WREK Backpack Series - Plotting

The Idea: Tommy wants me to make him something. Since purses and scarves are (probably) not what he has in mind, I decided to do one better - A backpack with the logo of his favorite radio station ever, WREK Atlanta. (Did I mention he's the chief engineer there?)

The Tools: One Size I hook per the yarn's recommended size, and three skeins of Red Heart Soft Yarn (NOT the super-saver stuff!) Also will be trying out some Lion Brand Yarn Split-Ring Stitch markers, because this bag WILL see some shaping to it!

The Plan: In order to get the Logo as perfect as possible, this bag will be done in Tapestry Crochet -- it'll get covered eventually, but for now? it's just a simple way to switch colors in-row in order to make simple pictures. In order to do this, though, we need to grid out a picture - not just to find out what size it looks best at, but also to figure out just how large this backpack needs to be!


Yes, that's a 54 by 61 grid... something tells me we're going to be talking a big bag. Which is fine, we've got the yarn for it.

The general shape given above is a variant of a single-strap bag I did before, which had a buckle in the strap in order to secure the bag from unwanted hands in such a way you couldn't get into the bag while you had it on. This will be a double-strap without the buckle, so that the top puckers up like a drawstring bag, yet has roughly the same protection as the original.

The plan will involve some real creativity in the formation of the strap at the same approximate time as the bag, so that the strap is essentially a single loop of fabric in order to accomplish this security. As a slight bonus, the drawstring nature of the top will probably also allow him to wear it like a single-strap if he changes his mind.

Also, the multiple stress points at the top ought to keep the bag from warping the way the old one did at the single stress point.

The bottom should also take on some special shaping as well - I want to do a semi-circle on the bottom so the back of the bag can lay flat against his back (the original was a straight circle) . This, combined with the Tapestry Crochet, will mean the main decreases in the bag's width will have to be done on the sides as opposed to all-around.

This is where the stitch markers should come in handy, because keeping up with black yarn will NOT be easy...