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This bakcpack is knit with a circular needle as well as regular knitting needles, but if you don't have the right length of circular needle, it can also be made on double pointed needles. If you don't have either, you can try to use two sets of knitting needles, but it's very hard. I've tried it - trust me. You will need 220 yards of yarn in a basic color, 110 yards in a contrasting color, a size 9 24 inch circular needles, and two double-pointed needles. With a 24 inch long circular needle, cast on 34 stitches. Work in garter stitch until the piece measures 4 1/2 inches, then bind off. Set this piece aside for now, since it will serve as the bottom of the backpack. Cast on 102 stitches, then join the first an last stitches. Put a stitch marker between the first and last stitches. Keep knitting in garter stitch until the piece measures 10 inches. This forms the body of the backpack. To form the drawstring holes, follow these next steps: Bind off 2 stitches at the beginning of the next row. Knit the next 3 stitches. Repeat this pattern of bind 2, knit 3 all the way around. Knit the next round. Bind off the first 68 stitches in the next round, leaving 34 on your needle. This forms the drawstring holes. The make the flap, work back and forth on straight needles in garter stitch with the second color. Do this until the piece measures 4 1/2 inches long. For the buttonhole, knit 16 stitches, bind off 2, then knit the following 15. Knit 16 stitches, then cast on 2 directly over the bound stitches from the previous row. Continue in garter stitch until the piece measures 6 inches. Bind off all stitches, then knit i-cord for the straps. You should make them 55 inches long or your preferred length. Thread the yarn needle with the main color of yarn and sew the bottom of the pack to the body, neginning at corner 1 so that the back of the pack (the side with the flap along the top edge) it sewn to a long edge of the bottom. Find the drawstring hole centered under the flap. Pull the cord from the outside of the pack in through the hole, then out through the next hole (in either direction). Work in and out of all the holes from the center hole (the hole hwere you started). Pull both ends of the cord together through a ring or bead, although this step isn't neccesssary. Attach the end of the left cord to the lower left corner of the pack by securely sewing 1 1/2 inches of the cord to the pack. Repeat with the right end of the cord on the right side. Find the spot on the pack where the buttonhole falls when you fold over the flap. Mark it with a piece of yarn or a safety pin. Sew a button to the marked spot on the pack, then weave in all the loose ends. You will need 220 yards of yarn in one color, and 110 yards in a contrasting color.
