Work In Progress: Knitters' Handy Carry-All from Knit Picks

I've been knitting away at my new bag. The first picture here is of the outside of the bag. It looks sloppy now, but will be much more sturdy and happy looking when I have the interfacing in. The second picture shows what will be the pattern pocket. I like the idea of using fabric to line the pockets. It will just make the bag that that much longer to make. I'm excited to actually finish it. The instructions are pretty thorough, except for the part about making the welt needle holder pockets.

Reading the instructions again I think I see what the author intended with using two needle sets for the welt pockets. I don't have a second set that size, and I didn't get why the instructions said to use the second set when I started knitting the welts. I just kept going on my one circular needle. When I finished the welt and went to reattach the 15 stitches, I ended up with a hole at the back of the work. I sewed the first one closed but came up with a better way for the rest of the welts. I picked up stitches from the beginning of the welt and knit them together with the end of the welt stitches. I think the end result is the same as if you left the 15 stitches on the needle to start with.

Here you can see the difference between sewing the welt closed or picking up stitches to knit it closed. The bottom one is sewing and the top two are knitting it closed. The knit ones look much neater.
This is me, showing you what I did. That light green stitch on the left needle is the stitch I'm picking up from the beginning of the welt. Then I knit those stitches (light green from the body and dark green from the welt) together.
While the sewn welt isn't as neat at the knit ones, it is only noticeable from the wrong side, which will be inside the bag facing the interfacing when complete, so only I (and you blog readers) will know its there.