The hardware for my soon-to-be felted purse/bag finally arrived in the mailbox!
I love the shape of the triangle ring that will attach to the top.
The swivel snap hooks will attach to the triangle ring.
If you need handbag hardware, the rings and snap hooks came from BagMaker Supply. Great selection and reasonable prices. No, I’m not affiliated with them but I will be ordering from them again!
Now to the felting process!
It’s unusual for me to purchase a single knitting pattern. Most patterns in my collection come from magazines, books, on-line (Ravelry mostly), and my head.
Wanting something simple to knit while watching Netflix or Amazon, I started a basic sock using some uninteresting yarn.
It was a GREAT price and has been in my yarn stash for at least 10 years.
Though I do like self-striping yarn, I wanted something to at least camouflage or mix up the stripes.
Enter Dorothy’s Slip Stitch Spiral Knit Socks.
This pattern uses two different patterned or self-striping sock yarns that will help eliminate some odd balls (pun intended) of yarn and be perfect for some new socks.
My two balls of yarn? Purple, orange and white vs green, blue, and brown.
Should be interesting. Thank you, Rachelle for suggesting a slipped-stitch texture!
We have had such a mild winter so far and the temperature got up to 72 F yesterday so I decided to shoot some pictures outdoors.
The knitting is finally finished on the Lopi purse and am waiting (impatiently) for the hardware before beginning the felting process.
Other than that bit of inspiration for the zigzags which came from the Don’t Skid, Honey fingerless gloves from last year, I made up the pattern as I went. My hope is that the raised texture is still raised after felting. If not, it can always be added later.
I like the sturdiness of the i-cord bind off. It’s the same as the other felted bags I’ve made.
Those tabs still on the needles will be sewn over the hardware before felting. Same with the strap ends. The strap will also be lined to help with the scratchiness of the wool on my shoulder as well as to keep it from stretching out of shape.
Maybe the hardware will arrive today and this can become a Finished Object.
Yes, I must confess that I cheated on my yarn diet.
I wanted to make a new felted purse and use up some gifted yarn at the same time.
I even swatched!
5 inches by 5 inches on the left. 4 inches by 4 inches on the right after hand felting.
Only I don’t have enough yarn to complete the project. I’m making up the pattern as I go and I thought I just might have enough yarn when I began.
Two balls of yarn knit and one to go. It’s not going to be large enough for my liking.
The back is plain.
The bottom is 5 x 15 inches.
The bag is 7 inches tall…so far. the purse/bag will shrink at least 20% according to my swatch. The swatch was felted by hand and I will probably do this in my washing machine so it will shrink faster. Not as much control but results in a denser fabric. And did I mention that it’s faster?
Well, I found that Lopi yarn is still made just not distributed by Reynold’s. No guarantees that the color (light ash heather 0054) would match exactly as they would be different dye lots. So I bought two balls each of ash heather (color 0056), heather grey (0057), and dark grey heather (0058).
My plan is to gradually start working in the next darker ball of yarn then add each color going from light to dark. I will keep the zigzag in the lightest color for contrast and continuity.
My other option is to rip it all apart and begin over with the darkest color on the bottom and transition to the lightest color at the top.
Which would look better? Go from light at the bottom to dark at the top? Or have the dark on the bottom and to light at the top?
Or am I over thinking this project and just go with what I’ve done?
Knitting In Flashes 