free pattern: squares bag

Hurray, free pattern day! :)

This is my free tutorial for making the squares bag (made with Noro here; made with Scheepjes yarn here).

Update: The how-to for the lining is now online: how to line the squares bag!

This pattern is suited for beginning crocheters, and is using US terms and abbreviations.

What do you need:

• yarn (I used Softfun Batik cotton/acrylic yarn by Scheepjeswol)
• a matching crochet hook (I used a 4mm hook)
• a darning needle to sew in the ends
• a pair of scissors

Got everything? Let’s get started!

1. Make 24 solid granny squares. I wrote a free tutorial for those, too; you can find it here.

2. Lay out your squares according to the diagram. Try to space out your colours a bit; I made sure that the blues were evenly distributed, and that there were no ‘colour clumps’.

3. Crochet your squares together, following the diagram. Grab the two first squares, and put them wrong side together.

Now join them using the single crochet stitch, through the back loops only.

I usually first crochet all horizontal sides together, and then the vertical sides.

Your bag should now start to take shape. If you followed the diagram, your bag should look something like this:

4. Let’s give the bag a finished look, by putting the top border around it. Grab the same yarn you used for joining the squares, and start on one of the sides, in the front loops only. Work one double crochet in every stitch.

When you get to one of the four points, do the following: work 2 double crochets in the first chain of the corner of the square; chain 1; then work 2 double crochets in the second chain of the corner of the square. This gives us a ‘loop’, which you can use later as a place to crochet your handles to.

When you get to an ‘intersection’, do the following: work 1 dc3tog through the first chain from the square on the right, the chain space of the two squares in the middle, and the second chain from the square on the left. (study the picture if you’re not sure what to do; it’s kind of hard to explain this)

Keep going until you’ve made a border around the entire top side of the bag.

Your bag should look something like this:

If you’re not planning on lining your bag, you are done! Just attach your handles and enjoy your new bag :)

If you do want to line your bag, keep reading.

5. We’re going to make a second border on our bag, using the empty back loops behind the first border we just made. This will give us a place to sew the lining in later.
Start on one of the sides, in the back loops only. Work 1 double crochet in each stitch.

When you get to one of the four points or intersecions, don’t make the loop or dc3tog like we did in step 4, but just keep going, crocheting 1 double crochet in every stitch.

Go around the entire top of the bag, until you have two ridges.

When you’re done, your bag should look like this:

And that’s it! Good job! :)

Later this week, I’ll show you how to put in your lining (I’ll put a link under this tutorial when I publish it). See you then!

Update: The how-to for the lining is now online: how to line the squares bag!

xo,
wink