monk's travel satchel

[mikan]

r0xy, yours looks great!  that inside pocket looks tiny! I was planning to just make fabric inside pockets on my lining so I was ignoring that part...
I finished the front and will start on the back soon, glad to say that the break from seed stitch went really fast so i'm pretty excited about finishing this. 

[EowynUlysses]

mikan: You mentioned crocheting this project. Do you have a crochet pattern for it or are you free-handing it based on the demensions of the finished bag?
I really like the look of this bag, but do not knit. Any tips you could give me on crocheting this project (or converting patterns in general) would be much appreciated.
Thanks!

[mikan]

i haven't started crocheting yet as i'm trying to keep motivation up to finish the knitted version!  but i was planning to substitute granite stitch for the moss stitch and yeah, just go by the measurements.  i could still do the knitted garter stitch trims on the crochet version, but haven't decided yet.  do you want an all crochet one or is a little knitting ok?
my yarn is a little thin compared to the pattern one so i will use a smaller hook, but i think the size isn't so much of an issue...
here's what i planned to do:  just do a swatch of granite stitch (ch and odd number, ch 2 turn.  sc in 2nd chain from hook, ch1, skip 1 chain, sc 1 in next chain.  continue accross in a sc1, ch 1 pattern, ch 2 to turn)   then use that piece to find my gauge and make the bag pieces to measurements given in the knitted version.  I would still line it even though the crochet is a little more solid than the knit.  for the trims you could just do single crochet or pick up and knit stitches around your crochet pieces with a similar sized set of dpns or circs.
does that make sense?
you can see here for some more info on that granite stitch if you need it
http://www.crochetme.com/Feb_Mar_2005/patt_vice_versa.html

i'll probably start crocheting in the next couple of weeks if you want to work together...

[EowynUlysses]

That makes sense. I don't know any knit stitches or anything, so I'd trim it in single crochet
Now I get to pick out yarn and liner. Huzzah!
Thanks for your help and it would be fun to do a crochet-a-long.

[r0xy]

Thanks Mikan..
The inside pocket is kinda small. I haven't decided whether to line the bag or not - and if I do I'll also make a pocket out of material and likely make it a little bigger. The one i knitted is 4.5 x 8 inches.

[zoe84]

Hey all.  I want to start this bag sometime soon.  Usually, when the yarn specified in a pattern is upwards of $5 a skein, I substitute something cheaper.  For this pattern, though, I figured I would go ahead and treat myself b/c bopeepswoolshop.com is having a 35% off sale till Monday.  But as I was reading this thread, I noticed there was some concern about the stretchiness and durability of the cotton fleece.  Could anyone who is using the cotton fleece speculate on how durable it might be?  If it's not sturdy enough to pack around several books/knitting projects, I might buy some wool and felt it, as I saw another poster upthread had done.
Thanks.

[r0xy]

I only have the seaming left to do on my satchel. I have no idea how to crochet and I'm pretty bad at seaming so finishing this is going to be a learning process. For a first big project, I think the satchel was a good choice and I'm really pleased with the pinned together version -pictures to come-

Does anyone have any pictures of their completed satchel yet? I'd really like to see some variations in case I want to make this again some day

[mikan]

oh my, you're finished   i'm still going along pretty slowly (too many other things)  can't wait to see a picture!  i don't think i'll be done until the end of the month at the soonest...  sad
i'll be lining mine so i'll have that variation to show you someday!

[r0xy]

here it is:
     
I've been working crazy hours lately and last night around 2 a.m. I took a pic.  The 2nd one is really shakey but you can see what happens to an unlined bag when you add a wallet, cell phone, and ipod. If I throw my lunch in, it hangs down past my knees... so it needs lined. This project is totally labour intense, especially since I don't have a sewing machine. groan. Another 2 weeks of satchel construction.

[Juliana]

Very, very nice work!  It's great to see one made with funky yarns.

I don't knit (at least my attempts thus far have been feeble at best), but I'm sort of improvising a crochet version out of two shades of green.  Someone suggested using #10 crochet floss with my yarn to minimize the elasticity and so far it seems to working pretty well.  I've only completed about 18" of the strap/gusset, but it's working up pretty quickly, and  I hope to have it finished within the month (presently, I have some other projects on the go).  I'll post pics on this thread and the crochet thread when it is complete.

Again, great work!