My Responses to the First 18 Hours' Worth of Entries

I am quite honestly not surprised by the large turnout. I would enter this raffle!!! But I am stunned by the quality of these answers. Some of you have been thinking about this for a long time!

A few of you have suggested see-through or even dry-erasable plastic for a pattern pocket. That is a great idea, one that I hadn't ever thought of (the VERY reason I am doing this!!!) but it'll take me some time to find appropriate material to apply to this idea to show prototypes. I have 40 days, and hopefully the winners will give me an extra 2 weeks to sew their customized bags. :)

Many of you agree with what I have been thinking over the past 6 months, that a drawstring is the way to go. Nothing to get yarn stuck in. Man, that is awful when the zipper pull eats your yarn!

I thought that straps would be the biggest sticking point, and it seems to be the early winner in the no-one-agrees category. Some of you want wide, slightly sticky shoulder straps, either one or two. Some prefer a hand bag. Others want a single strap like the bucket bag that I have displayed. I thought that was what I wanted, but it's kinda hard to get things into and out of that bag (hence, the Heathen Housewife's Blankie is stored in there... about 30 tiny little organza bags full of sock yarn center-pull balls plus my 50 finished squares are being stored in that bag. yes, I know, pick-up-and-knit is the way-to-go on that project, but I love the portable-ness of the tiny squares! and I WILL sew them together one day... I so totally will. someday.)

Lastly, one more biggie is pockets. Pockets are a stick-in' point (Ha! I love me my puns!) Anyhow, we seem to have a disparity here, as well. Some of you want pockets, pockets, and more pockets. Some want a few well-placed pockets. Some are specific about what you want to fit into your pockets (thermos bottle, anyone- I love it! so detailed!). This is all about what is YOUR perfect knitting bag, and thankfully, pockets are the ONE thing that is easy-peasy to change when making a bag. Each raffle winner and every bag maker will be able to customize that to their heart's (or thermos bottle's) content. Yay!