Box style bags are one of the most popular project bag styles out there currently. All of these bags close with a zipper and keep your items snug inside, right? But what happens when you go to knit your project? You either have to leave the bag completely open, allowing your yarn the opportunity to hop out and go sightseeing, or you zip it almost completely closed and risk your fabulous indie dyed yarn snagging on the zipper and damaging its integrity.
Why do we accept this? There’s a better way!
in 2013, a friend told me she loved box shaped bags but HATED the zippers. So, I set out to create an alternative for her. The solution was so simple, but no one was doing it. *Why not use snaps?”
The Kellie bag is a result of that interaction. These started out with the snap tape used in most home sewing projects, but have evolved to use sturdy plastic snaps that are easy on the hands but won’t pop open on their own. Kellie bags seemed to be the perfect answer — the snaps don’t snag or catch your yarn the way a zipper does. The snaps also operate as built-in yarn guides, so you can set your colorwork project up in the bag and be good to go! I used to struggle with my colorwork twisting horribly every few rows, although that might be due more to my technique than anything else, but using these bags as yarn guides allows me to keep my yarn separate and more easily see when it’s starting to get overly twisted in a single direction.
And these aren’t just for small projects! The large size holds approximately six skeins of worsted weight yarn. Recently an entire adult sweater was completed from a large bag — the sweater in progress and all the yarn for that project stored in it the whole time. No more searching for that one last skein you swear you had to finish your project — they are all right there in your bag!
Your yarn deserves better than zippers. You deserve happy yarn.