Cats & Dogs Satchels, that is!

Knit in Wool of the Andes Sport, this satchel is messenger-bag style and is big enough for a laptop, schoolbooks, a knitting project, and of course a bag of treats for your favorite furry friend. The body of the bag knits up quickly in stockinette, and there are options to knit the strap and the inside front pocket plain or in an adorable paw-print pattern.

But the real draw of this bag is the tesselated pattern of adorable Westie dogs and lounging black kitties!

So, just what is a tesselation? A tesselation is a type of tiling in which shapes are repeated by various means and usually show some kind of symmetry. A grid is technically a tesselation, as is a houndstooth pattern, stripes and polka dots. But tesselations can be so much more than that!

I’ll spare you the boring mathy details, but in this case, I chose a rhombus shape as the repeat. “But wait!” you say, “It looks like dogs! where’s the rhombus?” Well, if you look very carefully, you’ll notice that each dog’s feet don’t quite line up with those of his neighbor. Here’s a closer look:

What this means is that through the knitting of the front flap of the bag, you won’t encounter the same row twice! This is a really fun pattern if you like to keep yourself engaged in colorwork without having to change colors every other round.

Oh, and if you can’t see the kitties, turn your head sideways to the right! 😉

So, if you love animals and a really fun bit of colorwork, pick up the Cats and Dogs Satchel Kit! Or make it match your pets by picking up the downloadable pattern and choosing your own colors of Wool of the Andes Sport. Enjoy a new, more literal take on a ‘houndstooth’ bag!