Another Sweet Drawstring Pouch to Knit

Earlier this month I shared a few little travel knitting bag patterns, and the bag I’m sharing today wasn’t live when I was compiling that post but I think it would be a nice little bag to hold small things while you are traveling, or to use to hold any little things you need to wherever you are.

It’s called the Onigiri pouch because it looks like onigiri (a rice ball wrapped in a bit of nori, aka seaweed). The colors the designer, Dhiany Nanda, chose for their bag play up that description because the main part of the bag is an off white “rice” color, while the nori bit is gray, which looks a bit like seaweed.

Of course this would be a great stash-busting project in any colors. The original was worked in DK weight yarn, but you can use whatever you like to make a bag that’s a little bigger or a little smaller depending on your yarn weight and gauge.

The bag is worked from the bottom up in the round, and it is made double the length so that you can fold it inside itself to make the fabric stronger and thicker (and smooth on both the inside and the outside, which is nice). Once the main part of the bag is finished, you pick up stitches for the casing for the drawstring, then knit the nori separately and sew it on. The drawstring is an I-cord.

This little bag looks like a lot of fun and it includes lots of techniques like Judy’s Magic Cast On, increasing and decreasing, grafting, picking up stitches and making I-cord. But it’s also a small project so you can learn a lot of things fast and you don’t have to spend too much time with any of these techniques. For the most part it is just a lot of straight knitting.

You can grab a free copy of this pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Dhiany Nanda]

Getting ready for back to school makes me think about pencil crafts, so let’s take a look at some pencil themed knitting patterns!

I recently made a pencil on a circular knitting machine, and it was a fun, quick, easy project that uses little bits of leftover yarn (and if you don’t have yellow you can make it a colored pencil using whatever color’s your favorite). And if you want to make a bigger version check out this pattern from Orange Olive Road on Etsy.

If you want to knit a pencil pillow by hand, check out Sketchy, available on Ravelry from Shana S. Cohen. This one uses worsted weight yarn and has two size options and the choice to make a pencil with an eraser or a colored pencil.

Pencil scarves seem to be the most popular kind of pencil knitting pattern, and there are lot of cute ones. This one from Cosy Craft UK mostly uses garter stitch, with some welts to add texture and what looks like an I-cord edging. It calls for DK weight yarn.

If you want to go all garter stitch try this version from Emsley Co Creations, which uses five colors of DK weight yarn and just a little shaping to make the point of the pencil.

There’s also this fun, mostly stockinette so it looks like it curls a bit, pencil pattern that looks like it’s worked in chunky yarn from Little Knits Studio. This one uses just a little garter stitch and easy shaping for the point.

If you don’t want a pencil scarf, how about some pencil socks? The No. 2 Pencil Socks from The Yarn Enabler are available from Ravelry and use five colors of sock yarn. They feature wide ribs to mimic the texture of a pencil and have options to be worked from the top down or the toe up.

Needs Sharpening by Alexander Walker is a free pattern on Ravelry that uses five colors of sock yarn to make a sort of shortie sock. The little bit of black at the tips of the toes inspired the name. These, too, can be worked in either direction and are available in three sizes.

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