After much excited waiting, look what came in the mail.
It’s my advanced copy of Debbie Stoller’s new book, Stitch ‘N Bitch Superstar Knitting: Go Beyond the Basics!
Why an advanced copy? Because I have a pattern of my own in this one! After a very long wait (nearly 4 years!) I am delighted to introduce the Lotus Bag.
© Debbie Stoller/Workman Publishing
This was actually one of my very first accepted designs (I had showed a peek of it here) but due to several circumstances, including shuffling book release orders it’s just now coming out. However I think anyone will agree the wait was worth it for this book. This is the advanced techniques book in the series and the entire first half is devoted to Debbie’s wonderful descriptions of more complicated skills. The second half is of course all the (41!) awesome patterns.
I’ll talk more about the book in general with a full review soon. Along with a giveaway for three copies of the book! So be sure to check back later to get a chance to win.
For now I wanted to share a little more about the pattern and some of my photos (Ravelry link). I’m really pleased with the construction of this one. My old friend double knitting was used for the handle and gusset. This allowed for the pattern part of the handle to have no wrong side and be extra sturdy. The gusset is worked in the tubular variation of double knitting so a piece of plastic mesh canvas can be inserted into the bottom for additional structure. This is what actually gave me the idea for a similar construction in the Celtic Tote pattern.
The lotus is worked in intarsia. Both double knitting and intarsia are covered in depth in the techniques section of the book, so no fears if you haven’t tried it before.
The plastic canvas is also used as a strengthening backing for the magnetic snap closures. You can see the lining in this detail shot as well. I chose to line this bag and not felt it to preserve the bold graphics of it.
Aaaand one more shot of me quickly “modeling” it before sending it off to be professionally photographed. As you can see this is when I still had long hair!
Update: Unfortunately we have found an error in the pattern. The chart is correct, this is in the written instructions.
ERRATA: In the writing, for the Gusset/Strap, it should read:
Cont rep rows 1-2, working rows 1-7 of Chart 2. Work rows 8-27 (20-row rep) 9 times, then work final 6 rows.
