A stylish alternative to your standard reusable grocery bag, the Quincy tote features durable straps and a boho wavy knitted mesh that expands to carry bundles of fruit, vegetables, and other groceries home from your local farmer’s market. Perfect for a day at the beach or pool this roomy purse can easily hold your towel, book, water bottle, and extra clothes. With this beginner friendly pattern this multi-purpose knit bag is a breeze to work up as your next weekend project! Scroll down for the free pattern or purchase an inexpensive downloadable PDF from Etsy HERE or Ravelry HERE!
Wool And The Gang’s New Wave Yarn® was perfect for this project. It’s lightweight, durable, and has great stretch. Because it’s a cotton polyester blend it has great stitch definition but is also easy on the hands with its soft texture. As a substitute you could use any medium weight cotton or cotton blend yard for this project. I am currently working on a second bag using Bernat® Handicrafter® Cotton and while the yarn has less stretch I’m enjoying the rougher texture and therefore more earthy look.
I actually created this pattern in 2019 and recorded the video in 2020. It was going to be the first knitting pattern offered in my Etsy shop! But then Covid hit and projects got pushed to the side (while I home schooled and focused on our little ladies . . you know the story). Then the seasons changed and releasing this design was pushed to Summer/Fall 2021. Here we are! : )
The inspiration for this bag was actually a clip from the Wool And The Gang Instagram feed. They were sharing daily/weekly videos highlighting different knitting stitches and the wave stitch caught my eye. As a new crocheter I loved that it only uses the knit stitch (garter) and adding + dropping stitches to create the wave. I instantly thought about creating a mess type market bag (if you’ve followed me for a while you know I LOVE designing bags/totes/purses).
I tried to make this pattern as beginner friendly as possible (after all, I’m a beginner too). In the video I cover the cast on, knit stitch, adding stitches, and dropping stitches. I explain how to make the tassel details a bit more as well.
The bag is knitted in rows. You start at the top of one side and make a long rectangle finishing with the top of the opposite side. Fold the rectangle in half, seam the sides, add the straps and you’re all set!
Let’s get started . . .
QUINCY MARKET BAG - Free Knitting Pattern
F I N I S H E D S I Z E
Body – 15” wide x 14” deep
Straps – 20” long
Please Note: The bag is very stretchy and expands/lengthens when filled
M A T E R I A L S
Knitting Needles
– Two single pointed US 6 (UK 8) – 4.00mm (14” + in length)
Yarn
– Any medium weight yarn (size 4 / ‘worsted’ / 10 ply)
◦ Wool And The Gang® New Wave Yarn® (in Space Black) was used
– Amount needed: 3 balls – approximately 450 yards or 420 meters
Extras
– darning needle
– sharp scissors
G A U G E
24 stitches = 4 inches
34 rows = 4 inches
Pattern for gauge: knit each row (“garter stitch”)
P A T T E R N A B B R E V I A T I O N S
English (US) terms
CO – Cast On
k – Knit: Insert the right needle into the front part of a loop on the left needle from the left side, catch the yarn with the point of the right needle, and bringing it through the first loop to form a new loop
yo – Yarn Over: Wrap yarn around right needle counterclockwise
BO – Bind Off
st – Stitch
N O T E S
• Beginning chain does NOT count as a stitch in stitch counts
• Stitch count is at the end of each row in [ ]
• Body of bag and two straps are knitted separately and then attached/seamed with a tapestry needle
V I D E O T U T O R I A L
There is a video tutorial available for this pattern on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/qok9BuRJcB8
W R I T T E N P A T T E R N
English (US) terms
BODY OF BAG
Row 1
Cast on 66
[66 stitches]
Row 2
Knit all
[66 stitches]
Row 3 to Row 12
Repeat Row 2
[66 stitches]
Row 13
Knit 14,
*yo 1, k 1, yo 1, k 1,
yo 2, k 1, yo 2, k 1,
yo 3, k 1, yo 3, k 1,
yo 4, k 1,
yo 3, k 1, yo 3, k 1,
yo 2, k 1, yo 2, k 1,
yo 1, k 1, yo 1, k 14*
Repeat pattern within asterisks to end of row
[122 stitches]
Row 14
Knit 14,
*drop 1, k 1, drop 1, k 1,
drop 2, k 1, drop 2, k 1,
drop 3, k 1, drop 3, k 1,
drop 4, k 1,
drop 3, k 1, drop 3, k 1,
drop 2, k 1, drop 2, k 1,
drop 1, k 1, drop 1, k 14*
Repeat pattern within ** to end of row
Pull down on stitches to reveal wave
[66 stitches]
Row 15
Knit all
[66 stitches]
Row 16
Knit all
[66 stitches]
Row 17
Knit 1,
*yo 1, k 1, yo 2, k 1, yo 3, k 1, yo 4, k 1, yo 5, k 1, yo 6, k 1,
yo 7, k 1,
yo 6, k 1, yo 5, k 1, yo 4, k 1, yo 3, k 1, yo 2, k 1, yo 1, k 14*
Repeat pattern within ** to end of row ending with a k 1
[213 stitches]
Row 18
Knit 1,
*drop 1, k 1, drop 2, k 1, drop 3, k 1, drop 4, k 1, drop 5, k 1, drop 6, k 1,
drop 7, k 1,
drop 6, k 1, drop 5, k 1, drop 4, k 1, drop 3, k 1, drop 2, k 1, drop 1, k 14*
Repeat pattern within ** to end of row ending with a k 1
Pull down on stitches to reveal wave
[66 stitches]
Row 19
Knit all
[66 stitches]
Row 20
Knit all
[66 stitches]
Row 21
Knit 14,
*yo 1, k 1, yo 2, k 1, yo 3, k 1, yo 4, k 1, yo 5, k 1, yo 6, k 1,
yo 7, k 1,
yo 6, k 1, yo 5, k 1, yo 4, k 1, yo 3, k 1, yo 2, k 1, yo 1, k 14*
Repeat pattern within ** to end of row
[164 stitches]
Row 22
Knit 14,
*drop 1, k 1, drop 2, k 1, drop 3, k 1, drop 4, k 1, drop 5, k 1, drop 6, k 1,
drop 7, k 1,
drop 6, k 1, drop 5, k 1, drop 4, k 1, drop 3, k 1, drop 2, k 1, drop 1, k 14*
Repeat pattern within ** to end of row
Pull down on stitches to reveal wave
[66 stitches]
Row 23
Knit all
[66 stitches]
Row 24
Knit all
[66 stitches]
Row 25 to Row 148
Repeat Rows 17 to 24
Row 149
Knit 14,
*yo 1, k 1, yo 1, k 1,
yo 2, k 1, yo 2, k 1,
yo 3, k 1, yo 3, k 1,
yo 4, k 1,
yo 3, k 1, yo 3, k 1,
yo 2, k 1, yo 2, k 1,
yo 1, k 1, yo 1, k 14*
Repeat pattern within asteriks to end of row
[122 stitches]
Row 150
Knit 14,
*drop 1, k 1, drop 1, k 1,
drop 2, k 1, drop 2, k 1,
drop 3, k 1, drop 3, k 1,
drop 4, k 1,
drop 3, k 1, drop 3, k 1,
drop 2, k 1, drop 2, k 1,
drop 1, k 1, drop 1, k 14*
Repeat pattern within ** to end of row
Pull down on stitches to reveal wave
[66 stitches]
Row 151
Knit all
[66 stitches]
Row 152 to Row 161
Repeat Row 151
Bind Off
STRAPS OF BAG
Row 1
Cast on 8
[8 stitches]
Row 2
Knit all
[8 stitches]
Row 3 and up
Repeat Row 2 until you reach Row 70 or desired length
Bind Off
Make 2 straps
SEAMING
Fold bag in half (as shown), beginning at the top of each side use tapestry needle to sew sides closed and to attach straps at top
A closer look at strap placement and side seam . . .
Weave in ends
Turn bag right side out (so seams face inward)
TASSELS
Optional
Cut three 60 inch strands of yarn. Approximately 10 inches from the ends tie a knot to join the 3 strands together. Loosely braid the 3 strands until you have around 10 inches left, then tie another knot.
Cut twenty-five 5 inch strands of yarn. Tie 10 inch ends from one end of braid around centre of all 25 small strands (as shown in the left image below).
Cut one 15 inch strand of yarn and wrap it around all 25 strands of yarn several times (as shown in center image above).
Tie 15 inch strand to secure (as shown in the last image above).
Repeat at the other end of braid.
Tie braided tassels loosely to one strap of bag
Thank you for L O O P I N G together this L A K E S I D E inspired project with me! I hope you enjoyed this pattern and please don’t forget to tag me in your knitted market bag pictures (@lakesideloops) because I always love seeing your work!
Take care. xx
