Friday, March 03, 2006

Starting Over

Well I decided to frog the bag I'm working on and start over. I decided not to worry quite so much about the bottom lying flat. It's not laying flat on this restart. I decided I had really made the first one too wide.

I had tried to enlarged the pattern so I could felt the hell out of it. But I didn't have enough yarn to make the length work out in proportion. I really prefer felted items that have lost all of their stitch definition - I don't like that halfway look. I like felting that creates a dense fabric that an uninformed observer would have no idea that the item was actually knitted. I also like that the stripes of color in this version are a little wider. Not much but a little. Hopefully I can get through this quickly. I want to get on with the Weekend Satchel I'm working on too. If you count having knitted one handle many months ago as working on.....

Felted bags are really something that I like to make, to carry, and to gift. Actually a felted bag was my first project. It was absolutely perfect. I got to work some great yarn and any mistakes disappeared in the wash. As a bonus, it can be a completely mindless knitting project and the finished project can come out great. Most of the bags (all but 1) I have made to date were gifted to family members last Christmas. Now, I'm going to use some of my stash to make a few more.
I'll probably keep one, but most will end up as Christmas presents again. They were a big hit last year and I had several requests for this year. All I can say is be careful what you wish for.

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