How to Knit a Coffee Cup Cozy {Step by Step}

It's Monday-- hope you all had an amazing weekend!

I've been seeing knitted coffee cup cozies for a a few years now, but they've really become popular over the last year. Today, I thought I'd share a tutorial so that you can learn how to knit your own. 

I'm no professional when it comes to knitting. I promise that if I can do this, so can you! I can knit scarves and more scarves and I only know how to straight knit (no purls here)-- that's about it! Knitting a coffee cup cozy is kind of like knitting a tiny scarf, but it's a ton less work. 

I used size 13 straight knitting needles and super bulky yarn for this project. However, you could easily use smaller needles and thinner yarn. 

Begin by knotting the yarn around one knitting needle. Let the "tale" hang off to the side.

You will now "cast on." Because my yarn is really thick, I'm only adding seven stitches. If your yarn is thinner, you will probably want to add more rows. To cast on, wrap the yarn over the front of the needle and around your index finger.

Loop the needle under the yarn and loosely pull the yarn over the needle, creating a stitch. 

Now you have two stitches. 

Continue the process until there are seven stitches total (including the initial knot).

Next, you will knit the first row. Just to warn you, the first row is the hardest! Just make sure that you don't pull the yarn too tight-- the tension matters! 

Hold the needle with the yarn in your left hand. With your right hand, begin to knit the first row. Insert the point of the right needle into the first stitch from front to back, under the left needle.

Take the loose yarn and wrap it in-between the two needles.

Now, draw the yarn through the stitch with the point of the right needle. Slip the first loop of the left needle off, so that the stitch is now on the right side.

Ta-da!

Repeat the process until all of the stitches on the left needle are on the right needle. Because the left needle is now empty, it becomes the right needle. 

Continue the process.

Continue knitting until you have reached your desired length. Remember, the yarn does stretch! Mine is about 8" long.

Now, we will "cast off." In other words, we will now get your coffee cup cozy off of the knitting needle! Begin by knitting two stitches. 

Once you have knitted two stitches, bring the first stitch over the second stitch (don't let the second stitch fall off) and let the first stitch drop. 

The second stitch is all that is left on the right knitting needle and it now becomes the first stitch. Continue by knitting another stitch and repeating the process...

Eventually, you will have two stitches left. Repeat the process one last time.

You are now left with one stitch attached to the needle. While carefully grasping the stitch, gently slide it off of the needle.

Don't let go!

Cut your knitting from the excess ball of yarn- leaving just enough yarn to secure a knot (or leave a few inches for sewing the cozy together- *see below). Thread the yarn through the loop and knot it.

Trim the excess yarn from both ends. Your coffee cup cozy is now ready to be stitched together! *If you left extra yarn at the end, use it to stitch the ends together. If you trimmed the ends, grab a piece of yarn and stitch it together. You could even sew a button to one end and a loop to the other end-- this way, you can use your coffee cup cozy on a mug that has a handle.

Let me know if you have any questions! If you make your own cozy, I want to hear how it turns out :)