As many of you may know by now, much of my inspiration for the things I make and what I decide to name them before they hit the fortuknit shop comes from the country where my mom is from—St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It’s been a long time since I last visited, but my memories are always fond ones. The trips are always filled with spending time with family and friends, eating all of my favorite fruits (like sugar apples and mango) and dishes (like salt fish and breadfruit), and regular stops at the beach. I’ve always loved the beach—the calming sound of the waves, the smell of salt in the air—spending all day with my toes in the sand or in the cool, blue water while the day passes by. The beach is most certainly one of my happy places.

While St. Vincent is home to a couple of my favorite beaches (on Young Island and Bequia), you can almost always find me near water on any given trip or vacation. Somehow, the water finds me every single time. There is just something about getting ready the night before, packing up your favorite suit and tons of snacks to last you the day, getting in the car and road tripping to your special spot where you can bask in the the sunshine with a good read, some classic jams, or even your latest knitting project.

In case you missed it, here’s a special shoutout to our generous donors, who also received an entry for a very special fortuknit giveaway!

The winner was to be announced at the end of April (yesterday), but I couldn’t resist waiting for my May blog post to share the news. Before I tell you who the lucky winner of the giveaway, valued at $280 is, let’s take a look back…

Check out these progress pics!

After initially thinking the whole design would be made from reflective paracord, I decided to switch things up and throw in this really cool textured white rope with black speckles. The idea for the look had been in my head for quite some time, and it was really cool to see it coming to life! I was lucky enough to find a pattern made by WoolAffair that would give me the effect I was looking for. Amazingly, it started to take shape just as I envisioned, borrowing it’s structure from the pattern I’d found.

Have you guessed yet what the project might be???

This was my first time knitting with rope and let me tell you, it is NOT a simple task. Though the project happens to be one of my shorter ones, it did not come to completion without it’s challenges, like:

• The rope constantly twisting while working and having to stop to untwist it

• Having to ensure to get a really tight grip to ensure the stitches came out correctly (rope can be slippery!)

• Finding an ideal working position to hold the project as it got larger and heavier

• Finding creative ways to handle the ends, which normally get woven in with more traditional fibers

Every trip to the beach requires a beach bag, right!? Of course! Enter the stylish and unique “Villa Beach Bag” from fortuknit. This is hands down one of my favorite projects to date. I absolutely LOVE how the completed bag looks and I am so thrilled to be able to offer it to the winner of the St. Jude Knit & Fundraise Challenge! It was an incredible pleasure to make—a true labor of love watching the creation in my mind take form into something so beautiful.

The Villa Beach Bag is truly inspired by all of my trips to the beach in St. Vincent and around the world. It was designed to mimic a fisher’s net and has beaded accents the represent adorned braided hair (because there is no better hairstyle than fresh vacation braids!). It’s an oversized bag featuring two small handholds and two larger shoulder straps so you can carry it how YOU want. Take it to the beach, to yoga, or to the market. The striking color blocked black and white design makes it a perfect compliment to any outfit. It is truly a statement piece. Here are some shots of the Villa Beach Bag followed by a gallery of some of my favorite waterside photos to inspire to get your own Villa Beach Bag and head to all your favorite places!