Knitted Clutch

This knitted clutch is a very simple project for beginners because the stitches needed are very simple. This is a nice beginner project because the outcome of the project also looks really nice as well.

For this project you will need:

- three balls of wool with the same thickness but in 3 colours of your choice

- knitting needles corresponding with the thickness of your wool

- a thicker needle

- pins

- scissors

The first piece that will be created is the body of the clutch. For this, you will need your first ball of wool, in my case it is black. To start off you will have to create a know on the knitting needles. To make this knot you need to take the end of the string and wrap it around the other part. Then you pull it halfway through the top opening that appears. When pulling the knot through another opening will appear between the end of the string and the rest of it. To make the knot you will have to pull the string through that opening and then pull it tight against the knitting needle. Now that you have your knot you can create the next few loops. To create those loops you will take the end of the string over your thumb, creating a loop around it, and the ongoing part of the string over your index finger, also creating a loop. With your needle, you will go under the first string from your thumb and pull it over to the first string from the index finger. Insert the needle underneath that string and pull it tight. Repeat this for however long you want your bag to be, but keep in mind that it will expand slightly as you go on. I used 27 loops to create my bag, however, my bag is a bit long for some peoples taste.

To make this project it is important to know how to knit. The first knit is a bit easier than the second one. For the first knit you will insert your right needle under the left one. Then you will take the string and wrap it around the needle in a clock-wards motion. After that, you will pull out the needle from underneath and slide the other loops off the left needle so that it is attached to the loop you just created. You do that for all of the loops in the row. After that, you will turn your needles around so that the needle with all of the loops is on the right-hand side again. For the second knit you will put the string on top of the left needle first. Then you insert your right needle under the string on top of the needle and the loop so that the right needle is on top of the left one. Furthermore, you wrap the string around the right-hand needle in a clock-wise motion again. After those steps are complete you pull the newly created loop out and then push the old loop off so that it hangs on the new one. You do this and alternate between the two every round.

Once you have reached the desired height of your bag you cut the string so that you can start with the new colour. When starting with the new colour you will just start with it. Leave a bit of extra string so that you can then later make sure that the string is really secure. To start with the new colour you will just continue the next round with whichever stitch is next. This line might be a bit loose at the start which is normal.

The second half of the body doesn't have to be as long because the knit is a bit looser which makes them equal out even though they don't have the same amount of stitches. I did 17 rows with the grey and 23 with the black. To finish the main part of the body you will have to close the loops. To start off with you will do two loops with the normal stitch. Once you have two loops on the right needle you will go under the second loop and pull it over the one before until you only have one left. Once you have one left you will cut the string so that it has a bit of extra string on it. Once the string is cut you will pull the loop through so that the end is a hanging piece of string.

To create the handle you will use the same steps like the ones for the body. The handles are supposed to be a bit thinner, but it always comes to personal preference. I chose to make 7 loops and make it 35 rows long. Another option that is available is too is to make only 6-5 loops if you want it a bit thinner and for thicker handles make 8-10 loops.

To finish up the pieces you will have to use the needle to take a longer piece of coloured wool. The string I used was black, but it is irrelevant what you choose because you won't see the string anyways. What you do is you clap the black and grey bag in half. To make sure that you are going straight you can use pins to keep it from moving. Flip the bag so that the part that you want on the inside is outside. The first thing you do is go with your needle through the top bit of the side to connect them. Once you went through the first time put a double knot into the end string so that it doesn't open. With your needle go through the same side you just went to just slightly higher. You continue this process until you reach the top of your side length. Now take the handle and find the middle at the bottom that you will stitch to the bag. Knit from one side to the other not like you did when going up. Whilst doing this always move slightly to the left or right depends where your colour is. Once you reach the end of the handle start doing what you had been doing before, but this time don't go all the way through, only go so far through so that they can't see the stitches that you made. Also only go until you hit the edge between your colours. Once you have gone all around stitch back and forth a bit so that the string is secure when you cut it. After you have gone a bit through the sides cut off the rest of the string. Take another piece of grey wool and do what you just did to the handle with the black wool. This time add a double knot behind the handle so that it doesn't pull through. When you have finished that repeat all the steps on the other side.

To finish up your bag take any extra strings that are still hanging around and do some stitches back and forth so that you can cut off the excess with them opening up.