One lucky reader will win a gift bag filled with eco-friendly yarns, courtesy of Diamond Yarn.  Can you guess how many balls of yarn are inside this Linen String Bag?  To enter the contest- simply leave a comment below with your name, email address, and your guess.  The first reader to submit the correct answer will be our winner!  Contest is open until April 26th at 12pm.  The winner will be announced on April 27th.  Best of luck!

Thursday April 22nd is Earth Day. What was initially launched in 1970 as an environmental awareness event has brought about forty years of conscious effort and gradual change towards improving the health of our planet.  We  have reduced our garbage collection to a fraction of what it once was, introduced curbside pick up for compost bins, and almost eradicated plastic grocery bags.  By practising the three R’s- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, each single step adds up to create a larger impact on repairing our fragile eco-system.

‘Knitting Green’ starts with a few simple choices.  Selecting yarns that are free from pesticides and chemical processing reduces our carbon footprint, and allows us the benefit of a better knitting experience all around.  Organic yarns are softer on the skin, with less irritants from harsh substances, and help to diminish allergy flare ups.  Earth Collection, Debbie Bliss, Mirasol, Sirdar, Sublime, and Rico Design are just a few on the growing list of manufacturing companies offering naturally grown yarns, earth-friendly packaging and solutions to a greener planet.

Make your own Earth Day bag in Katia Linen, a mixture of natural cotton and linen, the strongest of all plant fibres.  This re-usable string bag is perfect for a Saturday morning trip to the market, carting towels and toys to the beach, carrying laundry on wash day at camp, and picking up more knitting yarn at your LYS.  The bottom of the bag becomes its own attached pouch.

  STRING BAG WITH POUCH

3 balls Katia Linen

3.50 mm crochet hook

Pouch:  Ch4.  Slip st into 1st ch to form ring, place marker.

Rnd 1- 8 sc into ring

Rnd 2- Ch2, 1 dc in 1st st, *2 dc in next st*, rep *to*, slip st to top of ch2 = 16 dc

Rnd 3- Ch2, *2 dc in next dc, 1 dc in next dc*, rep *to*, slip st to top of ch2 = 24 dc

Rnd 4- as Rnd 2 = 48 dc

Rnd 5- as Rnd 3 = 72 dc

Rnd 6- Ch2, 1 dc in each st, slip st to top of ch2

Rnd 7- Ch2, *1 dc in next 2 sts, 2 dc in next st*, rep *to*, slip st to top of ch2 = 92 dc.  Fasten off.  Make a 2nd piece to match, do not fasten off.

Joining Rnd- Place 2nd piece on top of 1st piece with wrong sides together

Rnd 8- Ch1, (work through both layers), 1 sc in next 72 sts, cont to work 1 sc in next 24 sts of bottom piece only, slip st to ch1 to join.

String Bag: 

Rnd 9- *Ch6, skip 2 sts, sc in next st*, rep *to*, do not join

Rnd 10 ~ 30- *Ch8, sc in centre of next loop*, rep *to*

Rnd 31- *Ch4, sc in next loop*, rep *to*

Rnd 32- *4 sc in each loop, 1 sc in sc*, rep *to*, slip st to 1st sc to join

Rnd 33- Ch1, 1 sc in each st, slip st to 1st sc to join

Straps:  Ch1, 1sc in each of next 20 sts,  ch98, skip 39 sts, 1 sc in each of next 40 sts, ch98, skip 39 sts, 1 sc in each of next 40 sts, slip st to 1st sc to join

Next Rnd- Ch1, 1 sc in each st to end, slip st to join

Flowers:  (make 4)

Ch3, slip st into 1st ch to join, work 6 sc into ring, slip st into 1st sc to join, (2 dc, slip st) into same st, *(slip st, 2 dc, slip st) in next st*, rep *to* = 6 petals.  Fasten off.  Sew 1 flower to each Strap where bag meets.

Design by:  Michele Meadows

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 21st, 2010 at 6:49 pm.