This is the "soft drawstring pouch" from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts
by Joelle Haverson. (See the cover of the book.) I have a large quantity of Lion Brand Romance in Lavender and Cherry Blossom, and I wanted to see if this fuzzy yarn would work for a series of gift bags. The bag was knit from the top down using size 6 round needles. I selected the smallest bag size (90 st cast on), but I knew my gauge would be way off. I figured that since I was making reusable wrapping paper, the size wasn't too important.
The final bag is 7 inches wide, and 7 inches long (after the eyelet round, there are 3 inches above the eyelets). I thought it was really smart to use a 3 needle bind-off for the bottom seam. This gave a very clean closure.
I was not looking forward to making a long I-cord with this really fuzzy yarn. I decided to take a step back to my childhood and make a braided tie for this bag. I used 6 strands of the Romance yarn in the braid.
Overall, I'm very happy with the way this pattern came out. It was not quite as fast to knit as I would have liked, but was a simple project that could be done in a car ride or during a movie with low lights.
The bag with a braided drawstring.
The top of the bag is wider than the bottom, giving it a nice poof when closed. The right side (left) and wrong side (right) of the bag are shown.
This is the perfect size to wrap up a gift ball of yarn!
