Pattern Notebook: Yarn Bombing Your Bag

I have this great Jordana Paige knitting bag that I use as a purse, because it’s big and pretty and I like it. I’ve gotten more compliments on it than any other bag I’ve ever owned, probably.

But the handles on the thing got completely torn up in the couple years of use it has gotten.

So I decided to knit covers for the handles. Think of it as yarn bombing for your handbag.

This is totally easy to do and you don’t need a pattern at all, of course. Just knit a little Stockinette Stitch rectangle that will cover your strap, bind off and leave a really long tail.

Then just sew it around the strap using mattress stitch.

This was a really easy project, though the sewing did take rather a long time. And my bag makes me smile again, which is a great bonus.

Have you ever yarn bombed something you use all the time? I’d love to hear about it!

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I am normally a fan of pretty basic sweaters for myself. It’s fun to have a little detail that makes it interesting, but as much as I have a ton of colorful sweater patterns in my Ravelry library, the vast majority of the time I go for plain stockinette stitch, maybe with stripes or color changes brought about by trying to bust my stash.

But adding a little bit of something special to a project makes it that much more interesting to knit and to wear, and it doesn’t have to be an allover pattern to increase the wow factor.

Take the Nola pattern by yamagara for example. This simple bulky cardigan would be a great piece just worked in a single color of stockinette stitch. But those bold flowers on the sleeves elevate it into something you’ll reach for all winter long when you need a pick me up and a reminder that flowers will be back again.

I love the neutral colors shown in the model but it would be amazing with bright pink or yellow flowers, too. Or whatever color you like!

The pattern uses intarsia on those oversized sleeves to make the flower pattern, but there’s also an option in the pattern to do it completely in duplicate stitch if you’d rather (though this would be a great learning pattern if you’ve never done intarsia before). The body is worked from the top down with raglan shaping and the button bands are worked as you knit the body for minimal finishing.

The sweater comes in nine sizes, with a finished bust measurement ranging from 39 to 69 inches, or 99 to 175.5 cm. It’s meant to be worn with 6 to 10 inches/15 to 25 cm of positive ease. The pattern shows the sweater cropped but you can also make it longer if you like.

This would be a great garment to allow you to get a little more wear out of your summer dresses; just throw leggings on underneath and the sweater on top for a day full of cozy comfort.

You can find this pattern on Ravelry. It is available in English and Spanish.

[Photo: yamagara]

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