Kelley Deal is better known as a member of the band the Breeders, but she's been a knitter for several years, using the craft to keep her sane (and give her something to do during the dull parts) on tour and in the studio.
Her book, Bags that Rock: Knitting on the Road with Kelley Deal offers 18 patterns for bags of all shapes and sizes, many of which are felted, as well as tons of ideas for making a plain bag design your own.
Style is in the Bag
Deal starts her book by explaining how she learned to knit and why it's such a great craft for her to take on the road.
I saw Emmylou [Harris] in a Gram Parsons documentary, yarn and needles in hand -- perfectly at peace. She seemed confident and exuded a that grace I've associated with knitting ever since. Knitting keeps me occupied and serene whether I'm riding u=in a tour bus, waiting on an airplane, or obsessing in the studio.
She goes on to escirbe some of the basics about yarn, making a firm bag, felting and improvising handles for your bags. She uses everything from drum sticks and guitar strings to the inseam from a pair of jeans and a bit of grapevine as handles in the book, as well as offering more conventional suggestions for people who don't have access to a musician's stash.
The Patterns
The 20 patterns range from pretty basic plain knit squares to a colorblock felted bag, a fuzzy heart-shaped bag and a couple of bags with a bunch of duplicate stitch on them.
If you saw Kelley's appearance on Vickie Howell's "Knitty Gritty," you'll recognize the Nordic Bag, a cute little felted bag with a ski-sweater inspired motif worked in duplicate stitch.
Some of my favorite projects include Knotted Up, a classic rugged shoulder bag with plenty of room for essentials; Propeller, a plain bag embellished with propeller motifs; the big felted Road bag; the super-cute Moe, felted with a drum set embroidered on it; and the bright Free Bird, an otherwise plain felted bag with a bunch of chunky beads sewn on after felting.
Every project provides multiple options for changing up or embellishing the pattern. You'll see the projects in different colors and with different handles (from store bought handles to telephone cables, I-cord to beaded bits of fishing line) so you'll get a good idea of how to make each project your own.
All of these projects are great for new knitters. The shapes are pretty simple and most of the colorwork is done through duplicate stitch rather than intarsia (though certainly you could use intarsia instead, and would probably want to on at least part of the Graffiti bag) so it's no problem for newbies.
If you love bags, homemade or otherwise, you're sure to find some projects here you can't resist. And if you've got a rocker friend you want to introduce to knitting, this book is the way to do it.
Publication date: October 2008{/b]
