pay it forward, 2 of 3

Felted Project Bag (my ravelry project page)

Pattern: totally filched from another knitter's project page on Ravelry.
CO 34 stitches, knit about 40 rows.
Pick up and knit stitches all around the rectangle.
Knit in the round until piece measures about 12 inches. Bind off.

Knit for: Donna (of The Chaos), as part of Pay It Forward

Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted (#56 Olive), 1.5 skeins

Needles: US #11 (Knitpicks Options)

Mods:
* Well, I'm not sure if this was a mod or not, but I did bind off the bottom of the bag before picking up all the way around. I picked up a couple of extra sts in each corner. Both of these things caused the bag to come out rectangular, rather than round like the original. I didn't plan for that, but I do like the final result. I blocked bag over a plastic babywipes box ;-) Oh, and I also knit 11" of the bag body in stockinette, and the last inch in garter, to avoid curling while blocking.
* I added metal grommets after punching the holes, I used black cording and a slide instread of an i-cord drawstring, and I fashioned a wrist strap out of jewelry hardware and belt webbing. Tinkering with this stuff was my favorite part of the project.

Started: 11/9/2008
Finished: 11/21/2008; This could have been a weekend project, no sweat. A couple of days to knit, felt, and block...plus a day to do the hardware, and there you have it. Took me a bit longer because I ran out of yarn and had to get back into the city to pick up a second skein!

Notes: The strap for the bag and the inspiration for the goodies inside, came from a favorite sock bag that I purchased for myself awhile back from JulipBags.

What I tossed into this bag was hand lotion, a crochet hook for picking up dropped stitches, a hair elastic, addi sock needles, and a tin fashioned with a magnetic strip, a tape measure, folding scissors, a darning needle, a long pin for holding stitches, and stitch markers (from PaperAndYarn).

The sock yarn I added was one of the shipments from Sock Yarn Cinema from Knit! (and I did not part with it because I didn't like it, just in case you are thinking of ever joining in on the fun over there---I am just behind, and I was pretty sure Donna would like the themed yarn thing). This yarn was based on the movie Gone With the Wind, and it came with a letter addressed to Scarlett, plus some hand balm, and a lemon verbena sachet.


I have a hunch there are more of these in my future, maybe some striped ones as a way to use up some of my odd balls of feltable wool. I'd love to have one for myself (of couse. selfish me.), but I think they'd make great gifts, even for the non-knitter. But then again, being a BagLady, I suffer from the notion that everyone needs many, and can never have enough :-)
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Now, onto PIF item number 3, which has been frought with all sorts of problems: underestimating the complexity and time required of the project, not being able to find the correct quantity and colors of exactly the right yarn, and well....then there was the kittens getting at the WorkInProgress, in which their shredding then called for an entire frogging and restarting.

It is going to be late, but I have advised the recipient, and she says she's okay with it.
Still. I suck.