Cable Knit Mug Cozy

During the winter a mug of hot coffee or tea is my best friend. It’s a wonderful feeling to wrap my cold hand around a warm cup of tea, but the feeling doesn’t last long if the beverage cools too quickly. Mug cozy to the rescue! Do you use mug cozies? Basically a mug cozy (a.k.a. mug warmer or mug sweater) is wrapped around your mug to keep the drink warm.

I’ve designed this particular mug cozy with a cable knit pattern. It’s a bit big, considering it wraps around most of my mug. I suppose it is more of a mug sweater than a typical cozy. But sometimes bigger is better! Give your mug a ‘Hygge hug’.

If you’d like to make this mug cozy yourself, I’ve got the free knit pattern below, along with instructions on making the optional pom-pom accessory. Hopefully the pom-pom doesn’t get in the way too much of drinking, but I think its cuteness is worth it!

Keep reading to learn how to make your own mug cozy…

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Supplies

• Approx. 25-30 yards of Super Bulky (6) yarn. I used Stitch Studio by Nicole ‘Heartfelt Heritage’ acrylic yarn in the color Antique White. You can find similar Lion Brand yarn here:

• For the optional pom-pom, use scraps from a smaller weight yarn in a similar or contrasting color. (I used Medium Weight (4) Cotton yarn – Premier Home Cotton in color Cream).

• Size 15 Knitting Needles and large cable needle (a.k.a. cable stitch holder)

• Scissors, tapestry needle

Cable Knit Mug Cozy Pattern

Terms

K – knit

P – purl

sts – stitches

Sl – slip

cn – cable needle

Rep – repeat

RS – Right Side, WS – Wrong Side

6-st left cable: Sl 3 sts to cn and hold to front of work, k3 from knitting needle, k3 from cn.

6-st right cable: Sl 3 sts to cn and hold to back of work, k3 from knitting needle, k3 from cn.

Steps

Cast On 30 sts with the Super Bulky (6) yarn and leave a tail approximately 6″ long.

Row 1 (RS): P4, k9, p4, k9, p4.

Row 2 (and all WS even rows): K4, p9, k4, p9, k4.

Row 3: P4, 6-st left cable, k3, p4, 6-st left cable, k3, p4.

Here is how your mug cozy will look after Row 3:

Row 5: Rep Row 1.

Row 7: P4, k3, 6-st right cable, p4, k3, 6-st right cable, p4.

A photo of the mug cozy after Row 7:

Row 8: Rep Row 2.

Row 9: Rep Row 1.

Bind off, leaving approximately 6″ tail.

Here is how your finished mug cozy should look, with the tails at the 2 corners of one short side:

(Optional) Steps for Pom-Pom

If you would like to accessorize your cozy with a tiny yarn pom-pom, the steps to make one are as follows:

Cut a strip of cardboard that is 1″ tall. Center your Medium Weight (4) yarn in the middle:

Wrap the yarn around the center approximately 25 times and cut:

Thread a 6″ piece of the yarn through the center of the wrapped yarn with a tapestry needle:

Tie the 6″ piece tightly around the middle of the wrapped yarn, knotting twice:

Slide the yarn off the cardboard strip, flip it over, and tie another knot around the middle of the wrapped yarn, knotting twice:

Carefully cut the yarn where the top and bottom of the cardboard had been (cutting the top & bottom ‘loops’ in half):

Hold the pieces of the 6″ tail, and fluff up your pom-pom:

Fit mug cozy onto mug:

Wrap the finished mug cozy around your mug, Right Side facing out.

Next, use a tapestry needle to join the top & bottom yarn tails to the opposite corners on the other short side. You can adjust your mug cozy fitting here, depending on the girth of your mug and where the handle is.

Once the corners have been joined where you would like, fasten the yarn tails with a knot and weave in the ends. At this point the cozy will be able to slide on and off the mug.

Optional – Attach your pom-pom

Thread a tapestry needle through the tail on your tiny pom-pom, and secure it through a stitch on a short side of the mug cozy.

I chose to attach my pom-pom a little lower than the top corner so that it wouldn’t get in my way while sipping.

There you have it – a finished mug cozy (or mug sweater) for your next cup of coffee!

Hopefully this big cozy doesn’t interfere too much with your sipping, but it could always be taken off if you want to guzzle. It’s a great way to keep your beverage warm while you’re busy doing something else (like blogging!).

You can purchase an inexpensive ad-free version of this mug cozy pattern (with photos) in my Etsy shop here.

Be sure to check out my other knit patterns here. I’ve got another mug cozy pattern without a pom-pom here.

Want to remember this? Post this free knit pattern to your favorite Pinterest board!