Baby's Got a Brand New Big Bag
This bag is knit with double-stranded yarn. I worked from the inside and outside of a center-pull ball. It is knit in the round after the base, so a circular needle is required. It is a simple project appropriate for novice or experienced knitters. Once fulled (semi-felted) it will be thick and durable. Use it to carry groceries, craft projects, or whatever you wish. I started this bag at the first annual San Francisco Giants Stitch-N-Pitch on July 27, 2006. The colors are Giants colors (of course!). Change the colors to anything you what (just don't tell me if you use Dodger Blue). It was a great game, the start of a winning streak and I got to see a suicide squeeze. Yes, I am a bit of a baseball nerd.
Materials:
Harrisville Highland 2-ply worsted weight yarn, 100 gram skeins, 200 yards each. I used one ball each of four different colors: 39 - Russet (C1), 50 - Black (C2), 65 - Poppy (C3), and 44 - white (C4). I love Harrisville yarns. They are sturdy, beautiful, and reasonably priced. It also felt well. If you choose not to full or felt the bag, the finished fabric will have a softer hand after washing. Any worsted weight wool can be substituted, just be sure i isn't machine washable.You willalso need a circular kniting needle sized to get gauge, see below), and a blunt yarn needle for weaving in ends.
Gauge:
Not very important. I got about 12 sts x 18 rows over 4 inches x 4 inches (10 cm x 10 cm) using a US #10 needle. My gauge was tighter than I had intended it to be, but time was short before the game. A looser gauge $(2\ ^{1}/2\ -2\ ^{3}/4$ sts/in) would work too; expect a large pre-felting finished size and more shrinkage. My bag didn't felt to the point where you can't see the individual stitches. If you want that you should definitely start with a looser gauge.
Bag Base:
With C1, loosely cast on 23 sts. Work in garter stitch (knit every row). Start each row by slipping the first stitch purl-wise; these slipped stitches will be picked up later. Knit 72 rows or until there are 36 slipped stitches on each side of the base (like to have an extra as it helps when picking up the stitches). Do not bind off. Place a stitch marker and pick up 35 stitches along the adjacent long side of the base, place marker, pick up 23 stitches along cast on edge, place marker, pick up another 35 on the remaining side, place marker. The last marker will indicate the start of each round so you may want i to be different from the other three markers.
Bag Body:
You wil now start working in the round. You don't need to break the yarn when you change colors unless it is a long distance between color bands. Follow the graph if you prefer. Rnd i-3: Knit with C1. (116 sts Rnd 4: Knit with C2. Rnd 5-7: Knit with C1. Rnd 8-9: Knit with C2. Rnd 10-11: Knit with C1. Rnd 12-14: Knit with C2. Rnd 15: Knit with C1. Rnd 16-22: Knit with C2. Rnd 23: Knit with C3. Rnd 24-26: Knit with C2. Rnd 27-28: Knit with C3. Rnd 29-30: Knit with C2. Rnd 31-33: Knit with C3. Rnd 34: Knit with C2. Rnd 35-45: Knit with C3 Rnd 43: Knit with C3 to the last 2 sts before the first stitch marker, ssk, pass marker, repeat at each stitch marker.(112 sts) Rnd 44-45: Knit with C3. Rnd 46: Knit with C4. Rnd 47: Knit with C3. Rnd 48: With C3, k2tog, knit to first stitch marker, pass marker, repeat at each stitch marker. (108sts) Rnd 49: Knit with C3. Rnd 50-51: Knit with C4. Rnd 52-53: Knit with C3. Rnd 54: Knit with C4. Rnd 55: Knit with C4 to the last 2 sts before the first stitch marker, ssk, pass marker, repeat at each stitch marker. (104 sts) Rnd 56: Knit with C4. Rnd 57: Knit with C3. Rnd 58-59: Knit with C4. Rnd 60: With C4, k2tog, knit to first stitch marker, pass marker, repeat at each stitch marker. (100sts) Rnd 61-65: Knit with C4. Rnd 66: Knit with C4 to the last 2 sts before the first stitch marker, sk, pass marker, repeat at each stitch marker. (96 sts) Rnd 67: Knit with C4. Rnd 68:With C4, knit across short side,10 sts, loosely cast off11 sts forhand ol,10sts,reeat. (74 st) Rnd 69:Witnit acrosststitchescast offorand oloselcast15teat10st) Rnd 70: Knit with C4. Rnd 71: Knit with one strand each of C3 & C4. Rnd 72: $^{\star}{\sf k}^{\intercal}$ , p1\* with one strand each of C3 & C4. Rnd 73: \*p1, k1\* with one strand each of C1 & C3. Rnd 74: $^{\star}{\sf k}^{\intercal}$ ， $\mathsf{p}1^{\star}$ with one strand each of C1 & C3. Rnd 75: $\star_{\mathsf{p}1}$ , k1\* with C2. Rnd 76: $^{\star}\mathsf{k}\,^{\sf d}$ ， $\mathsf{p}1^{\star}$ with C2. Rnd 77: Cast off loosely with C2.
Weave in all ends. Wash bag in a washing machine with jeans or other heavy clothing until bag is fulled or felted to your satisfaction. Place bag over something that approximates its shape like a smallbox. Allow it to air dry. Use it and love it.
Finished Dimensions: Before felting: 17 inches tall x 11 inches wide $\times\,8$ inches deep After felting: 13.5 inches tall x 10 inches wide $\times\,6\%$ inches deep Pattern doesn't make sense? You found an error? Have a question? Contact me at miss maia@hotmail.com. Corrections and questions regarding this pattern will be answered at http://maiaspins.typepad.com/Patterns/BigBagPattern.pdf. Please visit me at my blog http://maiaspins.typepad.com/maiaspins/.
