Category Archives: Knitting

Stripy Book Bag

Debbie Bliss Bella

It’s been a while since I’ve bought any new wool but last week, during a search for hot cross buns,  I found Sew East Dulwich. They had a great variety of wool as well as fabric and knitting books and I could probably have spent quite a lot of time and money if the bun hunt hadn’t been so urgent. I chose these balls of Debbie Bliss Bella because they were silky and light and I thought the colours were really pretty.

I wanted to knit something quite simple that would show off the texture of the yarn and eventually settled on this little pouch for a book or a kindle. It is currently being used for my lovely snowflake notebook.

book cover 1

book cover 2

 

book cover 3

Pattern

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Bella (1 50g ball in each colour)
Needles: 4mm

Cast on 51 stitches in the light yarn.

Rib

Row 1: knit 3, pearl 3 (repeat until the end of the row)
Row 2:pearl 3, knit 3 (repeat until the end of the row)

Rows 3-6: repeat rows 1 and 2.

Stocking stripes

Row 7: knit
Row 8: pearl
Row 9: Attach darker yarn, knit
Row 10: pearl

Repeat rows 7-10 changing yarn for the knit row (leave both yarns attached and pick up when needed). I worked until I had 23 stripes but you could adjust this for a thinner / thicker book, just make sure you finish on a light coloured stripe.

Garter stripes    

When you have completed the stocking stripes transfer all of the stitches over to the other needle without knitting them. Cut the yarns and reattach them on the other side of the work.

Next row: knit with darker yarn
Next row: knit with darker yarn
Next row: knit with lighter yarn
Next row: knit with lighter yarn

Repeat these 4 rows until you have 1 more stripe than you did on the stocking stripes (24 in my case).

Final Rib  

Next row: pearl 3, knit 3 (repeat until the end of the row)
Next row: knit 3, pearl3 (repeat until the end of the row)

Repeat these two rows twice (6 rows in total for final rib)

Finishing

Cast off. Fold knitting in half and join along the sides using mattress stitch, making sure that the colours of the stripes match up (I recommend starting from the rib section).

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