Round Beach Bag for Blythe- free pattern

For people- like me- who were born and raised in inner lands it's very difficult to cope with Summer living by the coast.

High temperatures and humidity is a bad, bad combination if you're not lucky enough as to spend the whole day immersed  in water. No matter how many times you have a shower or try to cool down your body temperature, 5 minutes later you'll be sweating again.

Now we add yarns to the equation and voilá! we've have a big issue here. Cause how do you manage to crochet or knit wool, angora, mohair, whatever, without dying in the attempt?

I've tried to make my place cooler, air-conditioning, crocheting during the night, etc., the only thing that's left is to put my hands into the freezer. Tempting but not practical.

Anyway, I'm beating around the bush and just wanted to tell you that as it's really hot these days, I thought that it would be a good idea to post a freebie for your girl so that you can crochet it in August (muahahah!): a round beach bag so that she can take everything she needs to the beach or the swimming pool.

Materials:

- Cotton thread size 5.

- 1.75 mm hook.

- Stitch marker.

- Tapestry needle.

- Scissors.

Abbreviations:

Ch- chain

sc- single crochet

sl st- slip stitch.

Special stitch- puff stitch: for the first one, ch 1, insert the hook into the same space where you have joined rounds, yarn over and pull up a loop, insert your hook in the same space, yarn over and pull up a loop twice more. You now have 4 loops on your hook, yarn over, pull through all 4 and ch 1 to secure the stitch. For the next puff stitches you will not Ch1 at the beginning of the stitch.

Note: join the rounds by slip stitching to the first st and begin every round with a Ch1.

The Pattern:

Rnd 1: Work 6 sc into a magic circle. Join with a Sl st to the first sc ( 6 sc).

Rnd 2: Ch1 and work 2 sc in every sc (12 sc).

Rnd 3: Work an increase every other st (18 sc).

Rnd 4: Make an increase every 3 sts (24 sc).

Rnd 5: Work an increase every 4 sts (30 sc).

Rnds 6-15: Sc in every sc for 10 rounds (30 sc).

Rnd 16: Work a puff stitch in every sc (30 puff stitches).

Rnd 17: Sc in every puff stitch (30 sc).

Rnds 18-19: Sc in every sc for 2 rounds (30 sc).

Rnd 20: Sc in the first sc, *ch 2, skip the next 2 sc, sc in the next sc. Repeat from * all the way around (10 sc and 10 Ch 2 spaces).

Rnd 21: Work sc in every sc and 2 sc in every Ch 2 space (30 sc). 

Rnd 22: Sc in every sc. Make an invisible join and weave in ends (30 sc).

The strap:

Fold flat your bag by the seam (once you finish the strap the seam will remain at the back of your bag). Find the centre and join a new thread. Ch 30 and sl st to the 15th sc, counting from the first one anticlockwise. Sl st to the next sc of the bag (to the left) and sc in every Ch all the way back. Sl st to sc of the bag. Fo and weave in ends.

To close the bag, make a 3 thread mini-braid and weave it between the Ch2 spaces.

That’s all for today which is no small thing.

Catch you next Sunday!