A few days before Christmas last year I noticed my husband’s gift pile was looking a little light. Without time to go to the yarn store, much less knit a big project, what could I make? I rooted around in my basket of leftover yarn, found two small balls of worsted that I thought would appeal to him, and cast on for a mug hugger – something to keep his coffee warm but his hands cool, look charming, and save a tree or two. Thus, the Hugger Mugger was born.

The Hugger Mugger is a mug-hugger with style — a gift without planning ahead, a project without purchasing yarn, colorwork without stranding, and coffee without scalding your hands.

It’s got it all over those throwaway cardboard sleeves at the coffee shops – In addition to being reusable, it’s longer to protect more of your hands from heat or cold, it’s absorbent to catch any stray drips or condensation, and you’ll never confuse your cup with anyone else’s.

Hugger Mugger may look like it’s made using stranded knitting or Fair Isle colorwork, but the reality is much simpler: it takes advantage of slipped stitches to create the patterning, using only one color per round. That makes this a great first colorwork project!

This project is a super stashbuster — you’ll need less than 30 yards of the main color and less than 20 of the contrast color. Who hasn’t got that much sitting around in the bottom of a knitting bag somewhere? Since it can be completed in less than a day, it’s an easy last-minute gift.

Difficulty Level: Advanced Beginner

Skills/Techniques Used: Knitting in the round, slipped-stitch colorwork

Yarn: Two strongly contrasting colors of smooth, worsted weight wool or mostly-wool yarn.

Main Color: 30 yards
Contrast Color: 20 yards

Yarn Characteristics: Wool lends thermal insulation to the mug-hugger, and a smooth yarn allows the patterning to show clearly. A superwash yarn would have the added advantage of being machine-washable.

Yarn in Samples: Malabrigo Rios 100% superwash merino wool; 210 yd/192 m per 3.3 oz/100 g skein; Red Heart Unforgettable (Sample 3 only) 100% acrylic; 279 yd. / 256 m per 3.5 oz. / 100 g skein

Sample 1:
MC: Malabrigo Rios Matisse Blue; 28 yds
CC: Malabrigo Rios Natural; 18 yds

Sample 2:
MC: Malabrigo Rios Hollyhock; 28 yds
CC: Malabrigo Rios Black; 18 yds

Sample 3:
MC: Malabrigo Rios Valentina; 28 yds
CC: Red Heart Unforgettable, Gossamer; 18 yds

Needles: US #8 /5 mm dpns, two circular, or one long circular needle, or size to obtain gauge.

Notions: stitch marker, tapestry needle
Gauge: 18 sts/28 rounds = 4 inches/10 cm in stockinette stitch, after blocking
18 sts/ 30 rounds = 4 inches/10 cm in pattern stitch, after blocking

Size: One size, to fit most cups
Height: 4.75 inches/12 cm
Circumference: 4.5 inches/11.5 cm at widest point