Knit Handbag with Bamboo Handles

I started to teach myself how to knit in 2007. I quickly realized that it was a craft that had to be practiced, in order to be good at it.

So like all beginners I started knitting scarfs, but guess what there is no need for them in the desert. Plus I don't have many friends that live in cold weather climates that I can give them away to.

I started knitting rectangles out of a single ball of yarn. That way all I needed to do was put the needles and one ball of yarn along with my Handy Dandy Stitch 'n' Bitch book in a small bag. That book was the only one out of the dozen or so 'teach yourself to knit' books I had bought that I actually understood. When I go back to those books I now understand what they are talking about, but that wasn't the case when I first picked them up. Debbie Stoller's Story telling while teaching you how to knit is what worked for me. It just clicked better.

So as you can imagine I started to acquire quite a bit of rectangles of varying sizes. I decide to try and figure out what I should do with them. I then saw a cute knit bag on Bamboo Handles and quickly figured out how to turn my rectangles into simple purses.

I gave away a few last Christmas as gifts, but I still do a lot of waiting at Dr. Appointments and such. That's when I decided to knit with a purpose a 6 inch Bamboo handle needs a 12 inch by 16 inch rectangle in order to make a good size small bag.


Right now I have one listed on Etsy:




I have one that is ready to be put together:

And one that I just casted on from one of my early failed attempts of winding a ball:




I've come to the conclusion that I like knitting rectangles in Garter stitch - It's relaxing and they make great purses!