My maiden voyage into the world of knitting began last autumn with 5 introductory classes. I started with scarves then turned to a tiny baby cap when my niece had her first child. Then with nimble fingers, a willing heart and a lot of aplomb, I moved on to sweaters with a lovely white cotton yarn that was intended for a sleeveless knitted-tee. Oh, but that garment was not to be . . . after umpteen attempts I set it aside for another day.
My next project:
I've been interested in felting for quite a long while but since I didn't knit . . . well . . . knitting is necessary to the felting process. So, once I got some simple stitches under my belt -- or my fingers ......
. . . in late winter, I bought a Berroco pattern booklet of beautiful purses and some richly colored yarn and began knitting a wool purse to felt.

At this juncture, I admit to a certain trepidation at putting my purse in the machine but ....... I did it. The first go-round in the washer didn't quite do the job but the second wash worked like magic. The felting process created an entirely new fabric, deep and thick and dense; the stitches had all disappeared. The spin cycle took most of the water so all it needed was air drying and a little (well, a lot) of attention was needed to preserve the desired shape.
I went shopping for lining fabric one evening with my friend Vary. This thick home-dec fabric was love-at-first-sight. At $24 a yard it sounded price-y but with a 50% off sale and a quarter yard@ 60 inches to line the bag, it was perfection.
The completed purse is 9 inches deep and 32 inches in circumference. I like the way the two sides naturally bend in towards the center. There is a long brown felted cord that will become handles.
It is to be a birthday present for my daughter.
2 comments:
What a lovely birthday present for your daughter, I am sure she will love it. The color combination you put together is great, the mustard yellow with the deep purple. I was also very interested in the process to "felt" your knitting. It made me realize that I have inadvertently "felted" a sweater which was not supposed to be thrown into the washing machine. It came out thick like your bag, and shrunk to fit a 5 year old...
Ha! Even mistakes can have a re-birth. There is a trend to purposely felt woolens and then make purses and bags. I have even seen several sweaters cut apart and artistically re-configured into new sweaters. It intrigues me.....its on my list of things to do.....
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