Kozy Up with a Good Book

the wheels started turning a few months ago after stitchy mc yarnpants announced that her book was coming out.  there was much rejoicing of course.  and sucking up.  (because of course who doesn't want to be chummy chummy with a published author. )  and finally, inspiration.  others are inspired by nordic patterns, complex lace, beauty in nature, gorgeous yarns.  i'm inspired by scary clowns made of red heart and the nausea inducing yet oddly comforting granny square.

i present to you my latest crochet incarnation ... "The Kitschy Kozy."

made of non-kitschy patons classic merino, the kozy can also be crocheted in red heart (preferably).  i used odd balls of paprika ("shag carpeting" rust), dark olive ("avocado"), old gold ("harvest gold"), chestnut brown ("ugly fake wood paneling" brown), and red.

would you like a kozy to protect your museum of kitschy book?  it's really quite simple.

the front and back of the kozy were made of 4 4-rowed granny squares stitched together.  how big your squares end up being depends on your gauge and the yarn you're using, so experiment.  with the right side of each panel facing you, on one side of each panel, single crochet an even number of rows so that the the total number of single crochet rows is as wide as the binding of the book  is wide.  sew the binding edges together so that wrong side of each panel are facing eachother.   then starting at one of the binding edges, single crochet around the whole mess.  i needed to only crochet 1 row.  again, depending on the size of your squares, you may need to crochet more rows.

to attach your kozy to your museum of kitschy stitches book, make 2 chains that when pulled taut are long enough to reach from the top edge of the book to the bottom and attach to the single row edging. 

to create a tie closure, to keep your book closed, make two chains and attach one to each panel opposite the binding side.  then tie.

voila!  you're done.  and your book is protected and decorative at the same time.