To make the lovely little handle, you cast off just like you would for a buttonhole (hence the name) and then cast back on the next row. Aside from working the bottom, it's done in the round. It's easy, fun, and you end up with an adorable, durable bag.With my Twisted buttonhole bag I add cabling to the middle of each side, as you can see in the pictures in the last post. When I got to the point where I was supposed to cast off for the handle I put the stitches on holders. First I worked on the strap by continuing the cabling, working until I felt the length was good and did a 3 needle bind off (I kind of messed up and didn't match the cabling exactly, but I'm not that anal about those things so I left it).
When the strap was finished, I started work on the large flap. I made a buttonhole (I think it was 6 stitches) on the first row of the large flap right in the center that the smaller flap on the other side could pass through. Worked the flap incorporating some cabling and 2 buttonholes and ended it with a few rows of garter. On the other side I did the opposite of the large flap and bound off all the stitches except a few in the center (again, I think it was 6 but you can make it as thick as you want as long as you make the buttonhole the same amount of stitches). I worked another small cable, a buttonhole, and again ended in garter. Here is a picture of the top of the bag:
This is the 3rd or 4th incarnation I've made of this pattern. It is so versatile and I love it!
