Notes from the other side:

This project took forever because I repeated it four times. One of these bags is fun and easy to knit, a lot of bang for one’s knitting buck; FOUR of these, as a set (because who wants to have just one grocery bag?), became WORK to knit. I am pleased with the result, but boy howdy am I ever happy to be finished.

My first attempt at a grocery bag was frogged, and having learned from that experience (that first pattern was just not for me) I had a good idea of what I wanted in a bag.

If you’re looking for a sturdy bag that does not require a lot of stockinette or picking up a bunch of stitches, this is the bag for you. Worked in the round from the bottom up, it is a good project for out-and-about knitting since you won’t need to refer to the pattern pretty much until you get down to binding off for the handle. I recommend a stitch marker at stitch 1 and at stitch 50 (watch for marker-twisting around over the YOs!) for YO checkpoints.