How to Crochet a Mug Cozy (1-Skein Beginner Project)

Lay everything out before you cast on. You need worsted-weight cotton yarn (about 28g or 54 yards - one ball of WeCrochet Dishie or Lily Sugar 'N Cream is more than enough), a size H/8 (5mm) crochet hook, scissors, a tapestry needle, a stitch marker, and a ruler.

You'll also need one 1.5-inch button and either a sewing needle with matching thread or a length of your project yarn for sewing the button on later. Cotton is the recommended fiber here - it doesn't have the fuzzy halo that acrylic does, so you won't get fibers on your lips when you sip your coffee.

The cozy starts with a closed-center magic ring so there's no hole in the middle of the base. Lay the tail end across your palm and pin it under your thumb. Wrap the working yarn around your fingers, bring it across the back, and cross it over the front to form an X.

Insert your hook under the first strand and over the second, hook the second strand, and pull it back under the first. Twist your hand so the yarn forms a clean loop, yarn over with the working yarn, and pull through. That's your slip knot anchored to a closeable ring. If the wraps feel awkward, walk through the slower magic ring tutorial first - the rest of this pattern depends on getting it right.

Round one is six single crochets into the magic ring. Insert your hook into the ring, catching both the ring and the yarn tail (working over the tail now means you skip weaving it in later). Yarn over, pull up a loop, yarn over, pull through both loops on your hook. That's one single crochet.

Make five more for a total of six. When you finish, pull on the tail end to close the ring. The base will look like a tight little flower with six V-stitches around the center.

Now you're building a flat disc with single crochet increases in the round. Each round adds six stitches.

• Round 2: 2 sc in each stitch (12 sts)
• Round 3: sc, inc - repeat (18 sts)
• Round 4: sc 2, inc - repeat (24 sts)
• Round 5: sc 3, inc - repeat (30 sts)
• Round 6: sc 4, inc - repeat (36 sts)
• Round 7: sc 5, inc - repeat (42 sts)

An "inc" is two single crochets worked into the same stitch. You're working in a continuous spiral - no slip stitch to join, no chain to start. Move your stitch marker up to the first stitch of each new round so you don't lose your place.

Before you start the sides, measure. Lay the disc flat and measure across the widest point - front loop to front loop. You want 3.25 inches for a standard mug.

Hold the base against the bottom of your mug. It should match or sit a tiny bit smaller. If your mug is bigger than standard, work one more increase round (sc 6, inc - 48 sts) and re-measure. The base needs to fit, or the rest of the cozy will fight you.

This is the round that bends the flat base upward into walls. Work every stitch in the front loop only - that one detail is what creates the fold.

The repeat is: 1 sc and 1 dc in the same stitch, skip the next stitch. Keep going around. When you have 3 stitches left, skip one, single crochet into the front loop of the next, and leave the very last stitch unworked - that gap becomes the space for your mug handle.

The texture you see forming on the side - that's the cluster of single + double crochet stacked in the same stitch. New to double crochet? The double crochet tutorial has the full breakdown.

From here on you're working in rows, not rounds. Chain 1, turn, and now you're working in both loops again.

The body repeat is the same texture pattern: 1 sc and 1 dc in the same stitch, skip the next stitch, repeat across. When 2 stitches remain at the end of the row, skip one and single crochet into the very last. Chain 1, turn, and start the next row.

Repeat for ten rows total (rows 9 through 18). Try the cozy on your mug after row 18 - it should sit about half an inch below the rim. Too tall and you'll catch yarn on your lip when you sip. Add or subtract rows if your mug needs it.

The button-and-loop closure is what makes this pin-worthy. Chain 21 off the last stitch of row 18. Skip those chains and slip stitch back into that last stitch to anchor the loop. Drop your hook into the edge of row 17 and slip stitch a second time - that second anchor keeps the loop from flopping around.

Wrap the cozy around your mug. Stretch the loop over the handle, mark where the button needs to sit on the opposite side, then fasten off with a 4 to 6 inch tail.

Sew the 1.5-inch button on with either matching thread or a length of your project yarn (a yarn needle threads through wooden buttons easily). Tie off on the back, then weave in all ends with your tapestry needle. Slide it over your favorite mug - done.