Knitted Fitted Cover (for a Bucket!)

Handmade Knitted Bucket Cover 11th Anniversary Fitting in Knitting Children Quick Craft Ideas

How to Knit a Fitted Cover

Complete Knitting Size - 7cm height x 25cm circumference at the top

What you will need...

Total time - 1 Hour 50 Minutes Each Knitted Cover as Shown

3.25mm knitting needles (UK 10, US 3)

Item you wish to Cover (e.g. small bucket/flask)

Double knitting yarn - desired colours

Buttons (assorted to preference)

Sewing up needle

Scissors

Handmade Knitted Bucket Cover 11th Anniversary Gift Fitting in Knitting Children Quick Craft Ideas

Before You Start...

Abbreviations

K = Knit   P = Purl   St = Stitch   Sts = Stitches

Cast On - I use the thumb method.

St-st = stocking stitch. Alternating a row of knit stitches (right side), with a row of purl stitches (wrong side).

G-st = Garter stitch. Every row knit (no purl stitches).

K2tog = Decrease by knitting two stitches together, making one stitch from two.

Sl2tog - Slip two stitches together from the left needle to the right.

p2sso - pass two slipped stitches over (over the knitted stitch).

Cast off - P wise. US - bind off.

TOP TIP

Vary the size according to any particular bucket or object you wish to cover - see Now for the Maths! below...

Vary your colours and use other knitting patterns to help choose your added decoration to the basic knitted cover main piece. E.g. Instead of a sailboat, add some knitted flowers or knitted hearts. (See Make it Different below).

If sewing isn't your strong point, little buttons with their choking hazard should obviously be avoided for small children.

How to Make it...

Made from one knitted main piece, and two smaller knitted pieces to make up the knitted sailboat. All pieces are sewn together with added decorative side buttons. This pattern fits the particular pot I chose, but see how to amend the pattern to fit any pot you like (See Now for the Maths! below...)

Main Piece

Handmade Knitted Bucket Cover Plain Piece 11th Anniversary Gift Fitting in Knitting Children Quick Craft Ideas

Make 1 for Each Cover

Time - 50 Minutes Each Piece

Size 7 cm height

25cm upper circumference, 20.5cm lower circumference

Needles 3.25 mm

Yarn Blue (or as per preference)

Cast on 56sts

G-st 3 rows

Beginning with a P row st-st 3 rows

*K5, (K2tog, K9) 4 times, K2tog, K5 (51sts)

Beginning with a P row st-st 5 rows

**K5, (K2tog, K8) 4 times, K2tog, K4 (46sts)

Beginning with a P row st-st 4 rows

G-st 5 rows

Cast off Kwise

Sailboat Sail

Handmade Knitted Sailboat Sail Fitting in Knitting Children Quick Craft Ideas

Make 1 as Needed

Time - 20 Minutes Each

Size 4 cm

Needles 3.25 mm

Yarn White

Cast on cast on 10sts

Next row ***K1, K2tog, K to end (9sts)

Next row P ****

Repeat pattern from *** to **** until 3sts are remaining

Next row sl2tog, K1, p2sso, and fasten off.

Sailboat Hull

Handmade Knitted Sailboat Hull Fitting in Knitting Children Quick Craft Ideas

Make 1 as Needed

Time - 5 Minutes Each

Size 3 cm

Needles 3.25 mm

Yarn White

Cast on 10sts

P 1 row

Cast of Kwise

Piece it Together...

Handmade Knitted Bucket Cover 11th Anniversary Gift Sewing on Detail Fitting in Knitting Children Quick Craft Ideas
Sewing on Sailboat

Sailboat

Pin the knitted sailboat pieces to the cover main piece to correctly position and sew just underneath the edges to keep your clean edge.

Sewing it a quarter of the way from the edge of the main cover piece will allow the completed sailboat to lie directly on the front/back of the cover when made up.

Handmade Knitted Sailing Boat on Bucket Cover 11th Anniversary Gift Fitting in Knitting Children Quick Craft Ideas
Knitted Sailboat
Handmade Knitted Bucket Cover Piece 11th Anniversary Gift Fitting in Knitting Children Quick Craft Ideas
Knitted Cover Piece

Lettering

Sew on buttons in your desired position. A quarter of the way from the edge of the main cover piece will allow the completed lettering to lie directly on the front / back of the cover when made up.

If used, ensure that all pins are removed when completed.

Handmade Knitted Bucket Cover 11th Anniversary Fitting in Knitting Children Quick Craft Ideas
Sweetie Bucket Cover
Handmade Knitted Bucket Cover Anniversary Label Fitting in Knitting Children Quick Craft Ideas
Little Anniversary Message

Make it Different...

Adjust the size according to your underlying item - see below for how to adjust!

Choose your own colours and lettering to make your cover personalised and unique. Try sewing on simple smiley faces with button noses (or a knitted emoji!), or even choose different knitted flowers, knitted hearts or other small knitted pieces from other knitting patterns - just mix and match.

If making several and you want to make them even quicker, you may also wish to leave your cover plain. A set of knitted covers each with a different colour can allow children to each have their own. Or allow organising of other bits and bobs of set colours, e.g. buttons.

Finger knitted handles will stop the cover falling off your bucket if it is going to be moved around or carried everywhere by little children.

Perfect handmade gift to both tidy up bits and bobs or cheer up a room!

Handmade Knitted Bucket Cover 11th Anniversary Gift Fitting in Knitting Children Quick Craft Ideas
Fitted Knitted Pencil Pot Cover
Handmade Knitted Bucket Cover 11th Anniversary Gift Chip Bucket Fitting in Knitting Children Quick Craft Ideas
Bucket

NOW FOR THE MATHS!

Adjust the size of your cover according to your underlying item - whether that's a bucket, flask or plantpot!

Check Your tension...

This is how 'tight' your yarn is to your needle. Traditionally this is knitting a 10cm piece and working out how many stitches you need to cast on to produce that size. However - if you've got an old knitted piece, just measure that to work out how many stitches you need per centimetre. Although your tension may be similar to mine, this is often unique to yourself, especially if you've just learnt how to knit. (My yarn was so tight when I just started to learn that I could hardly fit the needle through!)

Handmade Knitted Bucket Cover Sailing Boat Size Fitting in Knitting Children Quick Craft Ideas
Measuring for Size
Handmade Knitted Cover Yarn and Tension Fitting in Knitting Children Quick Craft Ideas
Yarn and Tension

Check Your Yarn and Needle Size

The size of your knitted piece will also depend on the yarn you are using - each company/brand will be different. The label often advises using a particular needle size and you can stick to this with the tension guide as above, and some labels may also give you a guide on how many stitches per cm.

Handmade Knitted Cover Yarn and Tension 2 Fitting in Knitting Children Quick Craft Ideas
Yarn and Tension

Measure your pot - Three measurements

The top circumference - This will be your cast-on edge. Mine was 25cm.

I calculated 56 sts to cast on according to my tension and yarn.

My tension - 22.5 sts for every 10cm

22.5/10 = 2.25 sts per cm

2.25 sts x 25 cm circumference = 56.25 = 56 stitches to cast on

You can always check your completed cast on row against your object to make sure it's not wildly different.

The Base Circumference and Height

My measures 20.5 cm around the base.

My tension = 2.25sts per cm = 2.25 x 20.5 = 46.125 = 46 sts

Therefore I need to work from 56 sts at the top cast on edge, down to 46 sts at the bottom cast off edge.

56sts - 46sts = 10 sts to decrease over the height.

My bucket cover height = 7cm

Calculate Your Decreasing Rows

Due to the short distance, and to simplify the pattern, I felt that decreasing these 10 sts over 7 cm could just be done on two 'decreasing rows' i.e. Decreasing 5 sts on each of these two rows. These two decreasing rows would be evenly placed if done at one third and two thirds of the way down the pot.

*For the first Decreasing Row (see * on main piece pattern above) - 56 sts needs to go down by 5sts (to make 51 sts) i.e. We will need 5 lots of K2tog

So we need to work out 56/5 = 11 (plus 1 stitch left over)

Therefore each K2tog (2 sts), will be accompanied by 9 regular sts (11-2=9)

This leaves us with (K2tog, K9) 5 times, plus the 1 stitch left over.

However, we need to consider that we don't really want the K2tog next to the seam - it looks a bit neater and more even if we split one of the 'K9' sections to be at the start as well as the end of the row.

Hence - K5, (K2tog, K9) 4 times, K2tog, K5 (51sts)

(The above end of the row K5 includes the extra 1 stitch left over.)

**For the second Decreasing Row (see ** on main piece pattern above) - 51 sts needs to go down by 5sts (to make my 46 sts at the bottom cast off edge) i.e. We again need 5 lots of K2tog.

So we need to work out 51/5 = 10 (plus 1 stitch left over)

Therefore each K2tog (2 sts), will be accompanied by 8 regular sts (10-2=8)

This leaves us with (K2tog, K8) 5 times, plus the 1 stitch left over.

Again, we need to consider that we don't really want the K2tog next to the seam - it looks a bit neater and more even if we split one of the 'K8' sections to be at the start as well as the end of the row.

Hence - K5, (K2tog, K8) 4 times, K2tog, K4 (46 sts)

(The above start of the row K5 includes the extra 1 stitch left over.)

Remember! Knitted yarn is very forgiving and if you slightly miscalculate then don't worry - your end result can often stretch, or you can stitch in a bit tighter at the seam. Or if it still ends up a bit baggy - be sure to add those finger-knitted bow handles to hold it a bit tighter, or find a last-minute bigger pot!

Behind the Scenes!

These patterns are all made up as I go along, learning from mistakes along the way. Every time I create a new pattern, I record it in the Updates part of this site (effectively my blog…)  There is a story behind each creation, and this can help give you some more ideas and inspiration.

All done?

Feel free to share your successes or any other tips or suggestions by emailing me. If it's all gone swimmingly and you're ready for you next challenge, have a look at what to try next!