It's taken me over a year to knit this due to the mind-numbing boredom of the pattern. It's basically just big rectangles of stockinette that feel endless when you're in the middle of them.
The bag is the Punk-Rock Backpack by Heather Barnes from the illustrious Stitch 'n Bitch, but I used my own chart for the front panel.
I've had Stitch 'n Bitch for years, but I've rarely used it. The writing style can be grating - it's very keen to tell you how cool knitting is - but its tutorial sections are comprehensive and it did teach me how to pick-up stitches that have dropped down multiple rows. The illustrations can be difficult to follow though, so it's definitely one for people who prefer written directions. As with all knitting pattern books, the patterns are a bit of mixed bag. (These days I prefer to buy a single pattern that I love, rather than a whole book that mixes the good with the unwearable.)
This particular pattern is easy, but dull and there's a lot of sewing, (you really need a sewing machine to do the lining). The finished bag feels very stretchy. It's robust, but I'm not sure I'd want to carry a crowbar in there.
Kudos to Simon, my photographer, who bravely followed me into an area that clearly contains headcrabs armed with only a digital camera. The first photo is unaltered to give a better idea of the colour of the bag, but the other four have been manipulated in Piknik.
Deeply awesome :-)
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