Top-Down Zipper Bag Knitting Pattern

I’m taking part in the Christmas in July Make Along, hosted by Underground Crafter, and though my pattern is over on my personal blog I wanted to share about it here so you all can take part in the fun as well.

My pattern is a top-down zippered pouch, which is fun because you work chain stitches on the zipper fabric, then pick up those stitches and knit the bag down from the zipper.

This way you can make the bag with any gauge yarn you have handy, using any stitch pattern you want. Mine uses worsted weight yarn and moss stitch, but you could do stockinette stitch in DK, bulky weight ribbing, whatever you like.

I thought this was a fun way to use a zipper that had been cut down to size for another purpose but then wasn’t actually used, but even if you know how long your zipper is you can use this method so you don’t have to figure our your gauge or how many stitches you need to cast on before you get started.

You can find the free pattern over at Our Daily Craft.

But if you’re looking for more gift projects to knit or crochet, definitely check out all the fun this month at Underground Crafter.

7 bloggers have teamed up to bring you a month full of free patterns to kick start the handmade holiday season — including crochet, knitting, and sewing projects. There’s something new to make every day in July. Each week will have a theme.

Week 1 (July 1-7): Babies, Kids, and Teens
Week 2 (July 8-14): Women
Week 3 (July 15-21): Gifts for Anyone
Week 4 (July 22-28): Home
Week 5 (July 29-31): Pets

You can also take part in the make along for a chance to win great prizes from ucalan, Fox & Pine Stitches, GlassEyesOnline, Hartiful, KennyClayCo, KnitPal, Knitter’s Relief Balm, Search Press North America, and seashellcrafter. You can learn all about it and find links to all the projects at the Underground Crafter’s website.

Next Pattern:

Blankets are a great blank slate project that you can change up in a million different ways. From color to stitch pattern to size, the possibilities are almost endless.

Jared Flood, the designer behind Brooklyn Tweed, was inspired by a log cabin quilt his mother made in 1995 to re-create that design in knitting, which led to more blankets and ultimate Brooklyn Tweed’s Knit and Crochet Blankets, which includes 25 patterns from an array of designers using different skills and techniques to make cozy, pretty blankets.

The patterns are divided into three aesthetic themes: traditions, minimalism and colorplay. The patterns are rated on a scale of one to five, with one being the easiest, and there aren’t any pieces rated five. Two blankets are rated one, 14 are two, eight are three and one is four.

In addition, three of the 25 patterns are crocheted, but they either use single crochet or granny stitch, so they are pretty easy even if you don’t do a lot of crochet. You can see all the patterns on Ravelry.

Some of my favorites include Rattan by Rastus Hsu, a chunky blanket worked in knits and purls with simple crossing stitches to make a raised woven look; Homewood by Seth Richardson, covers in dramatic, loopy cables; Ainur Berkimbayeva’s Tessellate, one of the beginner projects that doesn’t really look beginner but is totally worked in knit and purl stitches; Warp + Weft by Aist? Butkevi?ien?, which is mostly knits and purls but makes a fun woven look fabric that blew my mind a little bit; and the same designer’s Canyonland, a multicolored blanket with wavy stripes.

The patterns tell you how to resize them for different dimensions and include information on pattern repeats where it is possible to make a totally custom size.

Many different techniques are included here such as cables, lace, shadow knitting, intarsia and other colorwork techniques, as well as modular knitting and lots of sewing pieces together. The patterns are all presented with charts, but there are line by line written instructions available on the Brooklyn Tweed website if you need them.

The book ends with a deep dive into log cabin knitting, telling the story of the quilt Jared’s mom made and how he made it in knitting, as well as the multitude of variations you can make if you want your own log cabin style design.

The back of the book includes a little written information about some of the special techniques needed, but there are no photos.

This is a lovely book full of inspiration for knitting and crochet blankets for any skill level. If you like to make blankets as gifts or aspire to have a handmade blanket in every room of the house, these designs would be a great place to start.

About the book: 192 pages, paperback, 25 patterns. Published 2024 by Abrams Books, suggested retail price $24.99.

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