While in India for my wedding, I was super inspired by all the beautiful floral and lotus prints—I knew I had to incorporate these motifs into a knit project. I also wanted to make a sturdy, nonfelted bag that could take a lot of abuse, as I tend to shove everything I possibly can into my bag. So I got to work making the Lotus Bag both stylish and strong. I chose double knit to reinforce the structure and combined it with intarsia to create seamless colorwork. Double knit also turned out to be a sneaky solution to making the handle strong and good-lookin’, as it resembles stockinette stitch on both sides and it doesn’t curl. If you’re like me and want to put the “all” in “carryall,” you’ll be good to go with this sweet, perfectly sized tote.

Yarn:
MC: 3 balls #23774 Chocolate
CC: 1 ball #23770 Tulip

Other Materials:
³/4” magnetic snap
Stitch markers (2)
1 sheet of plastic needlepoint mesh
canvas
Tapestry needle
1 yd lining fabric
Sewing needle and matching thread

ERRATA: In the writing, for the Gusset/Strap, it should read:
Cont rep rows 1-2, working rows 1-7 of Chart 2. Work rows 8-27 (20-row rep) 9 times, then work final 6 rows.