Knit an Easy Farmer’s Market Tote

I don’t know how it is where you live, but the social event of Saturday mornings in my hometown is the farmer’s market. It was even named one of the favorite farmer’s markets in the country last year, which says something about how much we all love it.

There’s nothing like heading downtown on a Saturday morning (or a Tuesday, or a Thursday) and loading up on fresh produce, checking out the local crafts (there’s even a woman who makes yarn) and running into people you know. It’s one of the ways our not-really-small town still feels small.

But how are you going to carry all your goodness home? A knit sack is the perfect way to do it, and this farmer’s market tote from Lion Brand Yarn (free registration required to view) is a great choice. Worked in Martha Stewart Crafts cotton yarn Hemp, this pretty, durable bag is worked from a flat base up to a circularly knit body worked in an easy, four row mesh pattern. You’ll get it knit up in time for the next market day, for sure.

What was your latest market score? Mine was some of the first blueberries of the season. Yum!

[Photo via Lion Brand Yarn.] Looking for more patterns? Check these market bag patterns out on Etsy.

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I’ve been enjoying knit amigurumi animal patterns lately (see also: this adorable knit pigeon) and of course being a knitter I love llamas.

So when I saw this little llama pattern I knew I had to share it.

The appropriately named Llama patter from Annie Ahn calls for fingering weight yarn, and it uses two colors for the body and three for the little blanket. The pompom can be made to match or in another color. All of these parts take tiny amounts of yarn so you can use whatever scraps you have left over from socks or other projects and change colors whenever you need to.

It might also be fun to use some mohair or other fuzzy or textured yarn on this one to give your llama a different look. In all the project uses between 100 and 150 yards, or 91-137 m, of yarn and the llama comes out about 10 cm/4 inches tall.

The body of the llama is worked in one piece, so this project is suited to intermediate knitters or those who have comfort working in the round and with all those little pieces.

This one is made to be small so you can carry it around with you (it would be super cute on a keychain or as a zipper pull) but I think it would be a lot of fun to knit this in larger yarn, too, to make a bigger llama. You could even make a whole family in different sizes just by using different weights of yarn and corresponding needles.

The details are so cute, from the shaggy hair to its little accessories, but you could make it plain or change it up by knitting a tiny scarf or even working a little fair isle pattern on the legs or body. So many fun possibilities!

The pattern is available on Ravelry in English and Korean.

[Photo: Annie Ahn]

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