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Whidbey Bag is a stashbusting backpack designed to carry your knitting and wear your yarn history at the same time. Knit the bag, then weave in every leftover skein, scrap, and precious remnant you’ve been saving, the finished piece becomes as personal as your stash itself.

The construction is simple, seamless and satisfying, with i-cord straps that double as the drawstring closure and video tutorials for every step worth slowing down for.

You can also pair it with the stash-friendly Whidbey Sweater.

Design Details

Whidbey is big enough to swallow an entire sweater in progress plus a couple of balls of yarn, a project inside a project if you will. The i-cord straps are fully adjustable so you can wear it exactly how you like it.

The real magic is in the weaving. After knitting, you work your leftover yarns directly into the stockinette fabric with a darning needle; scraps from finished projects, odds and ends from your stash, that one skein you’ve been saving for something. Mix weights, mix fibers, mix everything. The finished bag becomes a kind of wearable scrapbook of your knitting life, practical enough to use every day and personal enough to be completely yours.

No two Whidbey bags will ever look the same.

Pattern Highlights

• Relaxed knitting, perfect for TV or travel projects
• Works with many yarn weights and fibers
• Fully stash friendly and easy to customize
• No colorwork charts or seaming

Construction Overview

The bag begins by working two flat strap channels using a provisional cast on. The fabric is folded and joined to form the i-cord casing. The channels are then joined and the bag body is worked in the round to the desired depth before binding off with a three-needle bind off.

After blocking, i-cord straps are knit. Once dry, scrap yarn is woven through the stockinette using a darning needle. Mix fingering held triple, DK held double, or single strands of worsted to create stripes and texture. Straps are then attached as shown in the pattern.

Yarn Notes

The body and straps use a DK weight yarn for structure.

The woven accent yarn is where your stash comes in. Because the yarn is added after knitting, you can combine many yarn weights and fibers. Fingering held triple, DK held double, or single strands of worsted all work well and allow you to mix colors freely.

Needles & Gauge

US 4 (3.50 mm) 16–40” circular needle
Tapestry needle

24 sts x 28 rows = 4” in stockinette in the round (wet blocked)

Yarn Requirements

Backpack & Straps (DK weight):
500 yards

Woven Accent Yarn (scraps):

• Fingering held triple: ~3 yards per stripe
• DK held double: ~2 yards per stripe
• Worsted held single: ~1 yard per stripe

Use as many stripes as desired.

Finished Measurements

Width: 12.5”
Length: 16”
Straps: approx. 30” when stretched

Let’s Knit Together

This pattern includes video tutorials, and we’d love to have you in our community. Join the Wool & Pine Cottage on Discord for pattern support, progress shares, and a friendly place to knit alongside others.

Join us here: https://discord.com/invite/M64Ec9yeng

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