The joy of having 3 kids who have supreme faith in your ability to knit and crochet anything is that you always have something you need to make "right now!" Occasionally, it's something like "can you make me a sweater today?" which.... um... no. Not today, heh. But luckily it's also things like "can you make me a new water bottle cover in my new favorite colors?" and that's a big YES! So within a week of making a Zig Zag Zoom Bottle Cozy for kid #1, kid #3 had a request for one for himself. With a couple of alterations, of course...
He wanted just two colors, green and black, which was going to give it a very different look. And his water bottle, which we purchased especially to fit in his preschool lunchbox, was decidedly non-standard in shape and size. So for those of you who have looked at one of my cozy patterns and thought "it's nice, but it's the wrong size," I just want to take a quick moment to explain just how simple it is to change a pattern to make it fit.
The original Zig Zag Zoom Bottle Cozy pattern calls for increasing the base to 36 sts, and then working up from there. When I started this version, I worked a few of the side rows before I thought to try it on the bottle. Oops - way too big! So I frogged it (rip it, rip it!) back to the end of Row 5, where I had 30 sts around. Then, skipping the directions for Row 6, I went straight to Row 7, where I worked evenly around. From there I followed the directions as written, except I had only 15 v-stitches and 15 clusters in the respective rows. And with only two colors involved, I definitely carried the yarn along the inside!
When I'd worked 5 rows of v-stitches and 4 rows of clusters, I'd reached the top of the bottle and it was time to stop! The important thing is to end on a v-stitch row. Now for a new challenge - this bottle doesn't taper at the top, and a tie is too messy and troublesome for a preschooler to deal with.The solution: I worked the instructions for Row 25, making 2 sc in each V as instructed, BUT as I worked these single crochets, I enclosed a large black elastic hair band that I snagged from my daughter's hair supplies, crocheting right over the band as I made the row. When I got to the end, the band was completely enclosed, and the top of the cosy was cinched a bit. I ended off this last row with the seamless join as instructed, took care of the ends, and done!
This pattern has lots of stretch, so bringing it in a full 6 sts in width wasn't a problem at all, and the elastic band in the top row keeps it right up at the top in the little crevice where the screw on lid meets the bottle - but not so tight as to make it hard to take off! And I really love how different the stitch pattern looks with just two colors. I hope this helps you see how altering a crochet cozy pattern can be done, and gives you some more finishing options for this very versatile pattern!
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