Taska — Lined Colourwork Shoulder Bag Knitting Pattern

Taska is simply Icelandic for “bag”. Védís Jónsdóttir’s small shoulder bag from Ístex’s Lopi 25 is knitted in the round in Léttlopi from one 60-round chart: bands of diamonds, small crosses, dots and stripes in oatmeal, white, mustard, crimson red and orange on a dark ground, with a knitted lining folded inside, a long garter-stitch strap and a button at the top. One version, one size. Mustard (9264) and orange (1410) are no longer made; the other four colours still are.

What you get

• The knitting pattern in English (PDF), emailed right after purchase — nothing is posted
• One size — 22 × 26 cm, with a 120 cm strap
• The 60-round colour chart, with its key
• Yarn and needles are not included. The kit has this pattern and all the yarn: the Taska kit

Yarn used in the pattern (not included)

Léttlopi — 50 g balls · one size — one 50 g ball of each colour, as printed
A 0085 oatmeal — 1
B 0005 black heather — 1 · the chart key gives B as 0052 (black sheep heather in our shop), and the ground and strap in the photo read brown-black, like 0052, which our kit uses; both are still made. By our calculation B — the ground and the whole strap — takes about a whole ball, so we suggest 2; our kit has 2
C 0051 white — 1
D 9264 mustard — 1 · no longer made — the kit uses 1703 mimosa, the same golden hue as the muted mustard in the photo, but brighter and cleaner
E 9434 crimson red — 1
F 1410 orange — 1 · no longer made — the kit uses 1704 apricot, a warm orange close to the one in the photo, a little deeper. By our calculation F — the orange rounds, the fold and, by our reading, the lining — takes about a whole ball or a little more, so we suggest 2; our kit has 2

Size
One size: 22 cm wide and 26 cm deep (8¾″ × 10¼″), with a 120 cm (47¼″) shoulder strap.

Gauge
18 sts × 24 rows = 10 cm (4″) in stocking stitch on 4.5 mm needles.

Needles
4.5 mm (US 7) circular needle, 40 cm, for the bag and the lining
4 mm (US 6) needles for the strap — the pattern does not say which kind; the strap is 5 stitches knitted back and forth

You will also need
The pattern uses one button (not included) and gives no size for it — the only notion in its list. You will also want a tapestry needle for closing the bottom, sewing on the strap and making the button loop.

How it is knitted
The bag is a tube of 80 stitches, cast on in A and knitted in the round from the bottom up on the 40 cm circular, through a 60-round stranded colourwork chart — an 8-stitch repeat, never more than two colours in a round. After the chart, one purl round in F, the orange, makes a fold at the opening, and the lining is knitted on from there in plain stocking stitch, decreased by 4 stitches to 76, until it is a little shorter than the bag; the pattern does not name the lining colour (by our reading it is F). The bottom of the bag is closed (see the questions below), the bottom of the lining is grafted, and the lining is folded inside. The strap is 5 stitches of garter stitch in B, knitted back and forth on 4 mm needles to 120 cm, and sewn on. A button sewn to the centre of the opening and a buttonhole loop close the bag.

Design: Védís Jónsdóttir — pattern from Lopi No. 25 (no. 22), Ístex.

How you get it — the pattern is a PDF in English. It is emailed to you right after purchase; nothing is posted.

Yarn — not included. We sell Ístex lopi by the ball in our yarn shop, or choose the kit, which has this pattern and all the yarn in one parcel.

No email? Check your spam folder, then write to support@icelandicstore.is with your order number. A person answers, Monday to Friday.