Tea cosy

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Various tea cosies pictured on a knitting patterns magazine

A tea cosy (American English tea cozy) is a cover for a teapot, traditionally made of cloth or wool, which is used to insulate the tea, keeping it warm while it brews. Cloth tea cosies often have padded inserts, which can be removed and washed separately.

Tea cosies are often available in matching sets with other items such as tablecloths, oven gloves or aprons. Cloth tea-cosies may be embroidered, perhaps to compliment a fine set of china. Some have been made with hidden pockets to be filled with fragrant herbs or flowers, similar to a potpourri.

Tea cosies in fiction include the eponymous item in Edward Gorey's The Haunted Tea-Cosy: A Dispirited and Distasteful Diversion for Christmas.

Many tea cosies in Britain are hand-knitted, resembling woollen hats, even featuring a bobble on top. According to comedian Billy Connolly, if a man is left alone in a room with a tea cosy, and he does not attempt to wear it on his head, he should not be trusted.

According to the comedy quiz show QI, several people have been killed or injured by tea cosies, and there is a one in twenty billion chance of death by a tea cosy.