- French market bag courtesy of Polly Outhwaite
This elegant bag, featured on knitty.com, is something that I've wanted to knit for some time.
The designer, Polly Outhwaite, has kindly allowed us to use her pattern for our KAL, beginning in January 2008. Polly is UK based and you can find more information about her at her website All Tangled Up: Knitting From Across the Pond
Polly made her bag from an aran weight wool she purchased from a woollen mill during her travels, so we'll need to substitute yarn for this KAL.
The first set of instructions will be posted around mid January.
The original instructions included a bag base knitted in the round but this set of instructions only contain the flat knit version - for ease of converting pattern to larger size in double stranded yarn.
Finished size (before felting)
Width 27.5cm
Length 30cm
Height 20cm
Finished size (after felting)
Width 22.5cm
Length 22.5cm
Height 15cm
You will need 3 skeins (100g/120m per skein) of aran weight wool suitable for felting and a 4.5mm circular needle.
Tension is not critical but differences will affect yarn requirements and finished size.
- Base completed
On circular needles, cast on 50 sts. Work piece in St st until piece measures 30cm inches, ending with a knit row. [You need to increase the fabric length-wise to take into account the vertical shrinkage.]
Do NOT bind off.
Pick up 50 sts along each of the 3 other sides of the rectangular piece [200 sts].
Continue with Bag Body. Work in St st until body measures 20cm. [Knit this longer if you would like a deeper bag].
- Finished bag body (Nerys)
K12, BO 25, K25, BO25, K25, BO25, K25, BO25, K13 (for a total of 200 stitches.) Each group of 25 sts will be worked separately. Put 3 groups of 25 onto stitch holders and work the current 25 sts. Turn work.
Row 1 : P25.
Row 2 : K25.
Row 3 : P25.
Row 4 : Ssk, k21, k2tog [23 sts].
Row 5 : P23.
Row 6 : K23.
Row 7 : P23.
Row 8 : SSK, k19, k2tog [21 sts].
Continue decreasing as set every 4th row until 9 sts remain.
Work 4 more rows in St st. Put these 9 st onto a stitch holder.
Work remaining 3 groups of 25 sts the same. You will have 4 groups of 9 sts.
Finishing and Felting
Thread tapestry needle and graft the handles together.
Sew in and trim all the loose ends. [If you don't do this before felting, you may end up with a tangled mess!]
Fill washing machine with economy/half load, hot water, a small amount of detergent, a towel or a pair of jeans [something to provide some agitation in the wash] and the bag. Run the wash cycle, checking every 10 minutes until the bag has felted to desired consistency. You should no longer be able to see the stitch definition.
You may line the bag with fabric if desired.
