This is the first photo of the final piece in my upcoming book. It’s a seamless, four-color self-lining double-knit shoulder bag. The strap is adjustable — one long and one very short strap with a buckle — and there is a fold-over flap that buttons down. I call it Whorl’d Tree. I see the pattern as a sort of stylized view of a forest from inside — the brown of the roots, the green of the canopy, and the water flowing in between to feed it all. Of course, it’s my hope that other folks try other color combinations — I’m sure it’d be very striking in flame colors and black too. The fabric is ridiculously sturdy, verging on inflexible, which is good for a bag — I can put a #2 knitting needle in this one without worrying it’ll poke through. The pattern is only on the outside — the inside is all white, with blue edging, and a completely serendipitous side-effect of the pattern: there is a relief pattern of the whorls on the inside. If my tension was a little better, I probably wouldn’t have those, but honestly I like them, and so have other people who’ve seen it in person. I have many model shots of it as well but will be saving those for the book. The cast-on is at the bottom of the piece (sorry for the bad/blurry photo) and uses a 2-needle double-knit cast-on I designed as well as a very strange needle configuration — 2 circulars and 3 DPNs are necessary to make this work properly, at least until you’re about 1/3 of the way up the bag.
The piece is done in Valley Yarns Northampton — but could just as easily be done in Cascade 220. Because of the self-lining, it takes 3-4 times as much white as any of the other colors.
It looks fab! Can’t wait for the book!
Happy New Year!
I live in Minnesota and stumbled upon your 4 Winds Hat. I would love to make the hat with the triangular blocks, but I will clearly have to wait!
When will the book come out? What publisher? Will it have any mitten patterns? Sock/Stocking Patterns? When will you teach again?
Thanks. It has been a pleasure to stumble on your creativity,
Very cool! Also eagerly awaiting the book! 🙂
Thanks for the interest! The book will be out on Cooperative Press sometime later this year (well before Christmas, I believe). No mitten or sock patterns, I’m afraid. Mostly, it’s a technique book — to take people from beginner to advanced double-knitting techniques. There are a bunch of patterns but I am not primarily a designer — I design techniques, and hope that other people whose strengths lie in designing forms will take my techniques and apply them to their forms. When the book is done, I am hoping to design a partially double-knitted cardigan/hoodie. Perhaps mittens and socks will come later — we’ll see!
Really interested to see this book come out. Have found myself very intrigued with double knitting and reversible stuff – what’s cooler than having two differently colored sides out of one project!? Love this pattern!!
I’m SOO looking forward for your book. I’d like to knit this bag in a bag swap (hopefully there is one somewhere when your book is ready). I love the side effect on the inside!