Woman who knitted a woolly Buckingham Palace fashions Coronation tea cosy - how to make your own

Nothing could be more British than a right Royal teas-up.

Our nation loves a brew and it’s estimated 27 million of the nation’s kettles will be boiled as we tune into the live screening of King Charles III being crowned alongside Queen Consort Camilla at Westminster Abbey next week.

But as the 1,000-year-old pomp and pageant is expected to be several hours’ long, from procession to investiture, the Coronation cuppa will need to be kept warm.

We’re giving readers the chance to knit their own commemorative Coronation tea cosy – and as Blue Peter would say, we got Royal knitter, Margaret Seaman, to make one earlier.

The purly queen, who turns 94 this month, took a break from her epic project knitting Buckingham Palace and created her own Wool Warehouse-designed tea cosy fit for a king.

“It comes up quite big – it’s perfect for a family-sized pot of tea,” she said, after completing the yarn retailer’s design.

Margaret with her regal creation (Phil Harris)

Margaret with her Buckingham Palace model (Norfolk Makers Festival/Collect)

And the supreme knitter had a bit of handy advice for would-be crafters. Margaret says: “When sewing the white ermine fur to the base of the cosy, keep the stitching nice and loose so that it fits easily over a spout and handle.”

Previously Margaret spent two years knitting an 18ft woolly replica of Sandringham Palace for 15 hours a day to raise funds for Addenbrooke’s new Cambridge Children’s Hospital.

And now, having spent eight months knitting Buckingham Palace for 10 hours a day, Margaret’s masterpiece – complete with mini guards in bearskin hats – is almost finished. She says: “I have four to six weeks’ knitting left to extend the road out to the mall from the gates and knit the white marble Queen Victoria memorial roundabout.”

The gilded bronze Winged Victory, imposing Queen Victoria and other marble statues on the memorial represent courage, constancy, victory, truth and motherhood. A fitting way for a great-great grandmother from Caister-on-Sea in Norfolk to finish her patriotic fund-raising projects.

Born in 1929 to a local Norwich family, Margaret is the last of her six siblings, but she has been blessed with her own large family. Her aim has always been to raise as much money for the NHS which cared for her late husband Fred, who passed away, aged 84, from prostate cancer in 2013.

Margaret spent eight months on the palace project (Norfolk Makers Festival/Collect)

She says, “When Fred died, I never went back to our bungalow again and just stayed with Tricia. You get better at dealing with grief, but it never gets easier.”

Joining a knitting club helped Margaret with her loneliness, and she first came to fame displaying her work at the Norfolk Makers Festival, an annual event held at The Forum, Norwich.

Margaret’s greatest fan is Jayne Evans, festival producer, who says, “We are incredibly proud of Margaret. Her knitting has helped countless people, not just through the money she has raised, but through the joy she has brought to people who meet her when she displays her installations.

“She is living proof that you are never too old to reach for the stars and that knitting is a special kind of magic!”

The prodigious freestyle knitter is as much an architect and an engineer as she is as a craft person. “It’s more than knitting,” says Margaret. “It’s like building a house and making the right shape bricks."

Margaret was inspired into creativity after the death of her husband (Phil Harris)

Having previously been awarded a British Empire medal (BEM), Margaret had already met the late Queen and Princess Anne, but now she has received a very special Royal invitation.

Brimming with excitement, she says, “I’ve been invited to the garden party at Buckingham Palace on May 3 to meet the King and Queen Camilla and other members of the Royal family.”

As someone who was aged 24 at the last Coronation, Margaret has wise words for our late Queen’s eldest son. She says, “Our future King has got a lot to live up to, and he’s been a bit quiet of late… but it’s a big change for him. I think he’s going to do very well.”

On the day of the Coronation, Margaret and her family will be at their own brightly-coloured stripey beach hut by Wellington Pier at Great Yarmouth.

She says, “I’ll be sitting at our beach hut knitting the flower pots, huts and red, white and blue dogs that we sell to raise money for the hospital – and hopefully the sun will shine on us all.”

Needles at the ready! How to make your own Coronation Cosy like Margaret

Materials Needed:

1 pair 4mm knitting needles

1 pair 6mm knitting needles

Needle for sewing together

Stitch Holder or Waste Yarn

100g Yarnsmiths Chunky 5330 Plum Purple

100g Yarnsmiths Chunky 5140 Mustard Yellow

50g King Cole Moments DK Shade 470 White

Oddments of black yarn

Jewels, sequins, gems or buttons to decorate

Sizing: Tea cosy designed to fit a standard 4 cup tea pot 18cm tall x 45cm round

Abbreviations

k – Knit

p – Purl

sl – Slip a stitch knitwise

m1 – Make one. Using left needle, pick up the loop between stitches and knit it to create a stitch

k2tog – Knit 2 together

ssk – Slip, slip, knit - slip the next two stitches knit-wise then move them back onto left needle and knit both together.

KFB - Knit in front and back of the stitch, making a stitch.

1 x 1 Rib - Knit 1, Purl 1 repeat to end

Instructions

Using long tail cast on and 6mm needles, cast on 50 stitches in Plum Purple

Rows 1 - 4: Work 4 rows 1x1 rib

Row 5: Sl 1, k to end

Row 6: Sl 1, p to end

Now move the next 25 stitches onto a stitch holder or scrap yarn. You will pick these up again later.

Side One

Row 7: Sl1, k1, m1, k21, m1, k2 (27 sts)

Row 8: Sl1, p to end

Row 9: Sl1, k1, m1, k23, m1, k2 (29 sts)

Row 10: Sl1, p to end

Row 11: Sl1, k1, m1, k25, m1, k2 (31 sts)

Row 12: Sl1, p to end

Row 13: Sl1, k30 to end.

Row 14: Sl1, p to end

Row 15-20 Repeat rows 13 & 14 three more times.

Cut yarn leaving approx. 10 cm tail and place the 31 stitches that you have just been working on, onto a stitch holder/waste yarn.

Follow the handy instructions and you should get a cosy like this one (Phil Harris)

Side Two

Transfer unworked sts back onto needle and rejoin yarn.

Repeat instructions for Side One

Cut yarn leaving approx. 10 cm tail.

All Stitches

Now working across all stitches. (62 sts)

Row 35 Sl1, k1, k2tog, k23, ssk, k4, k2tog, k23, ssk, k2. (58 sts)

Row 36 Sl1, p to end

Row 37 Sl1, k1, k2tog, k21, ssk, k4, k2tog, k21, ssk, k2 (54 sts)

Row 38 Sl1, p to end

Row 39 Sl1, k1, k2tog, k19, ssk, k4, k2tog, k19, ssk, k2 (50 sts)

Row 40 Sl1, p to end

Row 41 Sl1, k2, k2tog, *k3, k2tog* repeat from * to end (40 sts)

Row 42 Sl1, p to end

Row 43 Sl1, k1, k2tog, *k2, k2tog* repeat from * to end (30 sts)

Row 44 Sl1, p to end

Row 45 Sl1, k2tog, *k1, k2tog* repeat from * to end (20 sts)

Row 46 Sl1, p to end

Row 47 K2tog to end (10 sts)

Change to Mustard Yellow yarn

Row 48 P

Row 49 K

Row 50 P

Row 51 K2tog to end (5 sts)

Row 52 P

Break yarn with long tail. Thread through stitches and fasten off.

Gold Trim (Make 2)

Using 6mm needles cast on 30 sts in Mustard

Row 1 & 2 Knit

Cast off

Ermine Trim

Using 4mm needles cast on 75 stitches in King Cole Moments yarn

Row 1-10 Knit

Cast off

Side Crosses (Make 8 - 4 for each side)

Using 6mm needles cast on 2 stitches using Mustard Yellow

Row 1 K1, KFB last stitch (3 sts)

Row 2 K2, KFB last stitch (4 sts)

Row 3 K3, KFB last stitch (5 sts)

Row 4 K4, KFB last stitch (6 sts)

Row 5 Knit

Cast off

Top Cross (Make 4)

Using 6mm needles cast on 2 stitches using Mustard Yellow

Row 1 K1, KFB last stitch (3 sts)

Row 2 K2, KFB last stitch (4 sts)

Row 3 K3, KFB last stitch (5 sts)

Row 4 K4, KFB last stitch (6 sts)

Row 5 K5, KFB last stitch (7 sts)

Row 6 K6, KFB last stitch (8 sts)

Row 7-10 Knit

Row 11 K2tog, K6 (7sts)

Row 12 K2tog, K5 (6 sts)

Row 13 K2tog, K4 (5 sts)

Row 14 K2tog, K3 (4 sts)

Row 15 K2tog, K2 (3 sts)

Row 16 K2tog, K1 (2 sts)

Row 17 K2tog and fasten off.

To Make Up

Measure your teapot, noting position and size of handle and spout. With right sides together sew sides of the tea cosy together using backstitch. Remembering to leave a hole for the handle. Weave in ends. Attach Gold Trim pieces to sides of front and back of cosy as per image.

Attach side cross pieces to front and back of tea cosy as per image.

Attach fur trim to the base of the tea cosy as per image.

To give texture, you can add some small black stitches to make the fur look a little like ermine!

For top cross stitch fold piece in half and stitch around the edge.

Once all four triangles have been stitched, stitch them together in the centre to form a cross and attach to the top of the tea cosy as per image.

Now you can decorate your crown. You can use buttons, beads, gems or embroider your design.

Be as creative as you want to be!

Now you can sit down and enjoy a royal cuppa!

* You can see Margaret’s work at norfolkmakersfestival.co.uk and donate to her charity at www.justgiving.com/page/margaret-knit-for-addenbrookes