Zig-Zag Soap Sack ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This soap sack is worked bottom up in the round starting from Judy's Magic cast-on, and uses tubular bind off to make a casing for the drawstring. The zig-zag pattern is inspired by the scarf from VeryPink Knits at . Materials: Worsted weight dishcloth cotton, about 30 yd per sack One 32-40" US 7 (4.5 mm) circular needle for magic loop (or two circs, or dpns) Five US 6 (4.0 mm) dpns for the bind off, or two 32-40" circulars One stitch marker Crochet hook, US 7 (4.5 mm) Measure a tail of about 24", and use Judy's Magic cast-on to make 18 pairs of stitches, starting on the bottom needle with the tail in front. Fold the tail yarn along the back side of the needles and hold it there, to secure the last st until the knitting is underway. Rotate the work 180 degrees clockwise so the needle tips point to the right, with the former bottom needle now on top, and begin knitting around according to the chart below. Note that because the decreases migrate from row to row, you will occasionally need to rearrange the sts on the needles to avoid decreasing across the gaps. Work 2.5 repeats of the pattern (rounds 1-12a twice, then rounds 1-5). For round 30, switch to the smaller needles and substitute a *k1,p1* rib instead of plain knit, to prepare for the tubular bind off. On the front edge of the sack, transfer the sts to two of the smaller needles, alternating to put all of the knits on one needle held in front, and all of the purls on another needle held in back. Repeat for the other edge (if using two circs, continue putting the knits and purls on their same respective needles). You should now have an "inside track" holding all of the purl sts, and an "outside track" holding all of the knits. Rnd T1: knit around the outside track Rnd T2: purl around the inside track Rnd T3: purl around the inside track Rnd T4: knit around the outside track Cut the working yarn leaving a tail of at least 30", and use it to graft the top of the tube closed with Kitchener stitch, starting with the back edge. There should be a small hole at the end of the outside track for the drawstring to emerge from the casing. Make an 18" crochet chain for the drawstring (ch 64), and thread it through the tube. 30: *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-|*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-| <== use smaller needles here [Repeat rounds 1-12a, then 1-5] 12a: |-- Shift all sts around needles leftward by 2 sts; remove marker 12: --------------|------------------|----x@ (first st eaten by preceding ssk) 11: \--O--\--O--\-|-O--\--O--\--O--\-|-O---@ 10: --------------|------------------|----@ 9: \--O--\--O--\-|-O--\--O--\--O--\-|-O--@ 8: ---------------|------------------|---@ 7: -\--O--\--O--\-|-O--\--O--\--O--\-|-O-@ Place marker; shift all sts around needles rightward by 2 sts 6: ------------------|------------------| 5: --/--O--/--O--/--O|--/--O--/--O--/--O| Symbol key: 4: ------------------|------------------| - knit 3: --/--O--/--O--/--O|--/--O--/--O--/--O| * purl 2: ------------------|------------------| O yarn-over 1: --/--O--/--O--/--O|--/--O--/--O--/--O| <<< / k2tog \ ssk Back Front | break between needles @ stitch marker x st already used ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tips: Judy's Magic cast-on is much easier to knit into on circular needles, because the narrow cable lets you borrow extra "wiggle room" from the opposing sts. If you scoop the needles toward you when casting on, the sts will be mounted normally (right leg in front). Shifting sts to neighboring needles is easier with dpns. Leave a very generous tail for grafting, especially if you like to sew it loosely and tighten it later. When you are nearly finished grafting the back edge of the sack, transfer the last few sts to the front needles to facilitate making the graft continuous. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Designed by Cathy Riemer, Oct 2015. Free to use, distribute, and modify.