Father Ted housekeeper unveils knitted designs

Anyone who has watched the legendary comedy Father Ted will be familiar with the tea-based antics of the priests' loyal housekeeper Mrs Doyle.

The rather dishevelled and frankly a little bit loony character was obsessed with delivering a constant stream of tea on her trolley and rarely an episode went by when her famous catchphrase: "Go on, go on, go on," wasn't muttered in a bid to shift more cuppas.

Using this mantra, the actress who plays Mrs Doyle, Pauline McLynn, has decided to branch out of comedy and try out her second love, knitting.

Ms McLynn has designed a range of tea cosies, which have been given the likely name of "The Go Ons' and is selling her hand-crafted beauties online.

On her website she states: "I love knitting and that's one of the reasons that the Go Ons exist at all."

She went on to say: "I was taught to knit by my mum when I was a child and she is a great knitter, as was my Gran, who could knock out an Aran style bobble hot in a few hours working from a pattern in her head. Amazing" So, it's in the genes."

The actress added that she regularly haunts the internet and wool shops for just the right yarn to complete her designs, which come in small, medium and large sizes.

Her handknitted creations are designed for round-bellied tea pots and have a distinctly personal feel to each of them, using a collection of beads and pom-poms with a wide variety of cosy and colourful wools.

Ms McLynn is currently working on a set of "sparklies" in time for the autumn/winter season, so you can probably expect a lot more shimmering beads and some funky festive fun.

It might only be July but it's never too early to start working on those Christmas presents!