TEARS 4
SPHERES
Bag
patterns
By
Stephen K. Hartley
This bag is also known on our blog as the 2 X 4 bag, and can be made in any number of ways, literally. You pick the number! And then, toward the end, you decide if you want the bottom of the bag to be rounded, or if you would prefer a teardrop shaped pouch.
SIZE/MEASUREMENTS
Any size.
Your choice of needle size, yarn, your personal choice of N (base number of stitches), and bottom technique will all change the size of your bag. Experiment! If you make a small one, just to get the hang of the technique, you can use it to wrap an extra-special ball of yarn to present to a friend, or to your favorite pattern designer.
MATERIALS
This also depends on the N number chosen. For any N less than 12, you will need less than 100 yards of yarn. This is a great way to use up spare balls from other projects or a special skein you’ve been saving for the perfect pattern. You can get by with much less if you stripe or combine different yarns.
If your N is greater than 12, or if you really like the yarn, by all means get two skeins. If you wish to felt or like big numbers more yarn might be needed.
Yarn - any fiber, we used some scraps of worsted weight baby alpaca and wool.
Needles – use the needles that the yarn band recommends, or the size you use to get gauge, or close to that. Really, this is not rocket science, only a little math. Gauge is not imperative. We recommend knitting on the tight side, since this is a bag, unless you plan to felt the finished piece, in which case you may want to knit more loosely.
You will need 4 or 5 double pointed needles in the size you determine, and you may want to use a small circular needle too. We used the tiny Clover brand 22cm. circular needles, and switched to dpn’s when knitting the bottom. You could easily do the entire project on just the dpn’s.
We also used a crochet hook (size G, or the size your yarn requires) to make the cords. You may use your knitting needles to make I-Cord instead.
Notions – 4 stitch markers
Tapestry needle
Beads, thread, and beading needle (optional for fringe/tassels)
PATTERN NOTES
These bags are made entirely in the round, and use mainly knit stitches. There are standard increases, decreases, and yarn overs for eyelets. The cords are made with a crochet chain, but a knitted I-Cord could be easily substituted.
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