Portable Knitting Tote Pattern

I've had a lot of people compliment me on my felted tote bag that I take with me to my knitting night. It carries everything I need for an evening of knitting with the gals at the coffee shop. I have my wallet in the bottom of the bag, my knitting pattern and doo-dads in the pocket, and my knitting project in the bag. This is an extremely easy project. It has a round flat bottom so it sits upright on the floor by your chair as you knit. Gauge is not important and if your stitches are a bit wonky that disappears with felting. This is a great way to use up those left over odds and ends of feltable wool yarn. You could make stripes, or simple blocks of color. Make it as tall or short as you like.

Finished Measurements:

11" deep by 9.5" in diameter. Since felted projects are imprecise when it comes to shrinkage, these measurements may not be exactly replicated. But a bag doesn't need to fit, so just have fun.

Materials:

*Approximately 3 skeins of Brown Sheep Bulky, or about 350-400 yards of bulky weight wool yarn.

*29" circular needle size 11

*double point needles size 11

*5 stitch markers, one different to mark the begining of the round.

*yarn needle

Directions:

Cast on 30 stitches , place marker, cast on 60 stitches, place marker, cast on 30 stitches, place unique marker to mark beginning of round. The other two markers mark the handles for later. There is a total of 120 stitches. Join to knit in the round.

Bag Handles

*Round 1: Knit every stitch, slipping the markers.

*Round 2: Purl every stitch.

*Round 3: Knit every stitch.

*Round 4: Purl every stitch.

*Round 5: Knit to first marker, slip marker, bind off 20 sitches, knit to the next marker, slip marker, bind off 20 stitches, knit to end.

*Round 6: Knit to first marker, drop marker, cast on 10 stitches, knit to next marker, drop marker, cast on 10 stitches, knit to end. There are 100 stitches left, and only one marker for the beginning of the round.

*Round 7: Purl every stitch.

Bag Body

*Round 8-58: Knit every stitch in whichever color pattern you might like. You can knit fewer or more rounds as you please.

*Round 59-60: Purl every stitch

Bag Bottom

*Round 61: Knit 20, place marker, repeat. You will have 5 markers.

*Round 62: Knit 18, knit 2 together, repeat. Decreased 5 stitches.

*Round 63: Knit around.

*Repeat rounds 62 & 63 until you must switch to double points. When you have a total of 30 stitches left, decrease every round. When you have 5 stitches left, cut yarn and run through the remaining stitches. Pull tight and fasten off.

Pocket - work back and forth

*Cast on 20 stitches.

*Rows 1-3 Knit every stitch.

*Row 4: Knit 2, purl 16, knit 2.

*Row 5: Knit every stitch.
*Rows 6-20: Repeat Row 4 & 5.

*Rows 21-24: Knit every stitch

*Cast off.

Sew the pocket to the bag with left over yarn.

Felt the bag thoroughly. Before you start it might look huge and floppy,

but it will shrink. I ran mine through the hot cycle in the washer twice. The thicker your felted fabric is the stiffer the bag will be and will be able to stand up by itself. Dry it thoroughly. I put mine upside down over a plastic lamp shade. A plastic dinner plate could be put into the bottom, making the bottom of the bag stetch a bit and then the bag could be hung upside down to dry.

Thankful

I am thankful for tea. A cup of tea doesn't actually cure all ills, but it helps calm the shattered nerves of a woman who has nursed her beaten car home from an accident. I'm thankful for friends give hand made mugs and elephant teapots to drink the tea from. I'm thankful for the concerned words from friends who care. I am thankful for a God who hears prayers. I am thankful for friends who are able to come over to look at the beaten car and pronounce it salvagable, even if only temporarily, and promise to look at it again on Sunday and get it drive-able again. I am thankful for a church where people care about one another. I am thankful for a quiet apartment where a woman can cry in private without an audience judging her. I am thankful for cats who look curious and sympathetic when they jump into a lap and purr.

I suppose the traditional thing at Thanksgiving is to be thankful for things that are a little more vague. But these are some of the things I am more immediately thankful for.

Look! Stripes!!!

Yes, the yarn that I dyed on Saturday actually creates stripes. I'm so proud!

Look!! Stripes!!

Well, it couldn't be helped. I couldn't stay away from the yarn I dyed last Saturday. I just *had* to know if the stripes would work. And they did! See?

Today was the last day to mail swap packages for early shipping points. I will not ship mine until probably Monday, depending on when a particular item flies to my door. But just about everything else is ready. There's yarn to pet, and chocolate to drool over and a few other fun things in the bag.

Yarn Dying Day

Well, it's been a long time since I posted, and I don't really have any excuse. But I'm posting now.

This weekend the Loopy Ladies got together to hand dye yarn. Sock yarn, mostly, but I put half a pound of merino roving in a pot. All in all. it went well. The burgundy dye wasn't burgundy; it was grape. The sapphhire blue and the sky blue were almost identicle. We tried to make eggplant by adding a bit of black to purple, but it turned out almost the same as the persimmon. Live and learn, eh? Still, a very productive weekend.