knitting needle bag
A knitting needle bag of my own design. I knit the thing in one straight piece (front and back), cast off the stitches for the front and then continued knitting the back stitches as a tapered flap. The side and the bottom of the bag are seamed up, with some trimming required for the flap (namely a crochet chain buttonhole loop). Photos of the bag in progress help show the construction.
In the future, I would line the pouch because the knitting needles want to slip through the stitches. I would also knit the body of the bag as a circular tube and avoid seaming. The major change to the pattern would be the choice of cables. I did not pick cable designs (the center plait and the flanking diamonds) with an identical number of row repeats so it was difficult to memorize the patterns. I would definitely choose patterns with matching row repeats in the future for ease. I wrote up this pattern in my own special table format to accommodate the non-matching pattern repeats. Finished December 2002.
Pattern: My own design. Five plait cable in the center panel flanked by diamond cables with double seed stitch centers. The panels are separated by slipped and twisted knit stitch. The back is identical to the front. Flap is created by decreasing 1 st from beginning and end of every row until only two stitches remain. I used a 2 st, 3 row knit and purl checkerboard pattern for the flap followed by a single crochet border around the flap edge that includes a crochet chain loop for a buttonhole.
Yarn Brand: Red Heart Soft in 7675 Dark Yellow Green
Quantity: 1 skein
Notions: one big button
Needles: Size 2 needles
Gauge: Center plait panel = 2.5" wide
Finished Dimensions: 6.5" X 15"