Mel's Handy Market Bag
I bought this yarn at my local Spinners and Weavers Open Day in 2012 but thought it might be a tad scratchy worn directly against my skin so I used all 4 x 50g balls to make this very handy market bag. Ashford Tekapo 8ply is quite thick...almost a 10ply wool.
This pattern is an ideal stash buster as you can use different coloured yarns for the base, mesh, rim and handles if you wish.
Requirements:
200g Ashford Tekapo 8ply wool 4mm double pointed needles (x4) 4mm circular needles 6mm circular needles Darning needle for weaving in ends Gauge is not overly important for this project. The mesh part of this bag is quite “loose' so if you're a really loose knitter you may wish to use 5.5mm circulars. I will leave it up to you.
Abbreviations:
Yfwd - Yarn forward ie in front of work K2tog - Knit 2 stitches together Kfb - Knit into the front and back of the stitch - makes one additional stitch
Method:
Base of Bag:
Cast on 6 stitches onto first needle R1: Kfb twice onto second needle, Kfb twice onto third needle, Kfb twice onto fourth needle. You should now have 4 stitches on each of the three needles - a total of 12 stitches. Place a clip-on marker to help you keep track of the start of each round R2: Yfwd, K1 until end of round - 24 stitches in total R3: Knit round - make sure you knit into the back of the loop for all yfwd stitches to avoid any holes in your work R4: Yfwd, K2 until end of round R5: Knit as per R3 R6: Yfwd, K3 until end of round R7: Knit as per R3 R8: Yfwd, K4 until end of round
R9: Knit as per R3 R10: Yfwd, K5 until end of round R11: Knit as per R3 R12: Yfwd, K6 until end of round R13: Knit as per R3 R14: Yfwd, K7 until end of round R15: Knit as per R3 R16: Yfwd, K8 until end of round R17: Knit as per R3 R18: Yfwd, K9 until end of round R19: Knit as per R3 R20: Yfwd, K10 until end of round R21: Knit as per R3. You should have 44 sts on each of the 3 needles - 132 sts in total Knit for 6 rounds without increasing.
Sides of Bag:
Change to 6mm circular needles. If you wish you can place a circular marker on your needles to indicate the end/start of each round. Knit one round to get the stitches off the 4mm dpns and settled onto the 6mm circular needles and then commence the mesh pattern. Mesh Pattern: R1: Yfwd, K2tog until end of round R2: Knit until end of round Repeat these two rounds until mesh sides measure approximately 25cm without being stretched. Top Brim of Bag: Change to 4mm circular needles Knit 2 rounds K1, P1 ribbing for the next 6 rounds
Handles:
BO 41 stitches loosely in rib, work 25 sts in ribbing as established, BO 41 more sts loosely in rib, and work 25 more sts in ribbing as established. You will end up with 82 bound off stitches and two sets of 25 “live' stitches. Place one group of 25 stitches on a stitch holder and work back and forth on the other set of 25 stitches in the established rib patterning until handle is desired length keeping an eye on how much yarn you have left. You will need a small amount for binding off. (Note: I generally knit back and forth on two dpns when ribbing the handle and leave the other 25 “live' stitches on the circular needles resting until required forbindingoff) Hold the two sets of 25 handle stitches together and use the 3 needle bind off technique to bind off all sts to the inside of the bag for a nice neat finish. (You can make your strap narrower by binding off more stitches and leaving fewer stitches for the strap, eg BO 46, rib 20, BO 46, rib 20) Weave in all ends....if there's a small hole in the middle of the base simply use the cast on tail to slip in a couple of stitches to close the hole. Voila! You know have a fabulous market bag that has fantastic expanding properties!
Washing Instructions:
The colours of this bag are perfect for camouflaging any dirty marks, however, if you need to wash your bag you'd be best just to let it soak in some water and wool wash and not agitate it to avoid felting. Gently squeeze out the excess water and lay out flat in the hot sun to dry.
