French Press Love

I love a good cup of coffee. I can handle a crappy cup of coffee, but life is too short to dwell in Folger's Territory. So hand me those beans to grind, and I will happily take the time to make the perfect, rich, delicious, seductively dark cup of joe.

I love coffee soooo much, that I routinely kill my coffee makers. Yes, I am hard on my small appliances. Foolishly, I expect them to work (and work hard) on a daily basis. Apparently the designers in foriegn lands think either (a) Americans only need coffee once a week or less, or (b) will tolerate needing to buy a new coffee maker every other year or so. When my latest model crapped out, I decided it was time to step away from the drip and move into french press-land.

Oh, and what a wonderous land it is! After moving away from Anchorage, I thought I would never again find the proper cup of coffee. But here it is, in my own kitchen! Ahh, the French truly are the masters of all things cuisine. It makes me feel very chic to heat up my snazzy little electric kettle, measure my beans, and stir up the most wonderfully black libation....but there is a downside. I tend to savor, not gulp, my good coffee. And a french press coffee pot has zero insulation, so you wind up with cold coffee that needs to be microwaved, or incarcerated in a tin thermos. So not chic. But being the intrepid knitter that I am, I scoured the pages of ravelry.com (best knitting pattern site ever) and found a simple pattern for a french press cozy. Here it is, in all it's noro-varigated yarn glory, and yes, it works! So, my friends, unite with me in rising against the tyranny of nasty dried coffee that has been chemically treated up the whazoo, and join the french press revolution. Freedom!!

How to make a french press cozy:

You'll need size 10.5 or 11 needles and bulky weight yarn (or hold two strands worsted together). Cast on 19 stitches in the method of your choice. Knit in seed stitch (knit 1, purl 1 across all rows) until piece measures 10 inches. Bind off. Using a crochet hook, chain 15 stitches at each corner, and in middle of narrow rectangle-side. Wrap around your french press pot, and tie crochet ties together at top, bottom, and beneath the handle across the middle. Now your coffee will not only be hot and delicious, but stylish as well!