Net Bag

 Over the weekend, I netted a medium-sized bag after Sally Pointer's Roman Net Bag video. While she used it for an pre-medieval impression, it's quite similar to the bags seem holding vegetables in Ruth's 13th-century cottage in Secrets of the Castle, while the knots and technique are the same I've seem in 19th century books and on modern craft kits.

Net bag and the shuttle/mesh used to make it.

It's diamond-netting, worked in a spiral from an initial set of 18 loops in a circle, expanded to 24 stitches per round, and then continued until I ran out of cordage (about 10 rounds?). The material is a hemp cord I found in a thrift-store grab bag. I used color remover on a hank from one of the three purple cakes, which gave a nice neutral-looking pale brown shade. I used a wooden shuttle I've had for ages, with the tail acting as a mesh. This was very tricky on the initial half-sized rows, since the shuttle was passing through loops its exact width, but was easy and convenient for subsequent rows.

Despite a few unsightly errors, the bag seems to be both strong and light. It can hold two loaves of Wrocław Trencher Bread, with room for a third. I think it'll also come in handy during the onion harvest later this summer.