Progress on the Diamond Bag

Hi. I'm Dawn. And I'm an addict. I just can't get over mitered squares.

No, really. I think it's my sewing background. Every knitting project I undertake, I first see something woven and instinctively see it knit. Then I puzzle out the translation and I'm on my way. Anyone who quilts and completed the Schlep Bag understands. For those who don't quilt, the bag is quite a thing. You start out with squares, make strips, twist the strips, add straps, and voila. Once I mastered mitered squares, I turned my work sideways and decided I like the effect of the diamond with the miter as the focal point. What do you think?

Don't look at the yarn tails. They won't be seen when I'm done because this will be lined. It'll be our secret. Right now, the only challenge is making sure that the color pattern is random and the colors are separated.

This is my first post but I've been working on my project while following yours. I wanted to be able to show what I've done and not just tell.

First, I have to admit my lace-envy. I have a difficult time with my technique and it has to be a really important item to force me to take off each loop and twist it back on the needle. So, to compensate, I mastered colorwork. I've chosen to use Tahki Cotton Classic because of its strength and rainbow of options. I chose six pastels, kind of like jelly beans, for spring (not to mention this is what my LYS had in stock).

This was first pattern, done as I was housebound during a nor'easter. It must have been the Kaffee Fassett book I was reading and the snow making me think I could bang this out.

I don't have a problem with bobbins, there were 10 per row. I do have a problem with not making progress. This took a week of free time - for 10 rows?! It would take 100+ hours for this, so I gave up and regrouped.

So I kept the basic design of squares while doing the modular thing. I love this technique. I'd much rather get two completed squares out of 30 minutes than just one row. I think I'll get the same feel of the interlocking squares, especially when there's a lot of stuff in the bag and the weight pulls the squares into diamonds.

I'm not sure how the bottom will work out when all the points are turned inward. I'll deal with that when I get there. I think on the top I'll let the points fall outward for a jester hat effect. Maybe some beadwork on the points........