Beach bag pattern: knit a summer bag
Life’s a beach! Summery stripes add bags of style to this must-make tote, designed by Sarah Murray. It's a great project for lace knitting beginners.
Knitted in cool cotton yarn, our beach bag is guaranteed to keep you looking and feeling fresh this summer. There’s room for all your essentials, while the zingy colours will get you noticed as you hit the beach or pool. And when you’re not lounging by the water’s edge, it also doubles up as a perfect shopping bag for market days.
If you haven’t tried lace knitting before, this beach bag is a great place to start. The simple mesh pattern is worked over four rows, so it’s easy to master and to memorise.
We suggest using metal knitting needles for lace, as they’re more slippery than wood or plastic, so your stitches glide along smoothly, plus they tend to have nice sharp tips – making it easier to work all those decrease stitches!
Our beach bag pattern was designed by Sarah Murray and first appeared in Simply Knitting issue 136. You can find the full pattern below, or skip to the bottom of the page for a free downloadable PDF.
To knit this beach bag you will need:
- Cascade, Ultra Pima (100% Pima cotton, 100g/200m), 1 skein of each: Yarn A Sprout (3740), Yarn B Chartreuse (3746), Yarn C Buttercup (3748)
- For yarn stockists contact LoveCrafts.com
- A pair of 3¼mm needles
Beach bag pattern
Tension
Yarn used knits as DK to this tension: 21 sts and 28 rows to measure 10x10cm (4x4in) over st st using 3¼mm needles
Measurements
The finished beach bag measures 34x34cm.
Beach bag front & back
Make 2 the same.
Abbreviations for this pattern can be found on our knitting abbreviations page.
Cast on 72 sts using 3¼mm needles and Yarn A.
**Next row Knit.
Next row Purl.
Row 1 K1, *K1, yfwd, k2tog; rep from * to last 2 sts, K2.
Row 2 P1, *P2, K1; rep from * to last 2 sts, P2.
Row 3 K1, *K1, k2tog, yfwd; rep from * to last 2 sts, K2.
Row 4 P2, *K1, P2; rep from * to last st, P1.
Rows 1–4 form patt. Rep rows 1–4 three times more, then rows 1 & 2 once more.
Next row Knit.
Next row Purl.**
With Yarn C, knit 2 rows.
With Yarn B, work from ** to **.
With Yarn A, knit 2 rows.
With Yarn C, work from ** to **.
With Yarn A, knit 2 rows.
With Yarn B, work from ** to **.
With Yarn C, knit 2 rows.
With Yarn A, work from ** to **.
Knit 3 rows.
Cast off knitwise.
Beach bag handles
Make 2.
Cast on 135 sts using 3¼mm needles and Yarn A.
Knit 2 rows.
With Yarn B, knit 2 rows.
With Yarn C, knit 2 rows.
With Yarn B, knit 2 rows.
With Yarn A, knit 2 rows.
Cast off.
To make up the beach bag
Join side and bottom seams. Sew handles in place using photo as a guide.
Download your beach bag pattern
Get your free pattern here: Beach bag knitting pattern PDF
Top tips for lace knitting beginners
Learning to knit lace? Start here! We have some great guides to get you lace knitting like a pro.
- How to avoid and fix lace mistakes
- Lace knitting tips
- How to join yarn when lace knitting
- How to block lace knitting
- Free lace scarf knitting pattern
Authors
As well spending her working life thinking about yarn, Sarah designs knitting patterns in her spare time, too!
