"Let Me Hold You" Crossbody Bag Knitting Pattern

My novel, The Lone Rice Ball, is in the multi-author box set, Once Upon a Starry Night, a Christian contemporary romance collection. Also in the box set is my friend Jan Thompson’s novel, Let Me Hold You.

I made this pattern for her to celebrate our box set being released. It’s the crossbody bag worn by Jan’s character Maggie.

You can download a free PDF of the pattern here (no email necessary).

See this pattern in Ravelry.

If you are savvy with a sewing machine, you can make a cloth lining and sew it to the inside. If you use a stretchy fabric, you can take advantage of the stretchy nature of the bag.

If you leave it unlined, you can take this bag to the beach and easily shake the sand out of it.

I happened to have a D-ring and buckle, which I used to make the strap adjustable, but you don’t need these to make this bag. You can simply sew the end of the strap to the bag rather than using the D-ring. If you have a D-ring but not a buckle, you can do a (YO, k2tog) in the middle of a row about 3/4” from the end of the strap to create a buttonhole, then after you bind off, string it through the D-ring and sew buttons on the strap at intervals so the wearer can adjust the length by changing what button to use.

The Wave lace pattern is #71, “Very Pretty Feather” stitch pattern on page 163 of The Lady's Assistant in Knitting, Netting and Crochet Work, volume 2, 5th edition, by Mrs. Jane Gaugain, published in 1857.

Wave pattern in the round (multiple of 23 sts):

Round 1: purl 2 together 4 times, (YO, knit 1) 7 times, YO, purl 2 together 4 times

Rounds 2, 3, 4 and 5: knit

Wave pattern back and forth (multiple of 23 sts plus 2):

Row 1: knit 1, purl 2 together 4 times, (YO, knit 1) 7 times, YO, purl 2 together 4 times, knit 1

Rows 2 and 4: purl

Rows 3 and 5: knit

Row 6 (WS): purl 1, knit 2 together 4 times, YO, (purl 1, YO) 7 times, knit 2 together 4 times, purl 1

Rows 7 and 9: knit

Rows 8 and 10: purl

Needle: US 7 (4.5 mm) circular needle

Yarn: Knit Picks Dishie (100% cotton, worsted weight, 190 yards/100 grams) Aquarium Multi colorway, 2 balls.

I made this pattern to use up only two balls of Dishie.

Gauge: 4.5 stitches = 1” on US 7 needles in stockinette stitch

Finished size: 11” x 11” x 4”

Pattern:

Cast on 46 sts on a circular needle. (I used provisional cast on to make it easier to pick up stitches on the cast on edge, but you don’t need to do that.) Do not join in the round.

Knit garter stitch back and forth (knit every row) for a total of 20 rows (there will be 10 ridges on each side). Do not bind off.

Along the outside edges of the rectangle, pick up and knit 9 stitches along short side, place marker, pick up and knit 46 stitches from cast on edge (if you used provisional cast on, just knit live stitches), place marker, pick up and knit 9 stitches from other short side, place marker, knit 46 live stitches and place marker for start of round. There should be 110 stitches on the needle in the round.

Knit Wave pattern until marker (46 stitches), seed stitch until marker (9 stitches), Wave pattern until marker (46 stitches), then seed stitch until marker (9 stitches). (NOTE: you can substitute another stitch like garter stitch for the seed stitch if desired.)

Repeat the 5 rounds of the Wave pattern a total of 12 times (ending after completing round 5), knitting seed stitch in the two side sections.

Next round: Knit Wave pattern until marker (46 stitches), then knit garter stitch (starting with a purl round) until the end of the round.

Continue for a total of 5 rounds. There should be 3 garter stitch ridges.

Next round: Knit Wave pattern until marker (46 stitches). Ssk, k5, k2tog, and place those 7 stitches on waste yarn. Continuing along the live stitches on the bag, bind off 46 stitches. There should be only 9 stitches left before the start of round marker.

Knit strap: Place those 9 stitches on a double-pointed needle and work back and forth only on those 9 stitches. First row only: ssk, k5, k2tog. All rows after that, knit seed stitch or garter stitch on those 7 stitches until the strap length, lightly stretched, is about 50” or the length you desire (for my strap, since I was using the buckle, I made it 55”). Remember that the strap will stretch more if the bag is heavy.

If you are not using a D-ring, then take the 7 stitches on waste yarn on the other side of the bag and put them on a needle. Line the strap up against the bag with right sides facing. Do 3-needle bind off on those 7 stitches of the bag with 7 stitches of the strap, attaching the other end of the strap to the bag.

If you are using a D-ring and buttons, then on the strap you’re working on, do seed stitch for 3 sts, YO, k2tog, then seed stitch for 2 sts. Continue seed stitch for 3/4” more, then bind off strap. Sew buttons to strap at intervals. Later, you will pass the end of the strap through the D-ring on the other side of the bag, and button the end of the strap on one of the buttons.

If you are using a D-ring and a buckle, then on the strap you’re working on, do about 1” stockinette stitch at the end of the strap. Cut the yarn, leaving a long tail, but do not bind off. You may want to put the 7 live stitches temporarily on waste yarn. Then string the end of the strap through the buckle, through the loose D-ring, and then loop it around the moveable bar on the buckle. Using another needle, pick up 7 purl bumps on the wrong side from the first row of stockinette stitch, then put 7 live stitches from strap back on the needle. Do 3-needle bind off with the 7 strap stitches and the 7 purl bumps, knitting the moveable bar into the loop created by the stockinette stitch strip.

Attach the D-ring to the bag: put the 7 stitches on waste yarn on a double-pointed needle and work stockinette stitch on those 7 stitches for about 2”, but do not bind off. Using another needle, pick up 7 purl bumps on the wrong side from the first row of stockinette stitch. Cut the yarn leaving a long tail, and pass the stockinette stitch strip through the D-ring. Then do 3-needle bind off with the 7 purl bumps and the 7 live stitches, knitting the D-ring into the loop created by the stockinette stitch strip.

With the wrong side facing you, attach yarn to the bag, pick up and knit one stitch before the wave pattern, purl 46 stitches, then pick up and knit one stitch, for a total of 48 stitches. Next row: starting from row 3, work the Wave pattern back and forth until the bag flap is the length you desire, ending after completing a row 5 or a row 10. (I did 11 repeats of the Wave pattern, ending after row 5.)

You have several options to finish the flap. I did 1 knit row (wrong side row), then switched to a size G crochet hook. I turned the flap 90 degrees, with the wrong side facing, then did single crochet (sc) down the side, two sc for every 3 knit rows. I turned (right side facing) and did another row of single crochet, with 3 sc in the corner stitch, then 1 sc in each knit stitch along the top, 3 sc in the corner stitch, then 2 sc for every 3 rows down the side. I turned again and finished with one row of sc along the side, 3 sc in the corner stitch, then 1 row of sc along the top and ending at the corner. Each of the 3 sides of the flap should have 2 rows of sc.

Another option is to do garter stitch for 5 rows, starting with purl stitch on the right side. Bind off the 48 stitches. You can then opt to do a crochet edge: Attach yarn and do either single crochet around the edges of the bag flap or pick up and knit around the edges of the bag flap then turn and bind off the edging on the next row.

Weave in all ends.