08 August 2008

Fibonacci Striped Bag

BYOB Bag by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
In my last few blogposts, I have been wring about the BYOB - Bring Your Own Bag knitting pattern with suggestions for fun variations you could try. If you would like to read the first blogpost in this series, then please click here and follow the links at the bottom of each post to return to this point.

In today’s blogpost, I am going to feature a bag I made using left-over yarn oddments from all the other bags! The dyelots varied enormously, yet when this bag was finished you really couldn't see that there were any shade differences in the yarns.

I have found myself really drawn to this bag and it has become my shopping bag of choice in recent times. It certainly has been the one most commented upon when I am out and about.

This version was worked completely in Seed Stitch and seemed to grow surprising quickly. I found myself saying: "I'll just work one more band..." and then before I knew it, it was finished! There is definitely some merit in having such frequent colour changes to provide a good target for your knitting!
Fibonacci Sequence - diagram by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
The striped pattern in this bag is a "Fibonacci" sequence. This is where the previous 2 numbers are added together to give the next number in the sequence, so:

  • 1+1 = 2,
  • then 1+2 = 3,
  • then 2+3 = 5
  • and so on to give the sequence: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, etc

Fibonacci sequences give very interesting results and reflect patterns we see in nature. We can see Fibonacci sequences in the growth pattern of a shell, the number of petals on a flower or even the leaf structure of a tree! The diagram above, for example, shows how a mollusc shell grows and develops.

In this bag, I just used the 5 - 8 - 13 part of this sequence to form the stripes. So I worked:

  • 13 Rnds in MC,
  • then 8 Rnds in CC1
  • and 5 Rnds in CC2,
  • then back to 8 Rnds of CC1 again.

I had a lot of yarn tails to finish off at the end because I had used so many remnants, but it was very satisfying to have so little wasted yarn at the end of this project.

I hope you have enjoyed exploring the many variations from just this one pattern. If you would like to purchase a copy of the BYOB – Bring Your Own Bag pattern, then please click here. Do please send me photos of the bag variations that you come up with – I’d love to see your version of the bag!

I'll be back next time with information about a lovely cozy rug to knit ready for the winter ahead.

Until then – Happy Bag Knitting!
 
Moira
Keywords: Patterns/Bags, Tutorials/Bags,
bag, bags, BYOB 2.0, shopping bag, knitted bag, stripes, Seed Stitch, blue, purple, lime green, Fibonacci sequence, stash-busting design, yarn oddments, left-over yarn,

Basketweave Bag

Basketweave BYOB by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
In the last few blogposts, I have been exploring some variations of the BYOB - Bring Your Own Bag knitting pattern so that you can make bags that will be just right for your next shopping trip.

In July, I posted about the original BYOB bag and two different colour variations: an autumnal colourway with lovely earthy tones, and a simple but effective two-tone variation worked in pinks, blues and white. Then last time, I explored some bags that were worked entirely in Seed Stitch, one of my favourite stitches.

The version I am featuring today is another solid-sided bag, but this time I have replaced the central mesh part of the bag pattern with Basketweave. This stitch is taken from our book Reversible Knitting Stitches and is a good-looking stitch with a lot of flexibility.
BYOB Bag pattern by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
In the photo above, I have worked large-sized bags using the pink, blue and white combination of colours I wrote about here. I wanted to make some bags which would be good for storing a whole projects’ worth of yarn and they have proved to be perfect for that. However, the BYOB Bag pattern comes in four different sizes, so you could make smaller bags using the same Basketweave idea.

This is a good variation of the basic design as it is still quite flexible so can accommodate awkwardly-shaped items but gives just a little more support. Working a couple of these alongside the regular BYOB Bags would make a lovely co-ordinated set.

Please click here for more details about the BYOB pattern and have fun trying out some variations of your own.

For more information about our Reversible Knitting Stitches book, please click here. The book has includes details for more than 250 double-sided stitches and is available for instant download.

I'll be back next time with one more striped version of the bag, this time with Fibonacci stripes!

Until then – Happy Knitting!

Moira
Keywords: Patterns/Bags, Tutorials/Bags,
bag, bags, BYOB 2.0, shopping bag, knitted bag, stripes, Basketweave, pink, blue, white, spring colourway, colorway,

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