It’s been a long time since I’ve posted a free knitting pattern (sorry, guys, I’m a slow knitter!) but I haven’t forgotten about you knitters out there!  This was such a fun knit project that I just had to share it here on the blog.  My oldest loved modeling it for me and wants to keep it as his own – which is fine as long as he and his brothers don’t fight over it.  Hahaha…. I said “if”.  If you have more than one child you know how unlikely it is that they’ll fight over something!

We just finished with strawberry season here in Middle TN and we always grow a decent crop in our own little backyard garden.  Strawberries are one of the first summer fruits around here and it always signals a bountiful harvest for the rest of the season as we grow several types of berries that last into early fall.  To celebrate the sweet summer strawberries, I designed this knitted backpack to look like a ripe, luscious strawberry!

Sweet Strawberry Backpack

What You’ll Need

Yarn: Red Heart Soft in #5142 Cherry Red (MC), 2 skeins; #4420 Guacamole (CC1), 1 skein; #4601 Off-White (CC2), 1 skein.  Buy yarn for this project here

Needles: US Size 6 (4.0mm) straight needles

Notions: Yarn needle, 12″ zipper

Skill Level: Easy

Size: Approximately 14″ tall x 11″ wide x 4″ deep

Gauge: 22 sts and 28 rows – 4″ in St st

Notes: All pieces are worked in St st unless otherwise noted.

Pattern

Back

With MC, CO 56 sts.

Rows 1-2: Work even in St st.
Row 3: Inc 1 st each side – 58 sts.
Row 4: Work even.
Row 5: Repeat Row 3 – 60 sts.
Rows 6-94: Work even.
Row 95: Dec 1 st each side – 58 sts.
Row 96: Work even.
Row 97: Repeat Row 95 – 56 sts.
Row 98: Work even.

Bind off.

Front

With MC, CO 56 sts.

Work same as Back to Row 52.

Rows 53-57: Work chart.

Rows 58-75: Work even in CC1.

Bind off knitwise.

 

Top

With CC1, CO 56 sts.

Work same as Back for 17 rows.

Bind off knitwise.

 

Side Panel

With MC, CO 22 sts.

Work in St st for 268 rows.

 

 

Base

With MC, CO 22 sts.

Work in St st for 72 rows.

 

Side Pocket (make 2)

With MC, CO 22 sts.

Work in St st for 35 rows.

Work in Garter st for 4 rows.

Bind off knitwise.

 

Hanger

With CC1, CO 30 sts.

Work in Garter st for 7 rows.

Bind off.

 

Strap (make 2)

With CC1, CO 13 sts.

Row 1: K1, *wyib sl 1 purlwise, k1; rep from * to end.
Row 2: K1, *p1, k1; rep from * to end.

Repeat Rows 1-2 until Strap measures 18” from beginning or to desired length.  For my 7-year-old the 18″ was a little long and I had to pull it up.  For a smaller child I would make them shorter, probably 14″ for a child my son’s size and maybe even 12″ for a child younger than 5.

Finishing

Block all pieces.

Sew zipper in place between front and top.

Stitch seed details in duplicate stitch on Front.

 

Sew Side Pockets to Side Panel at each end. Sew Side Panel from left bottom corner to right bottom corner of front and back. Sew Base in place at bottom.

Center Hanger at top and stitch in place.

Sew on Straps in desired locations.

Weave in ends.

I hope you enjoy this free knitting pattern! 😀

Amanda

*This pattern originally appeared in the August 2016 issue of I Like Knitting.