Today is such an exciting day for me. I can't tell you how excited I am! For the first time, one of my patterns has been published in a magazine! It has been so much fun all along, right from coming up with a design for the magazine’s theme of colourful knits, through developing a pattern and knitting the sample.
I was so thrilled when I heard my design was selected back in February. It's been really hard not to say anything about it since then. Today, I went to buy a copy and even when I saw the pattern and photo, I still couldn't quite believe it was real!
About the pattern
It's perfect summer weather for the beach here in my part of the world but if, like me, you can't get away to the coast just now, my design for Day at the Beach Bag (in this month's Knit Now magazine, issue 143) is just a little taste of the coast. Taking its colour scheme from a seaside holiday view of blue sea, white foam and bright orange buoys, along with a a cheerful wave design and detachable lifebuoy tassel, it's a really summery knit.
The sample was created in Rico Creative Cotton Aran in shades 80 (Sky Blue), 37 (white) and 74 (orange), which was a new yarn to me and had a lovely soft, airy texture to work with. The colours are really clear and bright too which is perfect for this design. I'll definitely look at using it again when I need an aran weight cotton yarn.
The wave design is created using slip stitch colourwork, in which only one colour is used for each row, so it's an ideal make for anyone who likes colourful knit designs but isn't comfortable managing multiple colour yarns in the same row. That was definitely me when I started knitting. Maintaining an even tension has always been the trickiest thing for me (even now I sometimes get a bit of that continental knitter stripy tension if I don't take care to keep my knits gentle and purls firm) and I couldn't manage it at all whilst holding two yarns and trying to follow a chart or written pattern. My projects always looked like they had been quilted! I was really delighted when I discovered there was another option to get fun, colourful patterns in my knits. A slip stitch colour work pattern is created by slipping some stitches in each row to the wrong side of the work and knitting the others with a single shade. It looks suspiciously like nothing is happening at first but as you knit a few rows on you can see the pattern starting to take shape. It's really motivating to me to see each row make the project look a little different so it's a technique I really enjoy.
The bag has a sturdy base with removable stiffening, so it can carry plenty whilst staying in shape and still be washed easily. It also has a soft, thick strap that doesn't dig in if you carry it on your shoulder and which is also just short enough to be carried in your hand if you prefer. Can you tell I'm someone who tends to overfill her handbag!
The tassel was really fun to make and is designed to be detachable so you can fasten it in different ways according to your preference. I'm thinking of making a few more separately as keyrings for gifts as I have a fair bit of the orange yarn leftover and a little white yarn too.
Knit Now Issue 143 is on sale in shops across the UK from Thursday 16th June. To find your nearest stockist, use the store finder on Seymour or order online from Craft Stash. You can also purchase a digital edition of the magazine via the PocketMags app.
Do let me know if you make the bag. I'm always so excited when I see that someone has used one of my patterns!