Here is the second and last Christmas pattern from my little shop this Christmas - The I Heart Christmas Bag.

This bag is inspired by my childhood Christmas decorations. We made paper hearts like this every year. The bag is knitted in garter stitch on thicker needles in pure wool yarn that can be felted. Felting is an unpredictable activity, and I therefore recommend knitting the swatch as described and felting it first. This is meant to be a fun bag that can be used during the Christmas season. It is knitted back and forth in 2 parts that are braided and sewn together to keep the shape. Choose the colors you like best and enjoy the holidays with a homemade, fun little bag. Mine will be used for both Christmas gift shopping and smaller events throughout the holiday season.

Swatch:
Width before felting: 18 cm/ 7 inches
Height before felting: 10 cm/ 4 inches
Width after felting: 14 cm/ 5,5 inches
Height after felting: 8 cm/ 3,1 inches

The bag:
Height after felting: 25 cm/ 9,8 inches
Width after felting: 29 cm/ 11,4 inches
Strap length after felting: 26 cm/ 10,2 inches

How to knit the swatch:

Cast on 22 stitches on needle 7 mm/ US 10,5 or 11. Either 2 double pointed needles or an optional circular needle. The first needle is from the wrong side.

Wrong side - the first and the last stitch are taken loose off knitwise with yarn in front, the rest of the stitches are knit stitches.

Right side - knit all stitches.

Knit a total of 21 rows before doing a regular bind off.

The swatch should now measure approximately 10 cm/ 4 inches in height and 18 cm/ 7 inches in width.

Felt the swatch together with a towel at 40 degrees Celsius and full spin cycle on your washing machine.

After felting, the swatch should measure approximately 8 cm/ 3,1 inches in height and 14 cm/ 5,5 inches in width.

If your swatch is a bit larger, you can felt it with another towel and if it is a bit small, you can use a slower centrifuge.

Techniques used in this pattern:

Long tail cast on
Knit
Edge stitch
Increase left and right
Decrease left and right
Regular bind off
Knit up stitches
Knitting an icord

All techniques are shown on youtube channel knit_tech.

As always - if you have any questions or comments please let me know.

Happy Christmas Knitting!