Craft your way to sustainable living with this stylish crochet market bag. It’s roomy enough for grocery shopping, trips to the beach, or, of course, yarn!
This market bag is crocheted using the Love Knot (also known as Solomon’s Knot or the Lover’s Knot). This stitch is deceptively simple to create – if you know how to chain and single crochet, you can make this knot stitch 🙂
The pattern includes a full photo and video tutorial on how to crochet the Love Knot/Solomon’s Knot, so don’t worry if this is a new stitch for you 🙂
How to get this pattern:
Option 1: Scroll on down to get this pattern for free!
Option 2: Purchase the easy-to-read, print-friendly PDF:
What you need to crochet this market bag
Yarn
I used Paintbox Yarns Cotton DK for my bag. I love 100% cotton or a cotton blend for a market bag, as it is super durable, and gives good weight and structure for everyday use. Other great options (which my testers used), are Lion Brand Comfy Cotton or Caron Cotton Cakes.
Although I used #3/DK weight yarn for my market bag, the pattern will work just as well with a #4/worsted yarn – your finished piece will just end up a little larger than mine of course 🙂
Here are some photos from my amazing pattern testers – thanks so much ladies, I love how they all turned out!
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Notes
Skill Level
Construction
The bag is worked as a single piece in 3 steps:
- Solomon’s Knot rectangle.
- Gather top and bottom edges – these edges form the front and back of the opening.
- Gather the sides and create the straps.
Additional Notes
- Ch 1 at the start of a row does not count as a stitch.
- Ch 4 at the start of a row counts as 1 tr.
- Stitch counts are given in [ ] at the end of each row.
Yarn
This pattern will work just as well with a #4/Medium/Worsted yarn. However, your finished bag will be larger than the measurements given above, and yardage will also vary depending on the yarn weight.
Finished Measurements
Width: 19” / 48 cm
Height: 15” / 33 cm
Straps (end-to-end): 21” / 54 cm
Note: these measurements are for the pattern worked using a DK weight yarn. Using a worsted weight yarn will give you a larger finished piece.
Gauge
7 SK (Solomon’s Knot) sts x 6 rows = 4” x 4“ / 10cm x 10cm
Note: Gauge is not critical for this project.
Materials
Hook: 4mm (G-6)
Yarn: Any #3/Light/DK yarn.
The amount given here is for Paintbox Yarns Cotton DK (137 yds (125m) per 50g skein; #3/Light/DK; 100% Cotton)
Vanilla Cream: 385 yds / 422m (140g)
Special Stitch
Solomon’s Knot (a.k.a. Love Knot)
The Solomon’s Knot stitch is crocheted in two steps as follows:
- Pull up a long loop (about 0.5”/1.25cm for this pattern), ch 1.
- Insert hook into “back bump” of chain, and complete 1 sc.
Solomon’s Knot is abbreviated as SK in this pattern. SKs are worked in pairs to achieve the “diamond” shape in the fabric.
You can find full photo and video tutorials for Solomon’s Knot here.
Abbreviations (US Terms)
ch = chain
st = stitch
sp = space
sk = skip
sc = single crochet
tr = triple/treble crochet
sc2tog = single crochet 2 together
tch = turning chain
SK = Solomon’s Knot
RS = Right Side
beg = beginning
Written Pattern
1. SOLOMON’S KNOT RECTANGLE
Foundation Chain: Ch 98.
Row 1: 1 sc in second ch from hook, *2 SK, sk 3 ch, sc in next ch; repeat from * ending with 1 sc in last ch, turn. [24 SK pairs]
Row 2: Ch 4 (counts as 1 tr, here and throughout), 1 SK, sk first sc and 1 SK, 1 sc in next sc (i.e. the sc at the center of the SK “pair”), *2 SK, sk 2 SK, 1 sc in next sc; repeat from * until 1 SK and 1 sc remain, 1 SK, sk last SK, 1 tr in last sc, turn. [1 SK + 23 SK pairs + 1 SK]
Row 3: Ch 1 (does not count as a st, here and throughout), 1 sc in first tr, *2 SK, sk 2 SK, 1 sc in next sc; repeat from *, ending with 1 sc in top of tch-4, turn. [24 SK pairs]
Rows 4 – 47: Repeat ROWS 2 and 3.
Row 48: Repeat ROW 2.
Row 49: Ch 1, 1 sc in first tr, *ch 3 (loosely), sk 2 SK, 1 sc in next sc; repeat from *, ending with 1 sc in top of tch-4. [25 sc]
You should now have a rectangle that has 24 SK pairs across and 24 SK pairs lengthways.
Do not cut yarn (you can use a stitch marker or tie a loose knot to prevent any unravelling during blocking.) Block piece.
2. GATHER EDGES
The next step is to gather in the top and bottom edges of your rectangle – these edges will form the front and back of the bag opening.
TOP EDGE
Row 1: Ch 1, 1 sc in first st, *2 sc in next ch-3 sp, 1 sc in next sc; repeat from * ending with 1 sc in last sc, turn. [73]
Row 2: Ch 1, 1 sc in first st, *sc2tog in next 2 sc; repeat from * across, turn. [37]
Row 3: Ch 1, 1 sc in first st, *sc2tog in next 2 sc, 1 sc in next sc; repeat from * across, turn. [25]
Rows 4 – 9: Ch 1, 1 sc in each sc across, turn.
At the end of Row 9, do not turn – this is the RS of the bag.
Cut yarn and fasten off.
BOTTOM EDGE
Rotate your work so that you are looking at the opposite edge; the tail from your foundation chain will be on your left hand side. Join yarn into the ch beneath the beginning sc of Row 1 i.e. the sc on your right hand side as you are looking at your work.
Row 1: Ch 1, 1 sc in base of first ch, *2 sc in next ch-3 sp, 1 sc in base of next sc; repeat from * ending with 1 sc in base of last ch, turn. [73]
Rows 2 – 9: Repeat as for top edge.
At the end of ROW 9, do not turn and do not cut yarn.
3. GATHER SIDES & CREATE STRAPS
The final step is to gather in the sides of the bag and crochet the straps.
Rotate your work to the right so that you are working down the side. Work the following rounds without turning.
Round 1: Ch 1, sc evenly along the side of the 9 sc rows (i.e. until you reach the SK section of the bag), 1 sc in side of next sc, *2 sc in next ch-4 sp, 1 sc in side of next sc; repeat from * until 9 sc rows remain, 1 sc in side of each of sc row. [9 sc + 73 sc + 9 sc]
Ch 80 loosely (this forms the first strap), sk 25 sc.
Sc evenly along the opposite side of the 9 sc rows, 1 sc in side of next sc, *2 sc in tr-sp, 1 sc in side of next sc; repeat from * until 9 sc rows remain, 1 sc in side of each of sc row. [9 sc + 73 sc + 9 sc]
Ch 80 loosely (this forms the second strap), sk 25 sc, sl st to join to beg sc, do not turn. [182 sc + 160 ch in total]
Round 2: Ch 1, 1 sc in first st and in each of next 9 sc, *sc2tog in next 2 sc; repeat from * until 9 sc remain before ch-80, 1 sc in each of next 9 sc, 1 sc in each ch, 1 sc in each of next 10 sc, *sc2tog in next 2 sc; repeat from * until 9 sc remain before ch-80, 1 sc in each of next 9 sc, 1 sc in each ch, do not join. [55 sc + 80 sc + 55 sc + 80 sc = 270 sc]
Round 3: 1 sc in each sc around, sl st to join to first st. [270]
Cut yarn and fasten off. Weave in ends.
All done!
If you wish, you can purchase an inexpensive, ad-free PDF version of this pattern through Ravelry, Etsy or LoveCrafts.
I hope you have enjoyed this pattern, if you have questions at all, please don't hesitate to contact me. And be sure to tag your finished project on Instagram or Facebook using @nedandmimi or #nedandmimi!
Happy crocheting!
Sarah
My husband is retired military. He spent some time in Belgium and toured Europe when he could. He got a cotton bag years ago very similar to this and loves it still. It looks very much like this bag. I think he has a Solomon’s Knot bag in his future.
Thanks so much for sharing this Dotty, I’d love to see the bag if you get a chance to make it 🙂