making winter warm and cosy

Do you really need to be feeling under the weather or have a sore back to fill one of these and snuggle under a blanket in front of a good film? Well it helps. Mind you, so does a bar of Green&Blacks. I crocheted this without a pattern - it looks precisely tailored for a hot water bottle but it's just a rectanglur pocket with an eyelet row somewhere near the neck of the bottle. I made a cord using chain stitch with two strands of the wool, and added the oversize pompoms for a fun element. The wool is Rowan Big Wool Fusion in three shades (which had been in my stash since learning to knit 4 years ago).

Being a bit of a novice I made the 'fabric' a little tightly woven. If I were making another I'd use a bigger crochet hook to create a much looser weave and therefore let a bit more heat through! I'd also do the whole thing in rounds rather than in two pieces (front and back). Doh!