Hard to handle

I've been stuck on binding off and the handle for the better part of the week. Now that I've started knitting it, I don't think it will be much longer until the bag is finished. I spent too much time this afternoon writing a review and finally posting a new one on my other site that I don't have the patience to knit the nine stitch pattern the rest of this evening.

I followed Karen's advice and checked out a Ravelry project that described a simpler handle. The linen stitch is easy, if a bit slow due to switching the position of the yarn after every stitch. Working with smaller needles (and the circs' cable getting in the way) is responsible for taking me longer to knit the handle, but I'm making a dense piece that won't be coming apart. In retrospect I should have made this twelve stitches wide instead of nine, but the narrower strap will work just fine.

That pesky and mysterious extra stitch will be pinned down/woven in when all that remains is sewing in the ends. Success is near!