Starting on the same end as the yarn, use the 3 rd double pointed needle and K all around your cast on stitches. You will knit the cover in the main color and then the sheep is added afterwards using the duplicate stitch. We have a 60-day return policy, which means you have 60 days after receiving your item to return it. The rubber trees don’t need to be cut down to harvest latex, so rubber tapping is not damaging to the forests. Trees need to grow to be at least 6 years old and 6 inches in diameter before they’re ready to be tapped. Once they’re ready, they’re tapped about once every two days but are often rested, especially after a period of particularly heavy tapping. By doing this a tree can be useful for up to 20 years! It is recommended that you replace your hot water bottles every 2-3 years, depending on how often you use them and how roughly they’re handled. This itself is a good enough reason why you should choose to buy a hot water bottle made from natural rubber, which is eco-friendly, sustainable and renewable, instead of one that’s made using rubber that’s man-made and harmful to our planet.

As you knit across the first row, you will want to also add the 4 th double pointed needle when it gets too tight to keep going along the row. Continue on the 2 nd cast on needle, while switching to new needles as needed. I also use my circle needle along with the double pointed set to give me an extra needle and create more flexibility. The first couple of rows feel tight and a little akward, but once you do a couple of rows it gets much easier. Be careful not to let the stitches slip off at the end of the needles. Our free cozy sheep hot water bottle cover knitting pattern is the perfect handmade gift for all of your loved ones or to make for yourself. This pattern is made to fit a standard 2 quart (1.9 litre) hot water bottle.

Yan Tan Tether Cushion Cover by KCGuild

But not every hot water bottle is as green (quite literally) as ours. This Chimney Sheep-green hot water bottle is made using natural, FSC-certified rubber, hand-drawn by farmers in Sri Lanka. The Fair Rubber Association then ensures that companies pay a Fair Trade premium for every kilogram of rubber bought. Not only is natural rubber, well, natural... but it's sustainable, renewable and even biodegradable, as it comes from a plant source! The perfect accessory for Winter, and useful all year round for everything from warming cold toes to helping ease a variety of conditions, this range of attractive, plush and practical hot water bottles make for an indispensable gift! Natural rubber is extracted from the “rubber tree” or Hevea brasiliensis, as latex milk. It is harvested by using a hooked knife and removing a thin layer of bark (about 6.4mm, or a quarter of an inch) in a downward half spiral of the tree trunk, allowing the latex to run down into a collecting cup. It takes a lot of skill to be able to tap correctly, but if done right, the tapping panel can yield latex for up to five hours. The farmers tap during the cool hours of the night or very early morning because when the temperature rises too much the latex will coagulate and seal the cut.

As you know, a hot water bottle is simply a heat retaining bottle that you fill with hot water, and it helps with easing pain or just keeping you (or your bed!) warm. Smaller items will be delivered using Royal Mail 24. Larger items delivered via FedEx or ParcelForce.Smaller items will be delivered using Royal Mail 48. Larger items will be delivered by Fedex or ParcelForce.

Synthetic rubber, however, is not at all good for the environment and impacts it a significant amount. All kinds of synthetic rubber are made using petrochemicals such as petroleum and natural gas, using a process called vulcanisation (meaning to harden using sulphur at a high temperature, usually between 140-160°C). The postage cost for the return will need to be covered by yourself (please keep the proof of postage until your return has been processed). Needles – Size US 13/9mm or whichever size needed to obtain gauge. Size US 13/9mm circular needles, 16” long and US 13/9mm double pointed needles. During this process, a hydrocarbon mixture derived from petrochemicals is combined with natural gases to create different types of synthetic rubber. The production of synthetic rubber, like all things produced from non-renewable sources, contributes to our increasing GHG emissions and landfill pollution. In this way, synthetic rubber is just as bad as plastic products.

Sheep Shuffle Mitts by Sophie McKane

Weave in the ends. Fold empty hot water bottle in half and slide into cover. Fill the bottle, being careful to avoid injuries with water that is too hot, and enjoy!

Natural rubber is seen as one of the world’s most essential raw materials and makes up about 30% of the total rubber used annually. It’s hard to say which is “better” when it comes to natural vs synthetic rubber, as both have different properties and are therefore better used in different applications, and both are probably more important than you might first realise (they’re used in medical devices, toys, aircraft and car tyres and all sorts of other things). But it’s easy to say which is better in terms of the environmental impact: natural rubber wins pretty easily. It’s sustainable and biodegradable, rubber trees absorb more carbon dioxide than even the tropical rainforest (because of their leaf density), and it lives a green life – throughout the harvesting, manufacturing, recycling and use. The Fair Rubber Association was founded on June 21, 2012, with the aim to apply the principles of fair trade to products made of natural rubber, so that the tappers and small farmers involved in obtaining the raw latex milk (raw rubber) get help improving their living and working conditions. They currently pay a fair trade premium of EUR 0.50 kg/DRC (Dry Rubber Content). The farmers, plantation workers and tappers decide for themselves how they want to use the Fair Trade premium; whether that be access to clean drinking water, grants for students, or anything else that will benefit the workers. So, a Hot Water Bottle?Designed to keep you super warm from head to toe, on the sofa or in bed, these colourful, warming and soft hot water bottles all come with their own cover; easy to carry around the home and will stand up comfortably to repeated use. Perfect for keeping you warm and cosy during colder days and evenings. You will start at the bottom of the cover. Using 2 double pointed needles, cast on 32 stitches using the Figure 8 cast on method . If this is new to you, there are some great tutorials on how to do this on YouTube. Once you practice it a couple times, it is quite easy.