Valley Yarns Sagitta Knitting Pattern

Valley Yarns Sagitta Market Bag

What is Being Made

The Sagitta is a practical market bag designed by Julie Turjoman, featuring a fresh contemporary take on the classic market bag style. This intermediate-level knitting project creates a spacious tote with finished measurements of 29 inches circumference in the solid color section, 27 inches circumference in the colorwork section, and a customizable height of either 16 or 18 inches. The bag includes functional design elements such as a long cross-body shoulder strap and a secret inside pocket, making it both stylish and practical for everyday use, particularly suited for farmers' market shopping.

Techniques Used

The Sagitta employs several advanced knitting techniques to create a structured, durable market bag. The bag is worked in the round from the center of the base, growing outward and upward to create the finished form. This construction method on small needles provides extra fabric density, ensuring the bag can withstand the weight of market purchases. The design incorporates stranded colorwork, a technique where two colors are worked simultaneously in the round, creating intricate patterned sections as the body grows vertically. The pattern also includes seaming for finishing details and uses both worked in the round construction on circular needles and double-pointed needles, with the option to employ the Magic Loop technique for circular knitting on a single long circular needle.

Stitches and Stitch Details

While specific stitch abbreviations are not detailed in the pattern excerpt, the construction relies on fundamental stockinette stitch as the base fabric, enhanced by the stranded colorwork pattern that creates visual interest through color changes. The pattern emphasizes proper float management—the strands of yarn carried on the inside of the work during colorwork sections—to ensure they remain smooth and not too loose, preventing snagging of items stored inside the bag. The gauge is critical to this project: 22 stitches and 30 rounds equal 4 inches in stranded colorwork pattern when blocked, requiring careful attention to tension and needle sizing to achieve the desired fabric density.

Materials and Yarn Specifications

The Sagitta is designed to showcase Valley Yarns Leverett, a premium 70% cotton and 30% linen blend yarn that provides ideal characteristics for stranded colorwork. The yarn requirements include three colors: Main Color (MC): 4 hanks in Stone (004), Contrast Color 1 (CC1): 2 hanks in Lilac (010), and Contrast Color 2 (CC2): 2 hanks in Leaf (005). Each hank of Valley Yarns Leverett contains 109 yards and weighs 50 grams. The cotton-linen blend provides durability and structure ideal for a market bag, with natural fiber properties that improve with use and washing.

Needles and Tools

The pattern requires US 4 (3.50 mm) double-pointed needles (dpn) and 16- to 24-inch circular needles, or a 40-inch circular needle for the Magic Loop technique, or the size needed to achieve proper gauge. An optional US 5 or US 6 circular needle in 16- to 24-inch length (or 40-inch for Magic Loop) may be used if necessary to maintain consistent gauge while working the stranded colorwork sections. The pattern notes recommend using needles one size smaller than those recommended on the yarn ball band to tighten the gauge and create denser fabric appropriate for a functional bag. Additional materials include stitch markers (including one locking stitch marker for marking pattern repeats) and a tapestry needle for weaving in ends and seaming.

Construction Notes

The Sagitta begins on four double-pointed needles, with the base constructed from the center outward before transitioning to circular needle work as the circumference increases. Two length options are provided to allow customization of the finished bag height. The pattern emphasizes the importance of maintaining smooth floats during stranded colorwork to prevent snagging, with lining the bag presented as an optional finishing technique for added durability and a polished interior.