Size

unfelted: approx. 36 cm wide and 37 cm high

felted: approx. 27 cm wide and 23 cm high

Required quantity: 200 g color 06 (brown), 50 g

color 01 (white), remainder in color 18 (rose) and color 04 (green)

Needle thickness: Double-pointed needles

8.0 – 9.0 and circular knitting needle 8.0 – 9.0,

crochet needle 6.0

Basic pattern:

Stocking stitch: RSR: k st, WSR: purl stitch

in rd.: only knit stitch

Cable pattern (bag strap):

1st r (= WSR) – 5. r: knit stocking stitch between the est

6th r: est, slip 2 st on stitch holder and leave at front of work, knit 2, then knit the 2 st on the stitch older, est

Repeat the 1st – 6th rd

Tension sample:

(stocking stitch, unfelted): 11 st x 16 r = 10 cm x 10 cm

(stocking stitch, felted): 15 st x 27 r = 10 cm x 10 cm

Pattern:

The heart is knit from bottom to top in rounds. Cast 8 st in brown onto the double-pointed needles (2 st per needle), close to rd. and work in basic pattern. Increase 13 x i.e. rd. 4 st as follows: On the 1st and 3rd needle after the 1st st and on the 2nd and 4th needle before the last st, knit from back of loop from cross stitch = 60 st. Rep. these increases 3 x i.e. 3rd rd. and 3 x i. e. 4th rd. = 84 st. Knit 3 more rd. over 84 st, separate the work and work the bag front and bag back separately in RSR and WSR over 42 st each. In the 1st r decrease 1 st on both sides, by k tog slip 2 st at the beg. of the row after the est (= slip 1 st, k 1, pass over the slipped st) and at the end of the row before the est k tog 2 st ri = 40 st. Knit one more WSR, then separate the work for the heart arches ( = 20 st per heart arch). For the roundings of the heart arches work on both sides i.e. 2nd r 3 x 1 st, 1 x 2 st and 1 x 3 st, then bind off the remaining 4 st straight. Work the 2nd heart arch in the same manner. Knit the back of the bag with the 42 st set aside in the same manner. For the straps, cast 6 st on a needle and knit in cable pattern for approx. 175 cm (= 281 r), then bind off st straight. For the border, crochet 2 chain stitch chains in white, each about 100 cm long. Crochet 3 blossoms in pink as follows: In a chain ring, crochet * 1 sc, 3 ch, after * repeat 2 more times, 1 sl st in the 1st sc. 2 short chain stitch chains for each 3 ch in pink for the buds and sew together at the beginning and the end. For the leaves, crochet 8 short ch chains each from 2 – 3 ch in green. Sew on the bag straps at the side ri and le between the heart arches of the front and back side and carefully sew all threads.

Felting:

Put the bag and the two white ch chains (the blossoms and leaves are not felted) into the washing machine with 3 tennis balls and felt them at 40°C, colored washing. Please do not use fabric softener. Add some washing detergent without any added optical brighteners and softener. After washing pull into shape and leave to dry.

Finishing:

Sew the white ch chains along the edge in wavy lines and sew on the blossoms, leaves and buds to the front of the bag with matching yarn (see photo). For the lettering, felt 2 pink wool threads, each 80 cm long (roll back and forth with your hands adding some water and soap on a rough underground until the threads have felted. Wash of the soap residue and let dry). Sew on the lettering (see photo) with matching thread to the front of the bag.

Abbreviations:

st = stitch • rd. = round • r = row • RSR = right-side row • WSR = wrong-side row • ri = right • le = left • est = edge stitch • k tog = knit together • rep. = repeat • i.e. = in every . • ch = chain stitch • sc = single crochet • sl st = slip stitch