Brea bag

One of my christmas maybe's has made it on the needles. Last in the mosaic, the brea bag has been in my queue of lovely things to make for ages. I didn't know who it was going to be for then but now, pattern and person have gelled together and we are steaming ahead in knitting this one up.

The Brea bag pattern is designed by Norah Gaughan for Berroco and is a very quick knit as it uses two strands of worsted together. You don't knit this in the round though so there are a lot of stitches to cast on straight needles. Thankfully, you are constantly decreasing each RS row so the numbers become more manageable very quickly. I did check my gauge on this one before I started as this was a stash yarn with no bands but it was spot on! I'm quite happy if this comes out bigger but any smaller and its more a purse;)

I'm planning on lining this one too once I get the fabric I want on E-bay. I've already spotted a belt I can adapt as a strap/handle so all I have to find is a really nice button. Still searching but I have a bit of time yet;)

When I was cropping my photos, I suddenly thought how easy it would be to adapt this pattern into a hexagonal cushion. Just increase the repeated sections to 6 on circulars and no seam either!  If I bulked up the yarns I could get a really nice big floor cushion too. Or, make loads of hexagons and sew them all into a blanket/throw. One takes a couple of hours once you're familiar with the pattern and I'm sure I would get quicker with practice;) I imagine it would be quite heavy though if they were all double worsted weight.

With a bit of photoshop playing I've copied the full hexagon into a blanket pattern - Yum! Love the gothic style pattern the cables make and the bright red!! Maybe not so calming for a bedroom but it would look stunning as a throw over a sofa or chair, don't you think? But perhaps after the christmas knitting list is finished....:)