Knit Sock Kit Swap -- Don't Sweat the Bag

Thank you, everyone, for your warm welcome for my new cat Tidget, and for your kind words and encouragement with my other, um, endeavour. Whoever said the internet was impersonal is wrong, wrong, wrong.

One of the rules of the Knit Sock Kit Swap is, “Don’t Sweat the Bag.” Given the horrifically high temperatures lately, that’s been practically impossible. It also seemed impossible for me to knit a simple two-round pattern, but I have preserved.

I am one of those who can’t/doesn’t/wouldn’t/shouldn’t sew, so I knew I had to knit my sock bag. My initial impulse was to grab some Kureyon and do something along the lines of a Booga Bag, but then I remembered I had some denim that needed to be knit into something.

Digging through my patterns, I found this in Vicki Square's Folk Bags:

It’s a small bag based on a Korean jumeoni, and I thought it was cute. I had to up-size it somewhat to make it suitable for a sock bag, so unfortunately it doesn’t sit quite the same, but I think the end result preserves the character of the design.

The pattern calls for a shaped rectangle sewn up the sides. Instead, I cast on both tops and did the shaping, joined in the round and knit to length, then turned it inside-out and did a three-needle bind-off.

The pattern also calls for some fairly complex embroidery, a combination of curlicue and paisley. Given my non-existent embroidery skills, I opted to go for something simpler and just freehanded in some lines and shapes.

The embellishment is done only on the sides and not the front and back. It’s a nice, simple way to gussy up an otherwise somewhat plain bag.


The handle is I-cord. Lots of I-cord.

The fabric didn’t come out quite as firm as I’d hoped, and the bag is unlined. As a result, the final product is a trifle more home-made than hand-made. I hope my swap partner will overlook that when I bribe her with some luxurious yarn.