Pattern for striped laundry bag and good luck symbols

The other day I happened to click the following title on one of the Finnish radio stations websites: “What is your horoscope sign obsessed about?” According to the article, my sign has a serious obsession with number 7. Touché. It is my lucky number and I had just finished this second knitted bag and as you look at the pattern and the amount of stitches below, well ... Here is a short pattern description as well for my "Lucky Number Seven -bag", in case someone would be interested.

Material

2 kg = about 540 meters Lilli Ribbon Yarn from Filatex (or for example some other ribbon yarn/yarn)

Needles

Circular needle, 12 mm with 80 cm cable

Size

approximately 50 cm x 60 cm

Cast on 70 stitches. Work in the round.  K = knit. This bag is knitted from the bottom up. There are many instructions on YouTube to make the stripes even when changing color if needed.

*K 7 rounds with blue, K 7 rounds with white*, repeat *-* 3 more times (7 stripes + 7 rounds white = 50 rounds).

During the 8th round of the upper part (with white) make handles. K 12 stitches, end 11 stitches, K 24 stitches, end 11 stitches, K 12 stitches. During the 9th round, cast on 11 stitches x 2 to replace the stitches ended during the previous round. Knit 5 more rounds, or as much yarn you have left and end all stitches and weave in the ends during the 6th round (=58 rounds).

Crochet the bottom seam together with slip stitches and weave in the ends.  

The old sofa has got an extra mattress as well, made of two old mattresses. Have to work with the cover yet though. Perhaps I will take the other mattress away, but this is the very first version I show here and a work in progress. This couch is over 10 years old and I have already talked with a charity organization to take it when they were picking up some other old furniture from my home. Now with this new cover, I think I will be happy with the couch for a while and the color code seems to be good for autumn time. At least it is cozy for some crochet time and there is a splendid view outside when sitting in the other corner with a cup of coffee or tea in hand.

I also stitched a tiny semamori in one of the corners of the mattress. Semamori is a Japanese good luck symbol, these were stitched on the back of children’s kimonos to protect them from harm. I guess this is now protecting the derrières of the people sitting on this couch, just some everyday silliness. Of course, there is also a rich history behind these symbols and it is not to joke about.

Wishing you a lovely time with your projects!

Pirjo

Simple knitted bag with stripes

Or perhaps we can also call this “What to make with the yarn –bag” :-). I bought ribbon yarn with a thought to crochet a rug with them in May. After washing the yarn and trying to crochet with it, I noticed that I just can't work with it, too heavy for my arm and wrist. So I decided to knit this very simple bag instead. This can be used as a laundry bag or to store something, in my case probably yarn. And I must admit that I now also feel tempted to make a really large bag for decorative pillows and throws. And somehow this bag now looks smaller in the pictures than in real life, should perhaps have filled it with more yarn :-). Here below follows a short written instruction.

And just to note, I have very basic skills in knitting and no idea how to write down a proper knitting pattern :-). Crochet is my thing so more skilled and seasoned knitters can surely make this better, but I thought I'll put this out here anyway. 

Yarn
1,1 kg = about 300 meters Lilli Ribbon Yarn from Filatex (or some other ribbon yarn/yarn)

Needles
Circular needle, 12 mm with 80 cm cable

Size 
approximately 40 cm x 48 cm

Cast on 56 stitches. Work in the round.  K = knit and P = purl. This bag is knitted from the bottom up and after finishing the piece I turned the wrong side outside (wanted to have purl stitches at the bottom and at the top).  

*K 9 rounds, P 9 rounds*, repeat *-* 3 more times. (4 stripes)

Last stripe: K 5 rounds, during the 6th round make handles. K 9 stitches, end 10 stitches, K 18 stitches, end 10 stitches, K 9 stitches. During the 7th round, cast on 10 stitches x 2 to replace the stitches ended during the previous round. Knit 12 rounds, or as much yarn you have left. End all stitches (round 13) and weave in the ends (= 49 rounds).

Crochet the bottom seam together with slip stitches and weave in the ends. I have also crocheted slip stitches around the handles on the wrong side. Now I wonder if it would have been better to make the handles only 8 stitches wide and leave the handles without strengthening. Oh well, I'll try that in the next bag. 

Hope this instruction is useful for someone! Have a wonderful summer week with your projects!

Pirjo