Sunday, March 26, 2006

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.

knit_fabric felted_fabric shaved_fabric

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...

7 comments:

Knittypants said...

Looks great, so bright and cheery! The pics of the felting process are pretty nifty to look at.

Lara 900 said...

I really like that bag: looks really well suited for spring!

Zonda said...

I love it!!! Must get that pattern. I like how the strap is incorporated into the top and etc. Great job!!

Jerry & Maxy said...

What a great bag!!!! I love the colors you chose!!! I'm going to have to check out that pattern.

Bezzie said...

I have to comment that I like the way you took stage-pictures of the felting process. I love felting, but I like the before-middle-done sequence you did!

veritas said...

that looks incredible!
and i normally dont really like felting. but, you know, you might just convert me to trying that out. it looks just great!

and i Will get back to you RE fishy blankee KAL.... i have just mentally wandered off..... into a furry land of ... too much sleep and not enough work....

soapy said...

What a GREAT bag! I love it!