Ever since I decided I was going to amtrak it down to stitches west, I've been thinking about what to take with me (and of course, what I want to take home!)
I've been dreaming of hauling home an armload of sock yarn (socks that rock, lisa souza, mountain colors bearfoot, etx...) and thought that knitting and felting a bag may be a neat project for bringing stuff back in.
I dig the mitred squares/domino knitting look and wanted a bag that was similar to the satchel I usually carry-- with a flap closure the same size as the front panel of the bag. I didn't quite find a pattern handy that fit what I was looking for, so I tooled around and figured out what it'd take to make this bag.
Not much :)
Knit in handpaintedyarn.com's (hpy, malabrigo yarn) 6-ply bulky merino on US 10.5-11's (Addi circ, 7mm.)
So, here are some pics pre-felting (I'll get it into the wash tomorrow to see how my first felting plan works). I knit a small, "sampler" sized bag to try and see how the different stitches would work out once felted-- I knit the mitred sqaure in garter, the front and back panel in sl1, k1 -- purl back, and the sides/bottom in garter.
I hate putting pieces of knitting together, I have no style. So I knit as much as humanly possible in one piece, picking up stitches when needed. I knit the mitred square first and BO, then picked up stitches along the side and knit the front, bottom panel, and back all in one piece (sl1, k1 -- back; garter -- bottom; sl1, k1 -- front panel), all while slipping the 1st stitch to make a selvedge to make seaming easier later. Then I picked up stitches along the bottom's panel and worked garter up the side for the side panels (still slipping the 1st st).
Finally seamed the side panels to the front/back panels, and done. Wove in ends (I'm bad at that, too-- no wonder I love socks...), and this is it.
I'm planning on continuing the side panels on upwards for my final bag (depending on how the felting process works out, I guess) for a shoulder/across the body strap. I learned how to knit backwards to try and draw off the tedium of turning after knitting only 4-6 sts (also to try and omit the mess a 24" addi makes wrapping itself around and around in the process). :)
Flat and assembled the bag is 6.5" h, 6.25" w, 1.5" d, with the side panels smooshing outwards.
I'll probably switch up the mitred square patterning-- I'm going to use a variegated blue/yellow instead of the red. I also want to see how seaming the side/front panels from the inside works. Also, I'm not tied to using any stitch pattern (garter or the slip stitch one), I tried the different types to see how they'd felt up and that may change in the final one, too.
I started this idea swatching and tried first to knit the side panels and the bottom panel as one piece (see last pic that looks like a deflated penguin), but didn't like the look. I also knit the back panel and the flap in one piece, so you can see where the mitred sqare "turned" (I was curious to see what'd happen if I did that, killed the cat as it were.)
Anyhow, wish me luck with the washer :)
I've been dreaming of hauling home an armload of sock yarn (socks that rock, lisa souza, mountain colors bearfoot, etx...) and thought that knitting and felting a bag may be a neat project for bringing stuff back in.
I dig the mitred squares/domino knitting look and wanted a bag that was similar to the satchel I usually carry-- with a flap closure the same size as the front panel of the bag. I didn't quite find a pattern handy that fit what I was looking for, so I tooled around and figured out what it'd take to make this bag.
Not much :)
Knit in handpaintedyarn.com's (hpy, malabrigo yarn) 6-ply bulky merino on US 10.5-11's (Addi circ, 7mm.)
So, here are some pics pre-felting (I'll get it into the wash tomorrow to see how my first felting plan works). I knit a small, "sampler" sized bag to try and see how the different stitches would work out once felted-- I knit the mitred sqaure in garter, the front and back panel in sl1, k1 -- purl back, and the sides/bottom in garter.
I hate putting pieces of knitting together, I have no style. So I knit as much as humanly possible in one piece, picking up stitches when needed. I knit the mitred square first and BO, then picked up stitches along the side and knit the front, bottom panel, and back all in one piece (sl1, k1 -- back; garter -- bottom; sl1, k1 -- front panel), all while slipping the 1st stitch to make a selvedge to make seaming easier later. Then I picked up stitches along the bottom's panel and worked garter up the side for the side panels (still slipping the 1st st).
Finally seamed the side panels to the front/back panels, and done. Wove in ends (I'm bad at that, too-- no wonder I love socks...), and this is it.
I'm planning on continuing the side panels on upwards for my final bag (depending on how the felting process works out, I guess) for a shoulder/across the body strap. I learned how to knit backwards to try and draw off the tedium of turning after knitting only 4-6 sts (also to try and omit the mess a 24" addi makes wrapping itself around and around in the process). :)
Flat and assembled the bag is 6.5" h, 6.25" w, 1.5" d, with the side panels smooshing outwards.
I'll probably switch up the mitred square patterning-- I'm going to use a variegated blue/yellow instead of the red. I also want to see how seaming the side/front panels from the inside works. Also, I'm not tied to using any stitch pattern (garter or the slip stitch one), I tried the different types to see how they'd felt up and that may change in the final one, too.
I started this idea swatching and tried first to knit the side panels and the bottom panel as one piece (see last pic that looks like a deflated penguin), but didn't like the look. I also knit the back panel and the flap in one piece, so you can see where the mitred sqare "turned" (I was curious to see what'd happen if I did that, killed the cat as it were.)
Anyhow, wish me luck with the washer :)
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