Between the Itsy-Bitsy and the Kitchen Sink

Sounds like a line from a country song, but it’s just an accurate description of the size of my rendition of this pattern.

Pattern: Itsbitsy and Kitchen Sink Bags, Knitty

Yarn: Tahki Chat Print, 3 skeins/87 yds per skein (I used every last scrap)

Needle size: #8, straight and circular

Time to finish: About 1 week

I finished this weeks and weeks ago, but my sister received it for her birthday just this week (full of snacks from the co-op). So now I can post it.

I believe it’s about 11″ wide when empty.

Modifications:

Mainly, I just made it a slightly different size. I don’t remember how many stitches I cast on, but a few more than for the small bag. And I suppose using a tape yarn instead of a plied yarn could vaguely be considered a modification. It does give it a different look.

Also, the handle is very short. This is simply because I ran out of yarn. But it seems to work all right, since the bag itself stretches so much.

To compensate for that – its tendency to droop open – I sewed in five or six snaps across the top.

Though as you can see, it doesn’t fall open if it’s full of stuff and stretched taut. And it holds quite a lot! I think I had a magazine, a hardback book, a can of wasabi peas, two or three large skeins of yarn and possibly more for this photo. I intend it to be something like a market bag that acts like a purse.

I basically liked the pattern. It includes several different, interesting, attractive stitches – most of which I’d never done before – so there’s no getting bored, yet it knits up very quickly. But doing the rectangular base of the bag on circular needles with a yarn that has no stretch whatsoever was a real pain. I won’t be doing that again.

But I would with a stretchier yarn – even a regular, plied cotton yarn. I’d definitely try this in hemp, or a wool-cotton blend. Or even a decent looking acrylic.

Close-up of the bottom of the bag. Includes the transition from bottom and side and the bottom of the side of the bag as well. Four different stitches in this shot.

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