Serenity Yoga / Beach Tote Pattern

As most of you know I was honored to be a competitor in the Battle of the Stitches Round 6.

I haven't competed as a designer before and this was very fun and yes, very challenging.

As a competitor in Battle of the Stitches, all designers have about 4 weeks to design a pattern based off of a theme and stitch. The pattern must be designed, tested and photographed with deadlines along the way. 

The theme for round 6 was reveled, SERENITY!

So excited to hear the theme, but I couldn't even begin to decide on a pattern to design until I knew the stitch. This was where my thoughts went when I hear "serenity". I took this picture on a recent hike I took with my family. It is in the Payette National Forest in Central Idaho. 

A few days later the stitch was released. I was surprised to hear that it was called, SERENITY, as well. The Serenity stitch is basically a picot, cluster, picot repeat. We were shown this as a sample.

Now, I was ready for the design frenzy that was going on through my head. I had about 4 or 5 designs and really struggled on settling on one. However, in the end, my thoughts about serenity was always,

Quiet, Meditative, Nature, 

So the SERENITY Yoga Mat Tote it is!

You can get your copy in these shops: Ravelry / Etsy / Craftsy 

I had so much fun designing this tote. It is something different than my typical design style. I really tried to push my level of creativity and loved seeing the bottom of the bag change with each row. I used Premier Yarns Cotton and loved working with this yarn. It will wear nicely and wash up great!

I made the bottom of the tote fun and colorful, as the bottom turns the corner it is solid for a more stable base to the tote and allows the yoga mat to easily sit at the bottom. About 4" from the base you get to see the beauty of the serenity stitch begin and show off the delicateness of the stitch repeats. 

After adding a shoulder strap and a drawstring closure the tote is done! 

 

But, not everyone is into yoga. I want everyone to be able to make this toe because it is so much fun! So, I included instructions to make the tote smaller and it will work perfect for a day at the beach. The photo's below are courtesy of Nondas from Yarn Medleys from the Heart.

 

Kendal, from Kendal's Kreations, also made a beautiful full sized Yoga Tote.

  

And one more fabulous sample is by Gillian from Enfy's Creations.

I hope you like the my design and find some inspiration to give it a try. 

You can see the other designs for Round 6 of Battle of the Stitches using the serenity stitch and find their patterns by click the image below: