Tastes like summer.

This for me , along with the warm weather we had today, really does make it feel like summer.

In other news, I have some pictures of my first sample for a project bag that I am considering making for sale. I have spent some time figuring out what I myself and others on Ravelry found to be things required in a project bag, and this is the result.

The main feature that I really wanted to make a bit different is the shape, I really wanted it to be very easy to open wide at the top so that there is plenty of room for maneuvering. As you can see the box bottom shape and the shape of the top do this.

I also wanted to use a button closure as zips are bad for yarn! I have had my yarn get trapped in a zip before and it never ends well, buttons also mean that the bag can be closed and you can still knit outside of the bag, with the yarn passing between the buttons, something which if attempted with a zippered bag often leads to fraying.

As you can see to make up for the button closure I have added a fully lined integrated zippered pocket in the wall of the bag to keep notions and yarn needles in, while also adding larger open pockets on the outside for if you have the bag closed and simply want to easily grab a pair of scissors or your cable needle while knitting on the train!

You can just about make out in the above picture a D-ring for attaching a strap too, on this one it has ended up a bit too low so on the next one (which is just waiting to be stitched up) I am going to place it as high in the bag as I can and at an angle to allow for efficient use of a wrist strap or possibly a longer over shoulder strap for knitting while standing. I think the longer strap might be something that I would make an optional extra.

Like I say I am already working on the next one which I hope to have up tomorrow and which I think will be a bit slimmer in width but taller. I am thinking also that if I were to do multiple sizes I would just increase the dimensions by a few inches.

What do you think?