The other thing I did this weekend was a knit bag. I have a bunch of yarn from when I was learning to spin four years ago that I haven’t really known what to do with. When I was spinning it, I was thinking cabled sweater, but after I got it all spun, I wasn’t in love with the yarn. It was my first spinning, after all.
It’s under-plied, and the singles were not evenly spun. Some areas are very loose, others are pretty tight. I’ve had five big skeins of this yarn just sitting around, with no plan in mind, for years. I was sort of afraid to use it because I thought it wasn’t “good enough.” Well, it’s just useless effort if the yarn is just hidden away in the closet. So I pulled it out on Thursday, and knit a bit.
I was astonished at the transformation. The loosey-goosey ugly yarn turned into a velvety-soft, buttery piece of knitting!
While the fabric felt wonderful and soft, I knew that if I knit a sweater or something, it would pill horribly because it's a fine wool (Finn) and was so loosely spun. So I got the brilliant idea to make something felted/fulled. So I cast on a bunch of stitches (I don't even know how many- I kept meaning to count them, but never did) and started knitting a tube. Now, while I am not particularly fond of knitting stockinette flat, I do like stockinette in the round. Knit knit knit knit.... mindless and fast. A few hours on Friday night and a few hours on Saturday, and I had this:
A loosely knitted, floppy bag. Knit on US9 (5.5 mm) needles, it measured 14.5" wide and 14" tall, excluding handles. This entire bag was knitted from one skein of yarn, and I somehow managed to have it come out even, with only a foot or so of yarn left over. A trip through a hot wash cycle in the machine, and I had this:
A very cute, sturdy bag, measuring 12.5" wide and 9.5" tall, excluding handles. The fabric shrank up into thick, velvety yumminess. I really like the way the handles came out. I slipped the first two stitches of each row to make an i-cord edge, and it gives the straps a nice substance. This will be lined with cotton fabric.
I knit up a large rectangle last night, and used up a second skein of this yarn. I'm going to full this piece before sewing it up, because I think I'll cut it apart to make two smaller bags instead of one large one. All these bags will be embellished in some way, I'm just not sure how yet. It's an evolving project.
Last but not least, I'll close with a shot of what followed me home last weekend from my trip off-island. More Ashland Bay Colonial top! The actual color is much less pink than in the picture, at least on my monitor- it's really a rich cranberry. Yum! I can't wait to start spinning this!
2 comments:
Love that bag! How did you shape the bottom (is it kitchenered)?
Isn't it great how yarn that isn't spun that well can still knit into a nice fabric. But its even better when you can make something lovely from it (like that bag that I'm in love with.) :)
That bag is WONDERMOUS!
And I love the pretty pink, too :)
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