THIS KNITTING PATTERN IS A DIGITAL DOWNLOAD IN PDF FORMAT AND IN ENGLISH ONLY!
Meet the Carrie Bag — a small, sturdy companion for everyday carrying.
Knit in linen stitch with the purl side facing out, the fabric has a dense, woven quality and almost no stretch, giving the bag real structure without any stiffening or lining needed. The texture reads almost like seed stitch, but the linen stitch construction is what gives it that firm, tailored feel.
Carrie comes in two sizes. The smaller one holds your phone and a few essentials: keys, cards, lip balm. The larger one has enough room for a small knitting project, so you can carry your next cast-on along with everything else.
The construction is part of what makes this one fun to knit. You start with a provisional cast-on and knit the side/bottom section as one long flat piece. From there, you pick up stitches along the sides and shape them with short rows, which is what gives the bag its rounded, structured silhouette. The handles are knit last, worked in the round and joined at the top.
Want to keep your things a little more secure? The pattern includes an option to add a zipper closure at the top, so you can choose between an open-top bag or a fully zipped one depending on how you plan to use it.
Because the whole bag is striped, it's a great pattern for playing with color: pull from your stash, try a gradient, or keep it to two or three shades for something more graphic.
If any of the techniques are new to you, I've put together a full video tutorial on YouTube that walks through each step, from the provisional cast-on to the short-row shaping.
Sizes
1 (2)
Height (excluding the handle): 16.5 (19.5) cm / 6.5 (7.5) inches
Width: 18 (21) cm / 7 (8.25) inches
Depth: 8.5 (10) cm / 3.5 (4) inches
Yarn
140 (190) m / 155 (210) yards of MC and 100 (140) m / 110 (155) yards of CC, fingering to sport weight yarn.
Samples: Scheepjes Catona (100% cotton; 125 m / 138 yards per 50 g)
Smaller bag: 2 balls of colorway 201 as MC and 1 ball of colorway 604 as CC.
Larger bag: 2 balls of colorway 252 as MCmad 2 balls of colorway 399 as CC.
Needles
3 mm / US 2.5
- circular needles with at least 40 cm / 16 inch cable
- double pointed needles or needles suitable for short circumference knitting for the handles
Gauge
35 sts and 50 rows = 10 cm / 4 inches of linen stitch, knitted flat, gently blocked.
Notions
- waste yarn
- tapestry needle
- stitch markers
- locking stitch markers
- optional: zipper (length approximately 20 (23) cm / 8 (9) inches)
