Plant Pockets
Having falling in love with urban knitting, I wanted to follow up my International Yarn Bombing 2011 day adventure with something Derek and I could collaborate on. He likes to grow things and I like to knit. Bring these two things together and we came up with the idea of plant pockets. We’ve created a dozen and deployed the first two last weekend while walking down to the Mission.
Photo: Derek Powazek
I’m very much a novice knitter.* The design has changed a wee bit from pocket to pocket as I learned from the previous one. (I’m sure that all you champion knitters out there could tell me how I’m doing it wrong, and I encourage you to post your own plant pocket creations that are more better. The world needs more little gardens in our urban areas.)
The instructions below cover creation of the pocket. Please see Derek’s gardening site, Plantgasm for the planting portion of this adventure.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
- Yarn — I decided to use acrylic yarn for our plant pockets. Given how damp San Francisco can be, I wanted something that would be less likely to rot. And, as we’re going to be spreading the plant pocket love around the city, I wanted to keep an eye on cost. All of the yarn is Red Heart Super Saver.
- Needles — Size 8 US. I have both bamboo and plastic needles in this size and I’ve found the plastic ones easier to knit with the Red Heart yarn.
- Darning needle – To stitch up the sides and weave the ties through the pocket.
- Scissors — For the snipping.
- Tape measure — For the measuring.
- Optional, a glass of wine — For the drinking.
OPEN POCKET – Simple
- The majority of the plant pockets that we’ve created are open at the top. There’s a closed “pillow” top version that I’ll post about in the future. The opening needs to be wide enough to hold a plant, but narrow enough to avoid sagging. I found a 4 inch width to be ideal. Cast on 17 stitches and then stockinette stitch for 9 inches (knit a row, purl a row). Once you’ve got at least 9 inches, cast off. You’ve created the body of the pocket.
- Use the darning needle to weave the casting on and off ends into the purl side of the pocket. It’s best to run them down the inside edge of the pocket so it won’t be too visible in the finished pocket.
- The next step involves creating the bottom tie. Cut 6 pieces of yarn that are approx. 30 inches long. You can adjust the length of the ties to be longer or shorter if you know the circumference of where you’re going to tie your plant pocket. Put three pieces of the yarn aside for the top tie. Take the body of the plant pocket that you knit in the first step and fold it with the purl side inwards. You want the front of the pocket to me roughly 4 inches and the back 5 inches. The cast off row has more structure than the cast on row, so I use that for the front lip of the pocket. Take one of the pieces of the yarn and thread the darning needle. You want to loosely stitch three of the pieces of yarns through the width of the body pocket at the fold. You can use the stitches themselves if you want an even look. Make sure that you’ve got even “tails” of yarn on either side. Once you’ve woven three pieces through, braid them to the end, securing them with a knot. Repeat this on the other side.
- Next up, stitching the sides. Cut a length of yarn and knot the end. Push the darning needle through from the inside to the outside, starting from the base of the pocket where you created the bottom tie. Holding the pieces together stitch the front to the back moving up towards the top of the pocket. Repeat this step, sewing the other side of the pocket.
- We’ll use the three remaining lengths of yarn that you cut previously to create the top tie. You’ll weave the three lengths through the back flap and then braid the extra length on either side.
- The pocket’s complete and ready for planting. Check out Plantgasm for tips and tricks on planting your pocket.
OPEN POCKET – Fancy
The fancy version differs only in that you tile stitch the portion that will be the front of the pocket.
- Cast on 20 stitches
- 1st row: knit 4 stitches, purl 4 stitches, knit 4 stitches, purl 4 stitches, knit 4 stitches.
- 2nd row: purl 4 stitches, knit 4 stitches, purl 4 stitches, knit 4 stitches, purl 4 stitches.
- Repeat 1st and 2nd rows.
- 5th row: purl 4 stitches, knit 4 stitches, purl 4 stitches, knit 4 stitches, purl 4 stitches.
- 6th row: knit 4 stitches, purl 4 stitches, knit 4 stitches, purl 4 stitches, knit 4 stitches.
- Repeat 5th and 6th rows.
- Repeat 1st through 8th rows.
- Repeat 1st through 4th rows.
- Did you follow all that? When you’re done, you’ll end up with what looks like a basket weave with five columns and five rows. It’s pretty and adds texture to the front of the plant pocket.
- Follow steps 2 – 6 in the simple pocket above, using the bottom of the basket weave as the folding point for the base of the pocket.
* I’ve found YouTube and the myriad of great knitting videos there to be a great help. While I could remember how to knit and purl, casting on and off was a complete mystery. Much thanks to all those super knitters out there who are creating video to help people like me learn how to knit.
