In my last two blogposts, I have been extolling the virtues of knitted bags with fabric liners to bring out the best qualities of both – the beauty of a knitted bag combined with the practicality of a fabric liner.
I have gathered five of these into a collection, the Southampton Collection, and you can read more about the first two of these here and here.
In today's blogpost I want to talk about two book bags which are also included in the same collection.
I have gathered five of these into a collection, the Southampton Collection, and you can read more about the first two of these here and here.
In today's blogpost I want to talk about two book bags which are also included in the same collection.
The first of these is the Falmer Book Bag which has a strong graphical design with red detailing set against a black basketweave background. The lower red inserts are knitted in while the top three dots are added afterwards by Swiss darning.
I selected a black canvas tote for the liner and replaced the short handles with long cotton webbing straps for a design that is easy to carry on your shoulder.
I selected a black canvas tote for the liner and replaced the short handles with long cotton webbing straps for a design that is easy to carry on your shoulder.
The second book bag also features long shoulder straps, but this time in a contrasting colour. This is the Southampton Book Bag from where the collection takes its name.
The outer bag is worked in a Four-&-Two Basketweave pattern from our Reversible Knitting Stitches book. This really catches the light in an interesting way, giving a textural pattern of light and shade.
As a contrast to the Falmer Book Bag, this is worked in a single navy colour but instead features contrasting straps and a dyed liner. I dyed the liner at the same time as the Sarasota Shopper using Dylon hand-dyes in "Bahama Blue" which has given an attractive turquoise colour for the inner bag.
However, you could opt to work this design with a coloured bag or dye it in a more co- ordinating shade as per your preference.
The outer bag is worked in a Four-&-Two Basketweave pattern from our Reversible Knitting Stitches book. This really catches the light in an interesting way, giving a textural pattern of light and shade.
As a contrast to the Falmer Book Bag, this is worked in a single navy colour but instead features contrasting straps and a dyed liner. I dyed the liner at the same time as the Sarasota Shopper using Dylon hand-dyes in "Bahama Blue" which has given an attractive turquoise colour for the inner bag.
However, you could opt to work this design with a coloured bag or dye it in a more co- ordinating shade as per your preference.
Inside, both bags include an inner tab with an attached carabiner hook which is very useful for clipping on an ID card, library pass or a set of house keys.
Carabiner hooks come in a wide variety of colours and sizes. In the Falmer Book Bag I was pleased to find a perfectly co-ordinating black-and-red carabiner in my local hardware store and they also had a slim metallic turquoise one for the Southampton Book Bag. (You can see that one inside the previous photo of an open bag.)
Carabiner hooks come in a wide variety of colours and sizes. In the Falmer Book Bag I was pleased to find a perfectly co-ordinating black-and-red carabiner in my local hardware store and they also had a slim metallic turquoise one for the Southampton Book Bag. (You can see that one inside the previous photo of an open bag.)
The bags can accommodate a good number of books to transport home from the library but are also a really useful size for a quick trip to the corner shop for some last-minute essentials.
The patterns for these two book bags are available separately here, or as part of the Southampton Collection, and all the patterns are available for instant download from my website.
I'll be back next time with some thoughts on how we can use knitted bags to reduce the amount of plastic we all use – just in time for Earth Day!
Until then – Happy Knitting!
Moira
The patterns for these two book bags are available separately here, or as part of the Southampton Collection, and all the patterns are available for instant download from my website.
I'll be back next time with some thoughts on how we can use knitted bags to reduce the amount of plastic we all use – just in time for Earth Day!
Until then – Happy Knitting!
Moira
 | Last Blogpost: The Sarasota Shopper Next Up: The Problem with Plastic Our book: Reversible Knitting Stitches My Website: www.wyndlestrawdesigns.com |
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