cm tall, to fit small fruit; increase more to hold larger fruit

Knitting the Apple Cozy

1. Cast on 6 stitches. Divide onto needles and join in the round.
2. Knit 1 round.
3. Knit in the front and back of every stitch. 12 stitches.
4. Knit 2 rounds.
5. Knit in the front and back of every stitch. 24 stitches.
6. Knit 3 rounds.
7. *Knit 1, kfb. Repeat from * around. 36 stitches.
8. Knit 1 round.
9. Purl 1 round.
10. Knit until piece measures 3 inches/7.5 cm from purl round.
11. *Yarn over, knit 2 together. Repeat from * around.
12. Knit 2 rounds.
13. Bind off.
14. Weave in ends.

Flower Embellishment

I added a little flower design in duplicate stitch, which you can probably make out just from the pictures. It takes 7 stitches and 7 rows to complete and involves two rows of three stitches and one row of two stitches on each side, plus a stitch in the middle.

You can, of course, embellish in any way you like, or not at all.

I also used some of the contrasting yarn for a drawstring, but you can use a ribbon, hemp cord or whatever else you like.

I think this little bag is really cute and I’m sure to find more to use it for than fruit. Hope you like it!