Tote Around - Finished!

May I present the felted Tote Around. Finally this bag is done! And I love it.

Project Details
Pattern: Tote Around from Knitkit.com
Yarn: Noro Kureyon # 134 (5+ skeins)
Needles: 10.5 US

Dimensions before felting
Bottom: 12" diameter
Bag length: 19"
Strap: 60"

Dimensions after felting
Bottom: 7.5"
Bag length: 11.5"
Strap: 40"

This bag was knit from the center of the round base on circular needles. The bind off was two rounds of ten stitch applied i-cord. The strap was integrated into the bind off. The side of the bag opposite the strap has a slot to feed the handle through to secure the bag closed. It is a great size to carry around a small project. The strap is long enough to go over my shoulder or crosswise across my body. I think I'll be making a couple more of these. I think it would make a very nice gift.

I thought it would be interesting to show a close up of the fabric as it goes through the felting process.



The first picture shows the knit fabric before any washing has been done. The middle picture shows the finished felted fabric. You can see that the Kureyon does pill up quite a bit it and that it is also really fuzzy. The final picture shows the finished bag fabric. I pull off all the large pills by hand and them go over the entire bag and strap, inside and out, until all of the pills and extra fuzz is gone. It is hard to see the amount of fuzz that actually comes off of the bag from these pictures.

This picture shows the fuzz that the shaver was able to take off the bag. The little round object is a US quarter for size reference.

This fluff would be great for paper making. I should probably start making paper again with all this fun stuff to add into the process. Hmm, Kureyon paper...