You will recall from my last post before I left Sydney that I had decided to rip out the last 8 rows of increases for my French Market Bag base and reknit straight. I wanted to maintain the visible rim of base colour on the sides of the bag and 200 stitches on larger needles seemed just a little too huge. I did indeed rip out those 8 rows and reknit them straight. I started the main colour and it was all going swimmingly.

It was only after I had knit through the entire first ball of the main colour that I began to wonder if 168 stitches really was enough. I realised that I had not actually measured the base after ripping out the extra increases, which was my last chance to lay it completely flat and get an accurate measurement. I tried to get it as flat as I could, and what I saw was very pretty.

Pretty, BUT…. Isn’t there always a ‘but’? Pretty, but I suspected, now too small. Jesse was horrified when I suggested ripping it out again, with many many more rows to be undone this time (the little gold safety pin you can see in the picture below marks the end of the base, the point to which I would have to rip back). After much agonising I decided to just keep on as I was going. I added the second ball of the main colour and I continued to kid myself that everything was ok for a few more rows.

The thing is that BUT just kept coming back to nag at me whenever I picked up the needles to work on it… But how are the handles going to work with only 168 stitches? But is it really going to be big enough to be useful? But what about that third skein of the main colour that I was sure I needed to make a big enough bag and which I can’t possibly use up at this rate? The buts kept on coming and the bag stopped growing. Then this happened:

This time I measured it. Fourteen and a half inches across. Not as small as I had feared, but not as big as I think it needs to be. New plan. Redo half of the base increases that I ripped out the first time and add 4 rounds of increasing 1 stitch per corner at even intervals through the bag body creating a total of 200 stitches at the top for nice handle placement and a more truly french market basket shape. I have reknit the rest of the base colour and the base is 16 or 17 inches across depending on how I measure it, I will knit the sides to be as tall as they are wide so I will place the increases at 3 inches, 7 inches, 11 inches and 15 inches. This plan still involves finishing in time for christmas, along with the other bag and a half that also need to be finished by the 25th.