Supplies needed:

Yarn: 3 skeins of Noro Kureyon. I used color 95.

Needles: 16″ or 24″ US 10 1/2 bamboo circular needles and US 10 1/2 double pointed needles.

Cast on 34 stitches on size 10 1/2 circular needles. Knit back and forth in garter stitch for 34 rows.

Now you are going to pick up stitches all around your rectangle and begin knitting in the round. Pick up and knit stitches as follows:

* Pick up and knit twisted 16 stitches along first edge of rectangle. There are 17 ridges, so you just pick up one stitch between each ridge.

* Pick up and knit 34 stitches along the bottom of your rectangle.

* Pick up 16 stitches along last edge as you did for the first edge.

You will now have 100 stitches and will be knitting in the round. Knit every row for 64 rows. Cast off.

Make a 5 stitch i-cord with your 10 1/2 double pointed needles. Length depends on your preference, but I recommend 5-6 feet of i-cord.

Time for felting! Place the bag and i-cord in a zippered pillowcase and place in the washing machine with 4-5 pairs of jeans or other heavy items. Wash on the hot wash cold rinse cycle. May take 3-4 trips through the wash to achieve desired felting.

Block the bag. Find a box that is the same size as the bag (it can be taller and stick out the top) and place the box in a plastic grocery bag. Put the plastic covered box into the felted bag. Allow the bag, bottom up, to dry completely (1-2 days). Blocking the bag creates a flat bottom so that your bag will sit flat.

Once dry, take your bag and your double pointed needles. Pinch in the ends so that your bag looks like this from the top:

Insert double pointed needles where indicated by the arrows about one inch down from the top edge of the bag. Go through all four layers. Wiggle around the double pointed needles to open the holes. Remove double pointed needles.

Cut your felted i-cord in half. take one end of the first half and with the bag facing you, insert the i-cord into the near hole on the left side. Then thread it through the left hole on the side of the bag facing you (the end will now be outside the bag). Thread it back into the bag through the right hole and out through the near hole on the right side of the bag. Turn the bag around and repeat with the other length of i-cord.

You will now have two ends of the i-cords sticking out on each side of the bag. Take the two ends on one side and tie them tightly in an overhand (plain old) knot. It should look like this:

Now adjust the straps to the desired length and tie the ends of the i-cord on the other side. Cut off any excess. Pull the knotted ends in tight and you are all done!

The finished dimensions are approx.: 4 1/2 X 7 1/2 X 8 1/2.