Have Book, Will Travel : a crochet project

I designed this bag yesterday, with the sole purpose of carrying a book. I absolutely always have a book on the go, so I wanted a bag to carry it in. This is a really easy design for a beginner and can be adapted easily to any size, using any yarn and hook.
First start with a granny square (there are plenty of instructions on how to make these on the internet) make it the width that you want your bag to be. Along one side of the square, pick up the stitches and make a row of trebles (UK) or doubles (US). Continue rows of trebles until the piece is about 1/2 " shorter than you want the bag to be, then do two rows of double crochet (UK) or single crochet (US).
Make another identical piece. place wrong sides together (although they don't really have a right and wrong side) and join the sides with double crochet (UK) and then go back over in crab stitch this gives a fancy edge for very little effort.

At one of the edges pick up 7 stitches for handle, and double crochet (UK) over these stitches until the handle is long enough. The handle WILL stretch, so make sure you allow for this in the length. I have designed mine as an across the body bag. When long enough, join to the other edge.

You could easily line this bag with a simple bag lining, but I have left mine unlined, in the market bag style. You could also easily add a loop and button fastening.

My project is now featured on the FaveCrafts website, here.