Girls Stuff Sack Bag Knitting Pattern

Girls Stuff Sack Bag Knitting Pattern by Cascade Yarns

Project Overview

The Girls Stuff Sack is an Advanced Beginner level knitting pattern designed by Laura Farson for Cascade Yarns. This downloadable PDF provides instructions for creating a charming drawstring bag perfect for storing treasures and small items. The pattern features a beautiful gradient color progression and incorporates stranded knitting techniques to create visual texture and depth.

What Is Being Made

This project creates a child-sized stuff sack bag with dimensions of 8¾ inches wide by 9 inches high. The bag features two decorative drawstring tubes at the top that serve as functional straps, and a main body constructed using stranded color work. The finished bag is ideal for organizing small belongings and makes an excellent project for knitters looking to expand their technical skills.

Techniques Used

The pattern employs several intermediate knitting techniques that elevate it beyond basic knitting:

• Stranded knitting (also called fair isle or color work) creates the textured check pattern by carrying two colors of yarn simultaneously and switching between them to form the design
• Yarn dominance is carefully controlled by holding the dominant color in the left hand under the other yarn, which influences how the pattern visually appears
• Circular knitting for the main body, worked in the round to create a seamless tube
• Flat knitting for the drawstring tubes, worked back and forth in rows
• Three-needle bind-off technique used to join the cast-on edge to live stitches, creating a professional finished edge on the drawstring tubes
• Long-tail cast-on with multiple strands for a sturdy foundation

Stitches Used

The pattern utilizes fundamental knitting stitches executed with color work precision:

• Knit stitch worked with alternating strands to develop the textured check pattern
• Purl stitch used in the drawstring tubes to create texture variation
• Stranded stitches where two colors are carried and switched throughout each round, with an odd number of stitches ensuring the check pattern develops naturally

Materials and Yarn

This pattern calls for Cascade 220 Superwash yarn, a durable and washable wool blend ideal for children's items. The color palette features a beautiful gradient progression from light to dark pink:

• Color A: Cascade 220 Superwash #894 (light pink)
• Color B: Cascade 220 Superwash #836 (medium pink)
• Color C: Cascade 220 Superwash #901 (bright pink)
• Color D: Cascade 220 Superwash #903 (dark pink)

Knitters should wind a second ball of each color from the original skeins to facilitate the stranded knitting process. The pattern requires US #8 needles in either 16-inch circular needles or double-pointed needles, along with a blunt sewing needle for finishing.

Gauge and Construction Details

The pattern is worked at a gauge of 6 stitches per inch with the stranded check pattern. The drawstring tubes are cast on with 54 stitches using two strands of the darkest color (D) and worked flat for 1¼ inches. The main body is then constructed in the round using nine rounds of each color combination, progressing from the lightest pink gradation (AA) through medium combinations (AB, BC) to the darkest (DD). This creates a striking ombré effect that transitions smoothly through the pink color family.