I have a new way for you to support my FREE PATTERNS!! I know many -or most -of you love supporting us makers – the truth is that is takes a long time to create a pattern and then write it and then edit it and get it proofed and tested – and then publish it – then you have to link it everywhere – it’s a lot of work, but us makers do what we do to share our love with you. And, if you have followed my blog, you may know that I do not run ads on my blog, so all my support comes from PDF purchases. Some of you don’t need to purchase the PDF of my patterns, but still want to say a quick Thank you – so, you can now support my blog and my work. I am always grateful for you – the makers.
Also, if you love scrap yarn projects – free patterns – and great stash busters, you might want to check out my Scraptastic Summer Series that I did over the summer. There are so many fun, free patterns.
I also have some great stash busting projects perfect for the Holidays in my 12 Days of Christmas FREE blog event.
First, the boring bits:
This pattern is intended for personal use only. This pattern -and all my patterns- are offered for free or a small fee to help support my family so please do not redistribute, sell, copy or use them in any way not in accordance with fairness.
You may sell products made from this pattern, but please give me credit as the designer. Please do not use my photos as your own work, but you may use my photos to reference back to my blog, Etsy, Pinterest, IG or FB, but please link back to me.
If you find any problems with this pattern, please let me know and if you have any problems with any of it feel free to message me and ask for support.
Kristi Bergin-Smith and The Burgundy Basket, 2021. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to me, Kristi Bergin-Smith and The Burgundy Basket with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Most all of my patterns are worked in the CONTINUOUS Round: I do not join and chain, but continue to work in the next stitch. Use a stitch marker for this so you don’t lose your place. I will always note if this is not the case.
Pattern Note: If I write, “sc 2” it means single crochet in the next 2 stitches – whereas, “2sc” means to make 2 single crochet in one stitch.
Pattern Note: (sc, 2sc) repeat around – this is read as you make a single crochet in the next stitch and then 2 sc in the next stitch and repeat this sequence around the entire round. You may also see this something like this (2hdc) 7 (x) – this means make 2hdc 7 times around and the (x) is the number of stitches on that round.
Stitches Guide: *US Terms apply
Chain: Ch
Stitch: St
Single Crochet: Sc
Inc Sc or Inc or 2sc: make two single crochet stitches in the same stitch as indicated
Inv dec: invisible decrease or decrease (I use invisible decrease in amigurumi, and it is one of the best things I have ever learned for amigurumi. If you are unsure how to do this, there are many great online/video tutorials.)
hdc: half double crochet
hdc inc or inc hdc: increase hdc
Decrease: Dec or Sc2tog
BLO: back loop only/ FLO: front loop only
Dc: double crochet
Tr: treble crochet
Materials: I started writing this pattern as a scrappy yarn project holding two strands of yarn, but after I did a few, I wanted to see how they worked with a single strand of yarn. I made two single stranded bags, but really do prefer the double stranded ones since they have more “weight” to them. You can use what you prefer in yarns, but if you choose to use multiple strands, keep the overall weight of the yarns being held together the same. Gauge is not critical exactly, but you do want consistency throughout. For example, if you start with 2 strands of #4 yarn, don’t switch in the project to 2 strands of #5 yarn or a strand of #3 and #4. Naturally, if you are using materials very different from mine, you will end up with a different size bag.
You can see what I have started with for one of my bags:
If using a single strand of worsted weight or bulky yarn, you may need to adjust the size of the bottom by adding more rounds and you may also need to do more rows on the side. I worked the bottoms of my examples until they were 9-11” across and the length of the bags is 21-23” tall. These will have some give and stretch to them, so you don’t need to crochet the length to match a yoga mat. It will give and accommodate the bag, but if you do it too long it will hang down to the feet 😊
How much yarn will you need? In one of my examples, I used a Caron Cake in Plum Crisp and a strand of black. I used that entire cake – so, you will want to have on hand at least 383 yards of yarn and more if you will be making the little cell phone pouch for the top.
Ugly Yarns: This is the perfect project for ugly, old yarns! When you hold them together sometimes you get something very nice at the end. I would probably never use any of the yarns in my photo above alone, but together they created a very nice fabric and it ended up as my favorite bag!
Whatever you decide to use, stick with that same weight throughout the entire project.
For a project like this, I do believe all your yarn should be washable so check those labels if you are using older yarn like I have for washability.
Crochet Hooks: You will probably need to try a few sizes to get the one that is right for your yarn and the strands that you are holding.
What I mean by “works” is that you want to be able to easily crochet all the strands without fighting them, but you also want to create a nice fabric – not stiff like a basket, but tight and supportive. This may take you working up a small chain and making a few rows of single crochet to test what works for you.
For this yoga bag project and the yarns that I chose, the hook that worked best for me was my size 6.0 mm/J size hook.
A note on yarns: If you have crocheted for a while, you will know that not all #4 worsted weight yarns are the same. For example, Red Heart Super Saver works up very different than Caron Simply Soft, but they are both listed as #4 weight yarn. Consider this as you work and try to be consistent on your yarn changes. For example, don’t start with 2 strands of RHSS and then change those out for Caron Simply Soft or your bag will be smaller in some places than others. You can absolutely use them together in this project, but be consistent – if you start with a strand of RHSS and Caron Simply Soft – as you run out of one type, join the same type.
This yoga bag starts at the bottom working in the continuous round and then moves up the side. The handles are worked at the end. I have used half double crochet for the bottom of the bag.
No time right now? Pin a pin and come back soon.
PLEASE NOTE: MY PAID PDF PATTERN HAS OVER 30 PICTURES – I can NOT put them all here in my blog post, so if you need a photo tutorial, I highly encourage you to purchase the PDF – it is only $1.99 and very worth all the photos. You can find it in both my ETSY SHOP and RAVELRY STORE.
Working in the CONTINUOUS Round:
*I do not join and chain but continue to work in the next stitch. Use a stitch marker for this so you don’t lose your place.
Chain 2. 8hdc in the second chain from the hook and work over your starting tail.
Round 2: Only this one time on this round to minimize the “jog” up and still working over the starting tail: (sc, hdc), (2hdc) 7 (16) (photos in my paid version)
After getting done with all 16 stitches, pull the starting tail to cinch up the opening. You can now trim that tail or weave it in.
If you are not good at counting or have frequent interruptions, you want to move your stitch marker to the last stitch of each round so you know when you get to the end.
Round 3: (1 hdc in next stitch, 2 hdc in the next stitch) repeat around (24)
Round 4: (1 hdc in next 2 stitches, 2 hdc in the next stitch) repeat around (32)
Round 5: (1 hdc in next 3 stitches, 2 hdc in the next stitch) repeat around (40)
Round 6: (1 hdc in next 4 stitches, 2 hdc in the next stitch) repeat around (48)
Round 7: (1 hdc in next 5 stitches, 2 hdc in the next stitch) repeat around (56)
Round 8: (1 hdc in next 6 stitches, 2 hdc in the next stitch) repeat around (64)
Round 9: (1 hdc in next 7 stitches, 2 hdc in the next stitch) repeat around (72)
Round 10: (1 hdc in next 8 stitches, 2 hdc in the next stitch) repeat around (80)
*This is where I stopped my increases on my examples, BUT I have left these extra increases in for you in case you need to go bigger – PLEASE NOTE that if you do this, your next rounds may be a bit off from what I do in the mesh sections, but you can easily wiggle the count to make it work.
Extra Increase Round: (1 hdc in next 9 stitches, 2 hdc in the next stitch) repeat around
Extra Increase Round: (1 hdc in next 10 stitches, 2 hdc in the next stitch) repeat around
Extra Increase Round: (1 hdc in next 11 stitches, 2 hdc in the next stitch) repeat around
You can see how this works now if you need to add even more rounds.
Rounds 11-13: hdc in each stitch around (80)(80)(80)
Now, this is another trick I like to do to “blend” it all in and decrease that “jog” up – make a sc in the next 5-7 stitches.
This will bring your hdc round back down closer to where you will start the mesh work.
MESH SECTION: The “mesh” work is a chain 5 skip 2 all the way around.
So, from your last sc, chain 5. Skip 2 and slip stitch in the next. Chain 5, skip 2, slip stitch in the next. Repeat that sequence all the way around until you get back to your first chain 5 space.
Once you get back around (lots of photos in my paid pattern) chain 5 and slip stitch in the chain 5 space and then (chain 5, slip stitch in chain 5 space) until you get finished with the mesh section. I did 10 rows total in my examples.
**If you added increase rounds to the bottom of your bag, this section above is where you will need to wiggle your counts a little to make the chains work.
After finishing with your mesh rounds, you will make 3hdc in each chain 5 space – and for all you guys counting, at the end you will/should have 81 hdc if you have followed the pattern. If you modified the bottom or did anything a bit different you may have a different number, but as long as your bag looks even, a few stitches off at this point will not make a difference.
These next few rounds can be up to you – for some of my examples, I just did regular hdc, some are hdc BLO, and some are hdc in the third loop around – and on some, I even worked some sc rounds. You can play with this middle section and even add a few special stitches if you’d like.
I worked in the continuous spiral with no joining and did 4-5 rounds between the two mesh sections.
But for those that want the exact pattern, after making 3hdc in each space around: (Hdc third loop around) and repeat 3 more rounds.
REPEAT THE MESH SECTION AGAIN JUST LIKE YOU DID EARLIER.
After this second mesh section, you will make another “band” around like you did before. You can repeat the same pattern/sequence or change it up a bit.
For this second band, I did the 3 hdc in each chain 5 space and then did a round of sc. Sometimes I’m just random like that.
After working the sc round, I did a round of hdc blo followed by 3 rounds of hdc third loop crochet.
Now, this is where you can add more length to your bag as needed. You can work extra sc or hdc rows until you have the length you would like for your bag. For this example, I worked one more hdc round and then one sc round. The straps -as I’ve written the pattern- will add another 1-1.5” – isn’t the texture at the top so pretty? Using the 3rd loop hdc really makes a lovely pattern.
STRAPS:
If you mentally divide your bag, there are 4 sections: arm hole, front, arm hole, back. There are 81 stitches around if you have followed me exactly, SO, one section has to have 1 extra stitch. You can choose which section to place that extra stitch – I chose one of the arm holes – so, if you follow me you will have 20 stitches for one arm hole, 20 stitches for the front, 21 stitches for the next arm hole and 20 stitches for the back.
Pick up right where you ended and chain 80 **NOTE: you can adjust this length if you feel that you need to lengthen or shorten, but NOTE: carrying a yoga mat in this bag you want to leave room under your arm pit. My straps of 80 chains gave me about a 14” clearance for the mat/under arm area. These straps will also stretch down a little unless you are holding a strand to stabilize like a nylon cord. In a few of my examples, I chained 70 for the arm hole.
So, chain ~80 – skip 20 – sc 20 – chain ~80 – skip 21 – sc 20 – you did it!
Now, the rest is a piece of cake. Sc in each stitch and chain all the way around your bag and straps.
I did 3-4 rounds of sc for my straps and top of the bag.
Finish off and weave in the end.
MY PAID PDF PATTERN HAS OVER 30 PICTURES – I can NOT put them all here in my blog post, so if you need a photo tutorial, I highly encourage you to purchase the PDF – it is only $1.99 and very worth all the photos. You can find it in both my ETSY SHOP and RAVELRY STORE.
Want to add a cute little pouch to hold your phone, keys, debit card etc? The only other thing you will need is a large button.
I have used the same materials as I did for the bag and my buttons are almost 2” wide:
Chain 17 and hdc in the 3rd chain from the hook and in the next 13 chains until you get to the last chain. Make 3hdc in the last chain and work on the opposite side of the chain by hdc in the next 13 chains and then place 2 hdc in the last chain where you started. (32)
THERE ARE A LOT OF PHOTOS FOR ALL OF THESE STEPS IN MY PAID PATTERN IF YOU NEED HELP.
Now that you have the bottom done, you will just work around in a continuous spiral for 15 rounds.
Do you remember the trick above where I started round 2 with a sc? Do that here as well to minimize that jog up – so, round 2 will be:
sc, hdc 31 around
Now, continue working in the round for *almost* 14 more rows. You want to finish on the side as pictured.
I say *almost* because about 3-4 stitches before you get to the side you want to switch from hdc to sc to “blend” again.
To make the strap of the pouch, continue working around to the other side and make 1 sc in each of the next 10 stitches.
Chain 1 and turn.
(Sc 10, chain 1 and turn) repeat 2 times more
Dec, sc 6, dec (8) chain 1 and turn
(Sc 8, chain 1 and turn) repeat 2 times more
Dec, sc 4, dec (6) chain 1 and turn
(Sc 6, chain 1 and turn) repeat 2 times more
Dec, sc 2, dec (4) chain 1 and turn
(Sc 4, chain 1 and turn) repeat 6 times more *you can add more length here if you think you need more length in your strap.
For the buttonhole chain 8. (I was using a large button – almost 2” – so a chain 8 worked for me. You may need to modify this part if your button is a different size. After you make your chain, slip stitch to close and then do a final round of sc around with hdc in your buttonhole to neaten up your edges. Finish off and weave in your ends.
And that is it! Namaste! Now, make all the colors to gift to your Yogi friends.
Thank you for choosing my pattern, Kristi
Find me over on IG and share your projects with me @theburgundybasket
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