Many have asked if a knitting pattern of the popular Michael Tea cosy (above) might be available.

Sadly Virginia, responsible for the much-loved woollen warmer, responds

Mostly the pattern is “in my head” and Michael ‘Tea’ turns out slightly different each time.  I have never written down a pattern and certainly haven’t got around to trying that yet.

Which is something of a pity.

But before you drop stitch, Virginia promises:

There might be another tea cosy character in the making…

The winner of the Michael D Higgins tea cosy, knitted by Virginia Costello, is ‘Wubblez’ who suggested:
* More content, more of the time. Content shouldn’t stop at 6pm
* Categorized articles for easy retrieval: politics, lolz, Ireland things
* Improved search functionality
* Improved graphic design, current style is effective but could be sleeker
* Forum section, dedicated discussion board
* Expansion of the service to group discussion section (gumtree, boards, etc.)
* Image sharing function like meebo.com
* A check-in functionality that people can update where they are with a user-submitted story.
* User generated content, subject to moderation
* Guest articles.
* All in all, more content for people to procrastinate with.

Runner up:

Have a “random post” button to click when you’re bored and want to look at a random old article.” (G)

Also: More weekend postings, better Android app, a comments rating system (including a ‘Brown Star’), adjustments to iPhone app, an iPad app, a facility to search for favourite commenters’ comments, a User name history, the default page the most recent news item ONLY, improved Facebook thingy, a redesign, less ‘Literally’, and more cats, cowbell and racism.

All will be implemented in the coming weeks. Thanks everyone.

Previously: Win YOUR own Michael ‘Tea’ Cosy