Journey Bag in Juniper Moon Farm Herriot Great - Downloadable PDF

Journey Bag Knitting Pattern by Sarah Jo Burch – Felted Fair Isle Bag in Juniper Moon Farm Herriot Great

The Journey Bag is a beautifully functional felted knitting pattern by designer Sarah Jo Burch, part of The Yorkshire Collection. This pattern produces a sturdy, structured handbag with a decorative flap featuring a classic Fair Isle motif. Available as a downloadable PDF, this is a one-size pattern that yields a finished bag approximately 8 inches wide, 3 inches deep, and 11 inches tall — though the final dimensions are intentionally flexible, as size can be adjusted by varying the felting time.

What Is Being Made

The Journey Bag is a felted knitted bag worked in the round and then fulled (felted) to create a dense, durable fabric. Felting is a process in which natural animal fibers — particularly wool and alpaca — are subjected to heat, moisture, and agitation, causing the fibers to interlock and shrink into a tight, firm material. This transformation turns a loosely knitted fabric into something that holds its shape beautifully, making it ideal for bags and accessories. The flap of the Journey Bag features a two-color Fair Isle pattern, adding a decorative, heritage-inspired detail to an otherwise clean and modern silhouette.

Yarn and Materials

The pattern calls exclusively for Juniper Moon Farm Herriot Great, a chunky-weight yarn with a soft alpaca content that felts exceptionally well. Two colorways are used:

• MC (Main Color): 3 hanks of Juniper Moon Farm Herriot Great in #107 Cornflower
• CC (Contrast Color): 1 hank of Juniper Moon Farm Herriot Great in #102 Oyster Mushroom

The natural fiber content of Herriot Great is essential to the success of this pattern — the alpaca and wool blend responds to the felting process, shrinking and matting into a firm, cohesive structure. Synthetic fibers would not felt, so substituting yarn requires careful attention to fiber content.

Needles and Notions

The Journey Bag is knitted on a US 10 (6mm) 24-inch circular needle, or the size needed to achieve the specified gauge. Additional notions include:

• Tapestry needle
• Scrap yarn
• Stitch markers
• Two stitch holders

Gauge

The gauge for this pattern is 14 stitches and 18 rows over 4 inches in Stockinette stitch worked in the round. Because the bag is felted after knitting, the pre-felting gauge is used as a starting point, and the final dimensions can be fine-tuned by adjusting how long the piece is felted.

Techniques Used

The Journey Bag incorporates several knitting techniques that make it an engaging intermediate-level project:

• Knitting in the round on circular needles, which creates a seamless tubular body for the bag
• Fair Isle colorwork on the flap, using both the Main Color and Contrast Color to create a traditional two-color stranded pattern
• Felting (fulling), the finishing technique that transforms the knitted fabric into a dense, structured material by applying heat, water, and agitation
• Working with stitch markers and stitch holders to manage shaping and construction details
• Bind off and cast on techniques as part of the bag's construction

Stitches Used

• Stockinette stitch — the primary stitch pattern used throughout the body of the bag, worked in the round
• Slip stitch (sl wyf) — slipping stitches with yarn forward, as if to purl, used as a technique detail within the pattern
• Fair Isle stranded colorwork stitches — worked across the flap section using both MC and CC

Pattern Summary and Appeal