Jam cozies! I think they are so adorable and anyone who does a lot of canning and jam-gifting is bound to have seen them–and want them! A jam cozy makes the gift of a jar of jam that much more special. Seriously, who could even eat this jam now? (Okay, me, but I have more jam.) I started thinking about figuring out how to make one when I made my ruffled crochet dishcloth because I thought the stitch pattern and ruffles would look so cute in a cozy. All I had to do was come up with a way to make a base and put it all together.

This sweet little jam cozy is easy and fast–you can make it in about an hour and a half. The base is super quick–I made it in just a few rounds. The whole cozy is made using chains and single crochet with a triple crochet ruffle.

You can make this cozy smaller, or larger, for different sizes of jars by adding or removing from the starter chains of the wrap and making a larger base. To make the wrap wider, just be sure to chain an odd number and single crochet across your first row in an even number and go from there. To make it taller, add additional rows. To make a larger base, make additional rounds (repeating Round 2 with more chain-5 loops as needed). Keep a jar in the size you want your cozy to fit handy and double-check your rounds and rows to figure out what you need. You want the jar to fit easily–yet snug–in the cozy.

I used a pink, green, and cream variegated cotton yarn for the cozy with dyed raffia to make the bow.

How to make a Sweet Little Jam Cozy:

Finished Size:
Fits one standard half-pint jam jar

Materials:
*100% cotton worsted weight yarn (approximately 1 ounce)
*Crochet hook, size G

Base:
Round 1. Make a slip knot and chain 2. Make 6 single crochet (sc) stitches in the second chain from the hook. Join to the first sc with a slip stitch.
Round 2. Chain 1. Make 1 sc in the first stitch. *Chain 5 to make a loop then make 1 sc in the next sc. Repeat from * until you have 5 loops. For the last loop, chain 2 then make a double crochet in the next stitch to form the last loop. You now have 6 loops.

Round 3. Complete the base by making a ring connecting all the loops. Chain 3 and make a slip stitch into the middle chain of the first chain-5 loop. Repeat, continuing all the way around, until you finish the ring, joining in a final slip stitch.

Tie it off. (The side where you tie off will become the “wrong” side of your base, which will be on the inside of the cozy.) You should be able to set your jar on top of the base and see the base comfortably all the way around the bottom of the jar.

Wrap:
Row 1. Make a slip knot and chain 29.

Make the first sc in the back ridge of the second chain from the hook and in each chain across. You should have 28 sc.
Row 2. Chain 1, turn; skip first sc, 2 sc in next sc, *skip next sc, 2 sc in next sc; repeat from * across. 28 sc in each row. Repeat from * until you have made Row 2 ten times.

This should take the main part of your wrap almost to where you screw on the jar band. (Remember you’ll be adding the ribbon and ruffle rows, too.)

Ribbon Loops:
Row 1: Chain 2, turn; *skip 1 sc and make 1 sc in the next stitch then chain 2. Repeat from * all the way across the work. This row of loop spaces is where you will thread your ribbon, twine, or raffia to make a bow around the top of the cozy.

Ruffle:
Row 1. The ruffly row! (I love ruffly rows!) Chain 4, turn. Make one triple crochet (tc) in the same stitch then make four tc in every other stitch as you work across the piece, ending with 2 tc in the last stitch.

Finishing: Pull the sides of the wrap together. From the top of the ruffle, join the last tc onto the first tc with a slip stitch. Continue to neatly slip stitch all the way down the wrap.

When you reach the bottom, begin slip stitching the base onto the wrap. Remember that you are working on the “wrong” or inside of the wrap, so place the base accordingly. Once the base is fully attached, tie off the yarn.

Turn the wrap inside out. Thread ribbon, twine, or raffia through the loop row.

Tuck a jar inside and tie a bow. (I made a second cozy in yellow, cream, and green right away.)

Sweet!

P.S. I’m working on the knitting. I just learned how to make cable stitches!

And speaking of jam….

It’s a Ball Blue Book Project day! Today’s Ball Blue Book is sponsored by Alton Wright at ShadowWoods in honor of his mother and grandmother, the canning queens! Visit him here.

To win: Leave a comment on this post and let me know you want it. You can just put (BBB) at the end of your comment or otherwise note that you want to be in the draw. One winner will be drawn by random comment number to receive a Ball Blue Book. Eligible entry cut-off is midnight Eastern (U.S.) time tonight. This post will be updated with the winner no later than 9 AM Eastern (U.S.) time tomorrow. Return to this post to see if you won.

Find out more about the Ball Blue Book Project and become a sponsor.

Update 01/21/10: The winning comment number is #87, Sharon Gosney. Email me with your shipping info!

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED TO ENTRY.