Knitted Mesh Grocery Bags

All three of my knitted grocery bags.

I finally wrote up my knitted grocery bag pattern. It’s based on a pattern I got free from my LYS. It said it was from Mother Earth Knitted Bags (c) Allison Rapp (? not sure of the last name – it’s hard to read the pale copy I got). I did a search for that name and found a bag on ravelry that was designed by her, but it said the Mother Earth Knitted Bags pattern page was no longer available.

The original pattern was knitted flat and then sewed up the sides. I changed it to be knit in the round and then made two different bottoms for it. I also made it in two sizes – one followed the instructions for her original 11″ by 12″ bag (mine is much bigger now that it stretched). I made a larger one also. You can see the size differences in the pictures. The two colored bags have the flat seam bottoms and the cream colored one has the rounded bottom. I also added one more row of garter on each side of the handle holes because I liked a thicker handle to grab onto. The two colored ones have the thinner handle and the cream one has the thicker handle.

Here the two smaller bags with 6 1-liter bottles of seltzer in them to give you an idea of how much they can hold:

Wow! they hold 6 1-liter bottles with no problem!

Here is the pattern:

Yarn: Cotton worsted. Lily’s Sugar n’ Cream used for the samples. 1 2.5 oz ball for small size, 1 ½ 2.5 balls for larger size bag.

Needles: US 13 and US 15 16-inch circular needles. Can use longer circular needle with magic loop or two circular needles as well.

Gauge: not so important

(m) – marker – either place or slide
K2tog – knit two together
YO – yarn over

Instructions: Small(Large):

Cast on 60(90) stitches onto US 13 needles, with a marker at the 30th(45^th) stitch. Place marker for the beginning of the round and connect carefully. Work in garter stitch for 4 rounds.

Make Handles:

Rnd 1: K10(15), bind off 10(15), k10(15), (m), k10(15), bind off 10(15), k10(15).
Rnd 2: P10(15), cast on 10(15), p10(15), (m), p10(15), cast on 10(15), p10(15).

Work in garter stitch for the next 4 rounds.

Body of bag:

Rnd 1: K1, * k2tog, YO* repeat between * until 1 st before marker, k1, (m), k1, * k2tog, YO * repeat between *’s until 1 st before end of round marker, k1.
Rnd 2: K1, * YO, k2tog* repeat between * until 1 st before marker, k1, (m), k1, * YO, k2tog * repeat between *’s until 1 st before end of round marker, k1.

Repeat rounds 1-2 until mesh part measures 10 inches. You can make the larger bag longer if you want to. Just add more yarn if you reach the end of your ball of cotton yarn.

Bottom of the Bag:
There are two ways to finish off these bags. One is a rounded bottom and the other is flat bottom using the 3-needle bind-off to make the seam.

Rounded Bottom Bag:

Rnd 1: *K2tog * repeat between the *’s around
Rnd 2: Knit around

Repeat rnds 1-2 until you have only 8(10) stitches left. End with a round 1. Break off long yarn tail and, using a yarn needle, thread the tail through the remaining 8(10) stitches. Pull tight and secure on the inside of the bag. Weave in any loose ends.

Flat Bottom Bag:

Rnd 1: * K2tog * repeat between the *’s around.
Rnd 2-4: Knit around.

Split remaining stitches at the markers onto two needles. Using a third needle, do a three-needle bind off. Weave in loose ends.

Well, there it is. If you would like to try it, feel free. Please let me know how it works out for you.