Knit a Bag for Your Market Shopping

One thing that is definitely making it feel more like spring — in addition to the great weather where I am — is that the farmer’s market opened for the season this past weekend.

And because we knitters can turn anything into an occasion for knitting, that must mean it’s time to knit a new market tote.

This Grrlfriend Market Bag from Laura Spradlin caught my eye on Raverly because it has an interesting construction, with a center-out, square bottom and an easy lace pattern worked in the round. Then a bit of Garter Stitch for the edging and strap adds stability and strength.

It’s lovely in a solid color but would be super fun in stash-busting stripes as well.

Grab the free pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Laura Spradlin via Ravelry.] Looking for more patterns? Check these market bag patterns out on Etsy.

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I can’t resist a pattern that’s both useful and a little silly, and that’s exactly how I feel about the Rybka pouch pattern from the delightfully named Rat and Sea Witch.

I know you’re going to ask, because I did, too. Rybka means little fish in Polish. (And because you’re also probably going to ask, Rat and Sea Witch comes from people’s attempts to say the designer’s name, Ratasiewicz, which if you say it fast kind of sounds like rat and sea witch.)

It’s easy to make a little fish bag in different sizes to suit your needs. The pattern has specific instructions for an Airpods Pro case and a pencil case, but you could change the length easily to hold more stuff, and change the size in general by working with a different weight of yarn.

The pattern calls for sock yarn and mohair held together to make a fingering weight gauge, but you could try it with heavier yarn and see what size bag you end up with.

Whatever size you make it, this looks like a fun project for holding trinkets or everyday items. The mouth of the fish is the mouth of the bag, and it closes with a drawstring that is also the strap. I wonder, too, if you could make one of these with a small clasp frame that could be the fish’s mouth and then you could just work I cord straps that would attach to the sides of the fish.

I could also see stripes, or fish of different colors to use up your yarn leftovers. How about a sunglasses case with a little loop to attach to your bag? Once you start thinking about all the ways you could use a fish-shaped bag in your life, I think you’ll see that you probably need more than one.

If you make one of these I would love to know how it went!

You can grab a copy of the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Rat and Sea Witch]

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