Hand Knit Soap Bags

I wanted and needed some soap bags, so I knit a few to see what I thought of each pattern. Some were knit straight and some were knit in the round. The drawstrings were each made differently too. I like to put those slivers of soap inside the bags so that when you have several in the bag it is like using a bar of soap. However, you can put a full bar of soap in the bags too. These make great gift bags too, whether you put in a bar of soap as the gift or something small.

I used cotton yarn. The first bag was something I already had and the next 3 bags were a small Peaches & Cream cotton yarn ball. All are worsted weight yarn. They all measure slightly larger than a standard size bar of soap.

I had this cotton yarn and it is a soft yarn. This is the same pattern as the last knit bag below, but on this bag, I decided to knit an i-cord drawstring instead (using 3 cast on stitches, but could have used 2 stitches). You have to be a knitter to understand. This one was knit in the round.

This was knit back and forth on 2 needles and not in the round. I liked this stitch. The bag was open on the top and since I will be adding soap slivers, I didn't want anything falling out of the bag. I chained some crochet for the drawstring and wove it into the top of the bag and added a cord stop. I might make some washcloths like this too instead of a bag.

This was a moss stitch (or seed stitch), knit in the round. I made this one last using this yarn, so I had another cotton yarn to finish the top and make a twisted cord for the drawstring with. I nearly had enough of the variegated yarn to make 3 soap bags out of one skein.

This is the same bag as the first one, only in a different yarn. The drawstring was crochet. I decided I much prefer making and the look of i-cord drawstrings, so I would only make i-cord if I make any more of these bags.

I am sure they will all work the same. I wanted to see if I had a favorite one to knit and to use. It will be a while before I can test the use of each one to see for sure if there is any difference. I prefer to knit in the round, but with all of these knit bags, I had to stitch closed the bottom of the bag, except the one knit back and forth on 2 needles. The 2 needle bag was folded in half, which formed the bottom, but I then had 2 sides to stitch up. I think I would have preferred to knit the bottom in the round forming a bottom as I knit and then knit up the height of the bag. Or start at the top knitting in the round and then reduced the stitches to form the bottom of the bag whilst knitting. It would make a rounder bag that way, but maybe that would be better?

These are the free knit bag patterns that I used:

1. Knit (and crochet) Soap Bags The first and last photo from above. ( Note: I didn't add a second color for stripes, since I used variegated yarn).

2. Chain Link Stripes Soap Sack  The second bag photo from above.

3. Soap Saver Knit Bag  Third bag from above.

Happy Knitting!

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Small Batik Fabric Knit Bag

The batik fabric yarn that I had leftover from knitting my Rose MacClare Bag, I used to knit this small shoulder bag. I lined this bag and added 2 interior pockets. I also quilted the lining to headliner foam to give the bag more body.

Knit out of batik  fabric scraps. I knit an i-cord handle.

I added the double-stacked button as decoration (it doesn't button), but I am not really sure if I like the button on it or not? Perhaps it's the colors? The size? Does it do anything for you? I may end up taking the buttons off  later.

The lining with pockets. I hand stitched the lining to the bag, but I quilted the lining first to headliner foam. It gives the bag a nice feel.

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Knit Cotton Bag

Here is my lime green cotton knit bag. I knit this with a cotton yarn (Lily's Sugar & Cream). This was a free pattern from Bernat. It's called the Market Bag. I made a change however to my bag. Even though the knitting was easy to do, I found I was having trouble with the stitch pattern in the directions because I would end up a stitch short every so often. So I started again and decided to to knit a k3, p1 combination instead of the knit pattern they gave in the instructions. It looks very similar to the photo in Bernat's pattern, but it was much easier to knit my way.

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Knit & Felted Purse

Today is hubby and my 32nd wedding anniversary. We are spending the day in Santa Fe at the annual outdoor Indian Market. So many beautiful works of art to see there. It's a great place to get inspired for doing future art projects. Then we will eat out at a restaurant for lunch. I'll have to tell you which restaurant later, as there are 3 we are still deciding on. Meanwhile, here is my latest finished project for  you to see.   

This is the bag and i-cord handles I knit before I felted them.

Here is the purse after I felted it. I added a stacked button and a pony tail elastic for the closure.

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Knit and Felted Tribal Bag

This is how this bag looked after knitting and before it was felted. I already had yarn in brown, natural and blue, so I used it.

Here it is after I felted it in the washing machine. Brown and blue are my daughter's favorite color combination, so either she will end up with this bag, or if I really love it, I may make another one and make a few changes. I would knit the strap separately and attach it after felting. Since you carry the yarns up the side as you knit the stripes, it felted tighter on that side and was a bit warped-looking after it felted. I lined the bag and added a pocket to the lining. I also sewed some ribbon trim to the underside of the strap. I wouldn't make the buttonhole in the bag if I were knit this again and line the bag. It was tricky to line the bag with a buttonhole. I had to slit the lining to expose the buttonhole.

Close-up view. It's all soft and fuzzy looking now.

This was a free pattern from Lion Brand Yarn Pin It Now!

Knit Bag

I knit this little bag and then lightly felted it.

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Cotton Knit Market Bag

I knit this bag with cotton yarn. I had some misc. yarn and I was starting to run short of the blue yarn, so I switched to the pink in the middle of the bag. I saved some blue to finish the striped area above the pink, but then ran out of the blue completely and this time I used the pale yellow for the rest of handles. That should have been blue too. Oh well, it still will be very useful and I used up some of my yarn too.

I put some plastic bags inside to take this photo so it would show what it looks like when full.

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