I really like crocodile stitch, though I think it is too thick for most garments. However, this becomes an advantage when making a bag or backpack. In my stash, I happened to have self-striping Kauni yarn featuring long color transitions, and it worked really well for this project. Matching self-striping yarn to a project is often a matter of guesswork, so I feel I got lucky with this one. The bottom, flap and straps were knitted using a solid black yarn to complement the colorful body of the bag.

If you don’t have a yarn with long color transitions, you can achieve the same effect by using several solid yarns.

Probably the most challenging part of this pattern is crocheting crocodile stitch in rounds. I prepared a video explaining how to do this with the help of my wonderful assistants, and hopefully you find it helpful. If you have experience with crocodile stitch, this should present no problem at all. If you can figure out the crocodile stitch, the rest is actually pretty straightforward.