Funny, adorable caterpillar backpack

 This was my summer holiday project this year. We stayed a week in a cabin, and it was nice to have something to do when we were sitting on the porch in the evenings. The backpack is really easy made. No fancy stitches at all 😉 And if you ask who I made it for? Myself of course! It's the perfect size for all the things I bring along every day, and it also has room for my lunch bag.
The measurements are: Base 10 x 21 cm, height 31 cm width 26 cm.
It is made very similar to the cat shoulder bag I posted here a while back.

What you need: 

Apxm 3 bundles of 50 grams yellow cotton yarn (50 gr = 160m)
Apxm 3 bundles of 50 grams green cotton yarn (50 gr = 160m)
Some scraps of white, blue, pink and peach cotton yarn.
Crochet hooks size 4 and 6. A needle to secure the ends.

This is how you do it:

Work with triple yarn, and crochet hook size 6mm, and all three bundles of the same colour at once.

1. Crochet 31 chain stitches using the green yarn, turn, do 1 sc in the 2nd st from the hook, and continue with 29 more sc.
*turn, 1 ch, 30 sc* Repeat from *to* 13 times.

2. Then start crocheting around the base, doing 1 sc in all sts. Change to yellow yarn. (See colour change tip below.) Continue around in stripes of 4 rounds in height, until you have 6 yellow stripes.

3. Change to green colour, and do 1 sc in all st for one round.

4. Make holes for the drawstring like this: *2 sc, 2 ch*,  repeat from *to* until you have completed the round.

5. Do 1 sc in each st, and continue for 2 rounds. Cut the yarn, and pull it through the loop. Secure the ends on the inside.


6. Make the drawstring like this: Use double yarn, one green, and one yellow, and size 4 hook. Do 6 ch, do 1 dc in the 4th st from the hook, 2 dc. *3 ch, 3dc*. Repeat from * to * until desired length. Mine is 90 cm. Cut the yarn, and pull it through the loop. Weave the string through the holes on top of the bag, and then use the yarn ends to sow it together as a "ring".

The Lid

 1. Use triple yarn as above, start with green colour. Make a magic ring. If you don't know how, there's a good tutorial here. Make 4 sc in the ring, and tighten it. 1st round: Do 2 sc in each st. 2nd round: Do 1 sc in the first st, then 2 in the next throughout the round. 3rd round: Do 1 sc in the first 2 st, then 2 sc in the third st throughout the round. Continue like this.. Change colour for every 4th round. (See tip below for change of colour.) When you have made 2 yellow rings, proceed to step 2.

2. 4 ch, 1 dtr, 1 tc, 2 dc, 1 hdc, 7 sc, 1 hdc, 2 dc, 1 tc, 2 dtr, 1 ch, turn

3. *Do one sc in each st, 1 ch, turn.* Repeat from * to * 6 times.

4. Cut the yarn with a long enough tail to sow the lid onto the bag. Pull it through the loop. Sow the lid in the middle of the upper yellow stripe on the bag. Remember to place it in center of the backside.

Appliquetions

Use double yarn, and size 4 hook for these.

Eyes (Make 2 of them..): Blue yarn: Make a magic ring. Make 4 sc in the ring, and tighten it. 1st round: Do 2 sc in each st. Change to white yarn: Do 1 sc in the first st, then 2 in the next throughout the round. 3rd round: Do 1 sc in the first 2 st, then 2 sc in the third st throughout the round.4th round: *1 ch, turn, 1 sc in the first 3 st, then 2 sc in the forth.* Repeat from * to * 4 times. Yes. It's supposed to be only half a round.😊

Mouth: I used 1 thread of pink, and 1 thread of peach coloured yarn. Do 11 ch, turn and work 1 sc in each ch, start with the second one from the hook. turn. Continue back and forth with sc, but skip the second st, and the second last st in every row. You will end up with a triangle. Cut the yarn, and pull it through the loop.

Now sow the eyes and mouth neatly onto the lid,-  to give your caterpillar the look you want, experiment with where you place them..

Shoulder straps (I made one of each colour.) Triple yarn, and size 6 hook : Make 8 ch. Do 7 sc, start with the second ch from the hook. *Turn. 1 ch, 7 sc.*
Repeat from * to * until you get the desired length for your back. I wanted mine to hang low on the back, so I made them long. But remember that they will stretch a bit when worn.

Sow the shoulder straps onto the bag. I placed them low on the upper yellow stripe. and just above the base.

Congratulations! You have now made your very own caterpillar backpack!

Tip for colour change: If you are like me, and don't see the fun in securing a lot of lose ends, do like this:
Cut the "old" colour yarn, leaving 15-20 cm ends. (When you work with triple yarn, like on this backpack, cut one thread at the time, and do it three times for each colour change.) Start the "new" colour with the same ends, and lay them together on top of the stitches you are going to crochet. Then crochet around the ends as you go along, and the ends will disappear into your project. This way you only have to secure the beginning threads and the ones at the end. Your colours will change gradually and it will look like this.