theraineysisters knitting and so much more

May 30, 2007

From Susan — Seabiscuit by a Nose!!

Filed under: Uncategorized — lv2knit @ 8:11 pm

Why don’t cameras do these things justice!  I really tried to get a GOOD picture of the felted Mitered Tote — to no avail! I wish you could see it in person. 

Here’s a close up of the felting:

MiteredToteFelted.jpg

It is felted to a nice degree: nicely dense and not stretchy.  And it has the boucle finish that I wanted.  Even Hubby commented on how great it looked felted (and he usually just does the ‘uh, looks good’ without looking up thing).  Here you can at least see the difference in size after felting:

MiteredTote015.jpgMiteredToteFelted006.jpg

MiteredToteFelted008.jpg

And Lettie asked, why does Mommy keep making felted bags in the same colors…..???

MiteredToteFelted011.jpg

Lettie, dear, we have a “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy around here and you better get used to it ;)!  The above picture (showing one of my many Market Squares bags) is much truer to the color. 

I am extremely pleased with the strap I ended up doing.  I used a provisional cast on for 160 sts; then I worked stripes in the green and red, and did an i-cord bind off all around.  It is the exact width and length I wanted and it felted very nicely, too!! 

MiteredToteFeltedStrap.jpg

So, all in all I am very pleased with the bag.  I do need to ask myself how many is too many, but Sally keeps knitting shawls, right?  Can there be too much of a good thing?

PS — in response to questions — a couple of you wondered about the felting and the fact that knitting usually felts more in one direction than the other.  I’m no expert, but it could be that it felted evenly because the knitting goes in all directions:

Slide1-10.jpgArrows show direction of knitting

This is not the case with the bottom of the bag, but …

14 Comments »

  1. There is no such thing as being too rich, too thin, OR having too much of a good thing. I think the bag is very beautiful, and the strap is just right.

    Comment by Marsha — May 30, 2007 @ 8:24 pm

  2. From Susan — I’m not thin or rich, but dammit, I can have a ton of felted bags!!

    Comment by lv2knit — May 30, 2007 @ 8:45 pm

  3. You are happy. I am happy that you are happy.

    Comment by LaurieM — May 30, 2007 @ 9:13 pm

  4. You can never have too many bags, shoes, St@more Fair Isles … 😉 Gorgeous!

    Comment by Marina — May 30, 2007 @ 11:19 pm

  5. Oooooh! It’s fabulous!

    I’ll give you a hint on the cake: it was 4 figures. 🙂

    Comment by Romi — May 30, 2007 @ 11:34 pm

  6. Very, very pretty! And you can’t have too many felted bags, nor I too many socks. Apparently.

    Comment by AuntieAnn — May 30, 2007 @ 11:42 pm

  7. Bags are like a dozen other things that you can never have too many of. I just love the way it turned out, lovely. The transformation between the knitted item and the felted one never ceases to amaze me.

    Comment by Mindie — May 31, 2007 @ 3:12 am

  8. Susan- My gosh- a girl can never have enough bags, shoes, yarn- it’s what
    makes you happy. After all, it’s a great bag!

    And the felting came out perfectly.

    Comment by Lorraine — May 31, 2007 @ 7:37 am

  9. It looks fabulous!!!! I have the same color problem too, though my weakness/obsession/focus seems to be PINK.

    I wanted to thank you both—your button placement tutorial for the sunrise circle jacket was very helpful. I did the loops yesterday; I have only buttons left to sew on! The idea of marking the edge with basting yarn was excellent! Thank you!

    Comment by suzanne — May 31, 2007 @ 7:55 am

  10. The market bag looks great. I was wondering how it would felt because of the tendency with felted knitting wanting to shrink more horizontally then vertically (or is it the other way around?) and the squares going both ways. It must have something to do with the garter stitch.
    When is enough enough? My husband collects tractors, now that is a problem. (These are the real ones not the toys)

    Comment by Michele with 1 L — May 31, 2007 @ 9:04 am

  11. Coming in to ask the same question as ‘Michele with 1 L’ above me… the felting/shrinking more vertically than horizontally (or is it the other way around?!) didn’t seem to matter with this tote? Things usually shrink up more in the length than the width, right? Anyway, it’s beautiful — and I like your strap variation and the I-cord additions a lot.

    Thanks for sharing!

    Comment by Wendy O — May 31, 2007 @ 11:54 am

  12. I’ve been watching this bag take shape, and now that it’s done, I love it! I thought my felting phase was over, but I guess not!

    Comment by Donna — May 31, 2007 @ 3:04 pm

  13. I’m glad your husband was able to appreciate your wonderful bag – I just love it!! I’m having a heck of a time
    finding the pattern for myself, but I simply must make one…

    Comment by Deirdre — June 1, 2007 @ 7:29 am

  14. The bag is beautiful; I love the colors you chose. Would you mind letting me know how you attached the strap and if you attached it before or after the felting? I ask because I recently made a felted bag and made the mistake of felting the strap separately. Now I’m having trouble sewing it to the bag neatly and preventing the parts from shifting in the process. My strap was similar to yours but mine was knit across the width rather than lengthwise and edged with Annie Modesitt’s i-chord edging from her Backyard Leaves scarf in _Scarf Style_ (see: http://www.subwayknitter.com/2005/09/going_nutty.html for a description). The curled edging felted together well and produced a strap similar to yours, only without the pretty striping.

    Comment by Mary Tess — June 1, 2007 @ 12:14 pm

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