Free Bag Patterns from Interweave Knits Weekend!

As you can imagine, there are a lot of talented designers and knitters working at Interweave. Every once in awhile Interweave Knits editor Eunny Jang puts out a call to the staff for designs. We got that call for the new issue of Knits Weekend. Eunny wanted to feature some fun bag patterns, and six people, including Eunny, were up to the challenge.

The staff's bag patterns (click here to download the patterns) run the gamut from small to substantial; there's a knitted bag for everyone! I think my favorite is Anne Merrow's Sow's Ear Coin Purse, which is knit from Filatura di Crosa Luxury, a beautiful 100% silk yarn with a shimmery sheen to it that's lovely. Maybe it's the pinkness of the yarn, maybe it's the fact that it's so little, but I can picture myself making several of these beauties for gifts.

Anyway, here's the lineup of bags!

Clockwise from upper left: Lisa Shroyer's Picnic Bag; Anne Merrow's Sow's Ear Coin Purse; Eunny Jang's Coney Island Bag; Anita Osterhaug's Pyramid Project Bag; Anna-Liza Armfield's Lace Beach Bag; and Marilyn Murphy's Spiral Market Bag

Lisa Shroyer, Senior Editor, Interweave Knits: "The Picnic Bag (top left) is made of two mirror-image halves, each curved by two sets of sock-heel-like shaping. Joining the half moons together yields a polygonal, 3-D bag that is the perfect size for carrying a sock project and yarn."

Anne Merrow, Book Editor: "You may not be able to make a silk purse from a sow's ear, but you can make silk into a Sow's Ear Coin Purse (top right)."

Marilyn Murphy, Contributing Executive Editor, Interweave Yarn Group: "The inspiration for the Spiral Market Bag (bottom right) came from Weldon's Practical Needlework. The original bag was knit in fine silk yarn on steel needles and was sized for glasses; changing the yarn weight and length makes a great bag for a handspindle and roving, or a bottle of wine on the way to a dinner party."

Anna-Liza Armfield, Customer Support Representative: "The Lace Beach Bag (bottom, middle left) looks charmingly frivolous and acts seriously functional: You can fit a beach towel, shorts, shirt, and your weekend reading in with ease-and still find your cell phone and keys safely tucked into an interior pouch."

Anita Osterhaug, E-Media Project Manager: "This little three-sided Pyramid Project Bag (bottom, middle right) dangles from the wrist—very handy for holding a small knitting or spinning project and for holding the ball of yarn or fiber as you knit or spin. It's a fun exercise in knitting topology, being created from four equilateral triangles without seams."

Eunny Jang, Editor, Interweave Knits: "The Coney Island Bag (bottom right) is a fun, fast way to use up scraps of brightly colored cotton. It's named for its narrow eye-popping stripes, reminiscent of those adorning early twentieth-century bathing dresses."

The Knits Weekend staff hopes you enjoy these bags—why not get started knitting one this weekend?

Cheers,