While working on this project, Hubby asked “What’s with the 8-bit pattern?” 8-bit? Oh, man. Like those greeting cards we used to print on dot-matrix printers from a Commodore-64 in the ‘80s. Fine – he’s not wrong.
BTW, I’ll add my thoughts on the pattern and yarns up front and keep the actual instructions short and sweet. Who loves a verbose, stream-of-consciousness knitting pattern that prints across a dozen pages? Nobody. Definitely not me.
Traveling through the US on The Great Wander, Hubby and I came across a stylish and dog-friendly yarn shop in Charlottesville, VA. Ewe Fine Fiber Goods welcomed us for knit night, and I found Green Mountain Spinnery Mewesic, Diamonds and Rust, on their sale table. What a yummy auburn color with flecks of gold. We were looking forward to living in a sticks and bricks with a top-loading washer, and I really wanted to felt something, since I’d only had front loaders since learning to knit. This was an experiment, not exactly well planned, but the resulting bag seems nice enough to share. Part of the lesson learned is that stranded knitting felts tighter than plain stockinette. Duh. Several inches of stockinette below the heavier stranded design could have sent this to the trash, but the piece arranged itself into little rings that give it a footing, almost an architectural touch. Widening at the top with a tie to hold the fold flat balances the piece, rather like an artistic vase. With a bow.
Download the pattern 8-Bit Wine Bottle 
Cozy Bag for free if you want to make your own. Please do not sell this pattern or anything you make with it unless you get express, written permission from me, the pattern author. (Send a message to Susan via the contact form or email in the PDF.) Feel free to make bags for your friends, and give them a lovely chilled bottle. The cozy will keep it cool along the way, and you’ll look extra cool presenting it.