I first saw Lexie Barnes sitting outside of The National Needle Arts Association trade conference in San Diego, this past January. She was sitting cross-legged, on the floor, nursing her baby under a sign that said: “No Children Allowed on the Trade Show Floor, Including Babes In Arms.” I felt an immediate camaraderie, even though we hadn’t even met. I had left my own nursling back in Maryland, but missed him more seeing Lexie and hers.

Later that day, my friend Kim introduced me to Lexie and her amazing line of designer bags. What first caught my eye were the fabrics. In my kitchen at home, I have 50’s-style chairs around the table–they’re bright red with sparkles. Some of Lexie’s bags use this awesome dining-chair fabric, some had more geometric patterns, or retro drawings of martini glasses. I was drawn to the fabric called “Hermosa.” It’s a soft of Mexican Day of the Dead celebration pattern–skulls, but not at all in a ghoulish or scary way–it’s pretty. Lexie has knitting bags in three sizes, she’s got a needle case, and tote bags for work and play. She’s also got diaper bags.

I thought about trying one of the adorable knitting bags, but what I really needed was something that could hold everything–diapers, knitting, purse, etc. Enter Superstar. This bag is big–the dimensions are 12x17x6. There’s a large interior pocket meant to hold baby stuff. Of course, I immediately filled it with yarn and projects.

The main compartment also has some tall, narrow pockets perfect for needles and other tools. There’s a slim back pocket on the outside which is great for patterns and magazines. The outside front has a very big zipper pocket–big enough to hold diapers, wipes, change of baby clothes, etc–organized and protected from the knitting. There are 2 mesh side pockets and three small front exterior pockets for miscellaneous gear.

One of the best parts is the flap closure: instead of velcro (a knitter’s worst nightmare), Lexie has used super-strong magnets–you basically just throw the flap over, and the magnets find each other and “snap” shut. (Of course, sometimes the magnets also find my car or my refrigerator!) The adjustable strap is a little long for someone as short-waisted as me, but it works well for over the shoulder or over the stroller.

Oh–and one thing I just recently discovered–because this is a diaper bag, of course there’s a changing pad (which I promptly removed ’cause it was taking up valuable yarn space), and there’s also a nylon drawstring bag to put dirty clothes in. This bag is perfect for holding small projects. I usually put my projects in ziplocs to keep them separate fro the other wips in my bag–but the baggies don’t last that long. Needles, and even hooks poke through. Not so with this nylon drawstring bag–it’s great. I wanted more of them, so I did a little searching online and discovered, I could buy them at one if Selma’s favorite stores.

The fabric is eye-catching, people ask me about the bag all the time; it doesn’t scream “baby” and could work as a knitting bag alone, or all-purpose satchel. Many of the bags I’ve tested recently are heavy even when empty–the Superstar is not, which is another plus. I’m sure I’ll be using it long after Jay’s out of diapers.

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Superstar!