The Hampton Court Tote Bag is the first part of a two part Subscriber Exclusive in the The Knitter Magazine, Issue 72.

The criss cross design is reminiscent of the decorative brick work used on Henry VIII’s palace at Hampton Court. The textured pattern is created using twisted stitches over a stocking stitch and reverse stocking stitch background.

Wendy Supreme Luxury Cotton Chunky in shade 1428, Cherry, is perfect for this project. You will need 4 x 100g balls to make the 36cm x 41cm (14in x 16in) Tote Bag.

Tension: 14sts and 15 rows to 9cm square using 6mm needles.

I finished off the bag with smart leather handles, attached with D-rings, which are available from U-Handbag.com. I used rainbow webbing (shade 6226) from C&H Fabrics to secure the D-rings.

Subscribers to The Knitter Magazine receive a subscriber exclusive pattern in their magazine every month. The Hampton Court Tote Bag can be found on pages 31 and 32 of Subscriber Issue 72. Subscriber Issue 73 will have the patterns for the matching e-reader cosy and phone cover.