I finished the little bag last night and, though it took quite a different path to completion than I had thought it would, it looks pretty good and will do the job handily.
Cruise Bag
It began, as you know, with the Buttonhole Bag which I was thinking to emulate, substituting thick, closely knit cotton for the felted wool. I had trouble from the very beginning though, as I couldn’t get the tapered ends of the BB’s bottom piece to look neat enough to suit me. Eventually I wound up casting on 9 stitches (bulky cotton on size 8 [US] needles) and working in garter stitch for about 6.5 inches.
Then stitches were picked up all around and the bag was worked in stockinette for about 3.25 inches. At this point, a 5 stitch wide bit of ribbing was introduced on both sides and continued for about 8 rows. After returning to plain stockinette, 2 stitches were decreased above each of the ribbing sections twice with a round knit plain between. The bag then carried on in plain stockinette for another 1.5 inches or so.
At this point, half the stitches were bound off, leaving an odd number remaining, and the bag flap was commenced, knitting back and forth in the usual fashion. 5 stitches on each side were done in seed stitch and the flap was knit straight for 4 rows before the decreases began. The decreases were done past the seed stitch border as:
Decrease row 1: K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, SSK, Knit to within 7 stitches of end of row, K2tog, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1.
Decrease row 2: K1, P1, K1, P1, Knit to within 4 stitches of end of row, P1, K1, P1, K1.
Bag flap
I picked a darker, compatible green cotton to do the edging in and worked around the front edge and flap of the bag in single crochet. Loops were crocheted at the top side edges and the bottom center of the flap.
Bag and strap loops
So I wound up crocheting the strap thusly:
Chain 3, 1 hdc in third chain from hook. Ch 1, turn
Hdc under the body of the last hdc made. Ch 1, turn - in the same direction as the first turn. It doesn’t matter if you turn the piece 180º clockwise or counter-clockwise, just be consistent.
Continue this until the strap reaches your desired length. I embellished it with a line of chain stitch embroidery up the center, using the darker green yarn but it looks very nice unadorned too :).
Bag strap
This will be very convenient on board ship and may even make a decent summer carry-about afterwards.
Bags are so much fun!
I hope that those of you who celebrate had wonderful, joyous and festive holidays!
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What a darling bag! What are the finished dimensions? After thinking about that icord handle idea, I think I did a poor job of describing something I’ve not done, only watched someone do. Here’s another stab at it. Cast on seven stitches, *Knit across four stitches, take yarn to the back, turn work. Knit across four stitches. Take yarn to the back, turn.* Repeat from * to * adinfinitum or until you have the length you want. When you take the yarn to the back and turn the work, you give a good tug on the yarn. This should ... if I’m remembering the process correctly ... produce two parallel icords which makes a nice handle.
Lovely bag and the cord looks great.
oh, that did turn out nicely!
i think your description of how you made it could be considered a pattern in plain english- very consise and easy to understand-
stay happy-
Very creatively done. Since my brain works on solar power, and it is March in PA (ergo, no sun), I am going to read this again on some sunny day and do some playing of my own.
Charlotte - Thanks for the clarification and I’ll give it another try but I really don’t think this is your fault :) Some things my brain is hideously slow at figuring out. The whole I-cord thing is one it’s taken me forever to assimilate.
The bag’s dimensions are 8.5” at the widest spot, 7.5” at the top and about 7” tall.
Pam - From one bag-maker to another - thank you kindly :)
Barb - You think? Well, that’s comforting to know :)
Rob - Thanks :)
Heheh...Myria says I’m the same way - solar powered. It’s grey up here too and looks like it’s going to be for a while - pout…
That really came out cute - perfect for cruisin’. I’ve joined the “bag train” too - but more on that in tomorrow’s entry. :) I’m making up my pattern too...like there aren’t enough patterns out there, eh? We just can’t resist that challenge. ;)
Bron - You know I don’t think it’s the challenge I’m looking for. It’s that I don’t seem to be capable of looking at a pattern without thinking: “It’s perfect! Except for...”
Sooooo cute! Does my memory serve me right that those colors will go with your cruise shawl?
Laura - The shawl is a periwinkle color so yes - they would go together nicely. But I’m planning on using the bag to go more with casual, day time wear. It will go very nicely with the ocean though!
The flap with the stitch design and the crochet loop for the strap - great ideas. Hee hee funny how you were inspired by the buttonhole bag and ended up with this cutie - go with the flow!
Erin - Heheh...story of my life :) It’s cool though since I always seem to wind up some place interesting no matter where it was my original intent to go!
Robbyn:
Saw this link and thought of you (and me) right away.
http://scarfstyle.blogspot.com/
Lisa - I think you might be right about our having been separated at birth! I stumbled across that blog last night! Cool, hunh?
