Knitting

My first knitted bag snagged on something which appears to have cut one or two stitches, leaving this ugly hole. It's no big loss. The bag was one of the first things I've ever made, and it's all cheap acrylics. But I don't want to lose it, because it was several months of labor (it has all my beginner's mistakes on it and all *G*).


So I've been trying to figure out how to repair the knitting:

I've done a fingerless glove, so I know how to pick up stitches (for the thumb of the glove). Initially I thought of picking up the stitches at the edge of the rip and knitting circular a couple of rows binding off, but I am afraid that the remaining stitches would still unravel, and also I would end up with a protruding tube, which would look odd!

I could sew up the rip, but I don't know if it would look okay; it might look really obvious, and perhaps not hold.

I've been thinking about sewing up the edges of the hole so that I'd still have a hole, but at least the stitches around it would be stable and it couldn't unravel further. Then I could either leave it as is, or else knit a tiny colorful shape of some kind, and sew it on top of the hole as a patch.


I've never tried doing any repair work before though. Any idea what works, and what may end up in disaster? *g* Any suggestions for doing repairs, that is suitable for a beginner? Note I have no experience with sewing, but I have done some knitting, and also a very little bit of crochet.