Green Glasses in the District: Can you cook and sew, make flowers grow.

This Friday's crafting project is making a purse or a bag. I started out with a sewing theme, but I tend to default to what I know - and that's knitting. I've included a few sewing examples, but then quickly became infatuated with all of the knitted bag options!

rectangle and circle crochet bag
supplies: two skeins of malabrigo wool yarn; crochet hook
pattern: make it up
time: about 2 hours

plastic bag bag
material : cut plastic bags into long thin strips and knot them together to make a ball of plastic yarn
craft : knit

basic knit bag
supplies: two colors of yarn, less than a skein each
time: two hours max
craft: knit with a crochet flower
pattern: here's the basic idea...knit in the round in garter stitch for 1.5", cast off 10 stitches, knit to other side, cast off 10 stitches, knit back to first area of cast off and cast back on your 10 stitches, knit around to the other side and cast on 10 stitches. knit for another 1.5". switch colors and continue in stockinette for the depth of your bag. cast off and crochet the bottom closed. crochet a flower in color 1 for embellishment.

basic knit bag with wooden handles
supplies : one skein of bulky yarn, two wooden purse handles (available at most craft stores)
pattern : it looks like you could accomplish this bag by wrapping the yarn around the handles for the number of stitches that you want, first on one handle then continuing onto the other. It looks like this one has about 40 stitches per handle. Then you can pick up the loops on your circular needles and knit in the round for the length of your bag, finishing by binding the bottom. I would recommend sewing a cloth lining for any knit bag for extra stability.

And a few more roundups of simple knit or crochet bags done recently....

messenger bag
craft : this is a combo knit-sewn bag
supplies : 2-3 skeins of worsted weight yarn, I used an organic cotton/wool blend; about 1/2 a yard of a hefty material, I used a light gray corduroy
pattern : knit one giant rectangle, the width of your bag and the length of the front face, back face, and front flap combined; attach the front face to the back face, then sew a lining with any pockets desired, finally sew the strap through the knitting and into the lining so that they stress of the weight of the bag is spread throughout the entire thing

Pillowcase Tote
Supplies : 1 pillowcase; I used an large print orange and white one from IKEA
Pattern ideas : I doubled-up the cloth on the inside for additional strength because the cloth was rather thin. This is the most basic rectangle with some straps attached - no frills, no embellishments, but a really easy day bag or extra tote to throw into your purse for the market.