No one every said you can’t knit at the beach: Summer projects continued

To celebrate the farmer’s markets just outside our door on Thursday nights, I decided I needed to make the perfect market bag.  This bag would make a great summer project for anyone.  The base is stockinette, the body is open mesh pattern, add a ribbed edging to the top and a handle, and you’ve got yourself a fabulous market bag.

This is the Irene bag from Hannah over at I Knit You Knot but made with Schaefer Laural Mercerized Cotton.  It’s a fantastic yarn that comes in wonderful colors.  Schaefer really knows how to dye yarns.  Hannah’s pattern is fantastic too.  It is a well designed bag and has a nice wide handle that makes it really comfortable to wear, even with a heavy load.

Here you can see the three needle bind off used to join one end of the strap to the bag's body

You can also make this bag with several other yarns.  The pattern is written with Louet Euroflax in mind, but you can also use Louisa Harding Nautical cotton.  You just need a nice sturdy yarn that won’t really stretch on it’s own.  You’ll get all the stretch you need from the knitted fabric in the design.

Another close up so you can see how beautiful this yarn is

This was a very rewarding project. I’m thrilled with how it turned out and several customers have since made one and are equally pleased with what a great bag this is.  It would also be great for the beach as sand will just fall right out. I can’t wait to try it out at the Farmer’s Market tonight.  Happy shopping!