Plastic Bag Keeper

The plastic bags were taking over the space under my kitchen sink. So I declared war on them and took a weekend and about a skien of yarn and corralled them into their new home. Check it out:



It's got an elasticy hair thingy at the bottom to keep the bags in.



I kinda like how it looks like a giant squash.

It was really easy to make. I used drop stitches, a la clapotis and really simple shaping for the top.

I'd love to hear what you think about it!

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::::The Pattern::::

*note* I just wrote this up right now, so please let me know if you find any typos or if you have trouble following it or anything!

Knit Bag Keeper

yarn:
Schachenmayr Twostep (53% Acrylic Microfiber, 47% Cotton)

needles and things:
1 set US size 2 dpns
tapestry needle, to weave in the ends
1 5 inch elasticy hair thingy

Directions:

bottom part:
- cast on 36 stitches, leaving a ~12" tail distribute over three needles
- knit all until the work measures about 1.5 inches from the cast on
- from the start of the round, wrap the first stitch and place it back on the needle.
- now, flip the work inside out while still on the needles by pulling it through the triangular opening between the three needles, so that the purl side of the work is facing outward

drop stitch/middle part:
- next row: k1, *m1 by picking up the loop between the stitches, k3, repeat from * to end of row
- now begin drop stitch pattern, k1, *p1, k3, repeat from *
- continue in drop stitch pattern until this part of the work measures ~15"

top part:
- row 1: k all knit st, drop all p st. This will create the ladder effect when all the stitches in the column drop out. You may need to coax it along.
- row 2: flip the work over and purl, working it like a flat piece, instead of in the round.

- knit row: knit 2 together, knit til 2 st from end, knit 2 together through the back
- purl row: purl all
- repeat the knit row and purl row until you have 8 stitches left on the needle, ending on a purl row

- knit 4 stitches & leave remaining 4 stitches on the needle, flip and purl. continue working these 4 stitches in stockinette stitch for 12 rows
- using a three needle bind-off, connect the 4 worked stitches to remaining 4 stitches to form a loop.

finishing:
attaching the hair thingy - the reversed stockinette on the bottom should be curling under towards the inside. place the hair thingy inside the rolling part and stitch together on the inside of the bag keeper.
weave in all ends.
fill with bags, hang it up and enjoy!