Felted Sunny Lucy Bag

Felted Sunny Lucy Bag
Originally uploaded by sunasak

Look, I finished it! I am actually very pleased with how this project came out. I think the Lucy Bag is a great project, and fun for new and experienced knitter alike. It sure looked different before going through the washing machine (see how big it was compared to Beccano).

I am pleased with the results from the front loading machine. This was two passes on hot and the "extra dirty" setting. The bag was enclosed in a pillow case, and it was in there with a pair of jeans. It's drying in the picture. The only thing that wasn't perfect was that the long strap didn't come out as long as I hoped. I hope Barbara, who is to receive it, doesn't mind. She said it looked great in the picture!

I moved on to start a me project, the Austermann Inka Pullover pattern that came with my rather orange Inka Color yarn I got from Elann. It is such a lovely pattern. Too bad Elann doesn't have it any more so I can't find a picture. I'll have a picture of the lovely and easy eyelet pattern on the bottom for you tomorrow.

Still looking for work. I have another interview at the place I really liked tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

It's a Sunny Lucy Bag

Sunny Lucy Bag Bottom
Originally uploaded by sunasak

I knitted on this project until my fingers were sore yesterday, so I am delaying going up to work on it more by blogging about it. The picture shows the bottom of this bag, which is the Lucy Bag pattern (can be purchased many places on Ye Olde Internet). I made it a bit bigger than the pattern called for, mostly so I'd use all my colors on the bottom, plus the recipient wanted a slightly larger bag.

The yarn is mostly remnants of Cascade 220 Wool from other projects, but the variegated yarn is some other undyed wool that I Kool Aid dyed last year in the big dyeing experiment. I already felted it in another project (a bag that just needs to have its handle attached), so I know it will work fine. The comment I have received most on this project is, "Individually, these are pretty yucky colors, but they look great together." I do think it will felt up nicely.

I got 80 rows into the long strap last night, but stopped when the last football game ended, with hand cramps. I don't want to make the straps much longer than the pattern calls for, because I had a bad experience with a strap lengthening and getting all icky last time I tried to make this bag much bigger than the pattern called for. I know the recipient wanted a slightly longer strap, because she is plus sized, but I don't want to go too far. I'll just add a few rows.

It took me three tries to cogitate the right spacing for the straps since the bag is wider than the original. I'm not good at ciphering, I guess. But it should be good now.

When I stopped knitting, I switched to reading and finished the highly amusing Anticraft book. I kept reading parts of it aloud to Lee--it is so funny. I don't think I'd really make anything in it, but I sure love the attitude and find I sure have a lot in common with the authors. I always enjoyed their website, so was thrilled when the book came out. It is really weird to come across other people with your own world view when you have a rather nonstandard world view.

Well my parakeet is telling me to PLEASE replenish the food dish, so I'll go do so, then sit by the phone and apply for jobs for a while, then finish this project so I can see if it will felt in the front-loader.

PS: I forgot to say we now have 6 buttons on Lee's sweater. Anyone need 4 buttons? We had to buy ten. They really look good. I'll take a picture!

Honest, He's Thrilled

Maurizio Cardigan
Originally uploaded by sunasak

Yeah, Lee looks like he wishes he were anywhere but where he is, but remember, he has pneumonia. He is actually thrilled with this cardigan, and that makes ME happy. Look, it fits perfectly! Once we get buttons, it will button just right, too. He'd been worried that the sleeves were too short, but I knew the shape was such that it would be fine. I know a lot of people wouldn't have made it in two colors, but I have enough trouble knitting tons of stockinette...I needed something to interest me.

Lee likes the weight of the cardigan--it's substantial, and the feel of the alpaca and wool. There are more photos on Flickr, including one that shows how well the back looks.

Something Else!

And look, I also finished the Tweedy Scarf I was working on, so here's a picture of it. I love how it feels and looks. Single-ply yarn looks really good in K1P1 rib. Mille Colori is such a fun self-striping yarn, too. Look at how it never repeats exactly. This scarf is about 70 inches long, so it hangs fairly far, even when wrapped around my neck. This is really a fun project for a fairly new knitter to try. Thanks to the Brooklyn Tweed blog for the inspiration!

I've got some of the bottom of the new Lucy Bag done, and I'll work on that today.

Maurizio Blocking

Maurizio Cardigan Blocking
Originally uploaded by sunasak

It's a good thing I had a day at home with nothing on the agenda but cleaning and laundry, so I could tediously finish sewing all the seams on this cardigan. I think it came out pretty good, and I can't wait for Lee to try on the finished product.

The sleeves were a royal pain. I am not fond of how they did them--it was a very long, shallow cap that was very hard to match and seam, and the bottom of the sleeve had an awkward jog in it that did not want to ease in politely. So don't be too harsh on my seaming technique. What you can't see are very nice side and sleeve seams, hee hee.

I didn't do a full block on this, but instead just steamed the parts that needed straightening. Mostly that was the neckband, which still wanted to curl under, thanks to all the stockinette. One of the button bands wants to flop, too. I find that really interesting, since they are exactly the same. Same yarn, needles, and number of stitches. I think the pockets came out pretty well, though not perfect. Good, I won't get a swelled head.

I put the cardigan on when it had just one sleeve, and it was very nice and cozy. Ultra Alpaca feels really good, though I must say there are more guard hairs in it than I expected to see. They blend well with pug hair, though, so they have their good points. And it is probably what keeps the yarn in the mid-range of price rather than the high range.

I think I am next going to make the Elann Austermann Inca pullover next, in that orange Inka Alpaca I got recently. It is a really lovely pullover, and I might get it done in time to wear a couple of times this year. I guess I am in an alpaca phase.

However, I have a quick project to do first. One of my oldest email friends from my old nonprofit job asked me to make her a felted bag, and she liked the Lucy Bag when she looked over my projects. Since that only takes a few days and since I have a LOT of Cascade 220 in oranges and yellows, I said I'd do that for her, especially since she will exchange the bag for some hand-made soaps.

Before THAT, I will finish my striped scarf. It's REALLY cold outside, so I can wear it over the next few days. So, off I go watching the bead show on public TV and finishing the striped scarf! Ah, the life of the home maker. If only I had more bon bons.

Lucy Bag for Crochet

I was asked on a non-knitting email list if it was possible to crochet a Lucy Bag, since there are members of the list who simply don't want to learn to knit (picture is a sample of one I knitted). Also one of them has great difficulty with commercial instructions, so they wanted it "conversation style." Here is what I came up with. If you spot any obvious flaws, let me know. These are more "guidelines" than instructions, but might be useful to someone!

Lucy Bag for Crochet

Using 100% NON superwash wool, crochet a flat circle that is 1/3 larger than the ultimate diameter you want. I'd probably double the yarn and use like an I hook, double or maybe half double crochet. You want there to be spaces so that the felting happens better. It will look loose.

After you hit the diameter, stop increasing and just crochet along with the same number of needles. The sides will start forming. Make it 1/3 longer than you want in the end.

For the handles, I'd eyeball them. Pick up about 15 or so stitches at one point and make a rectangle 10 inches long. Attach the second end of it about two-three inches away from the first, making a fairly short loop. Then on the other end of the bag, sort of parallel, pick up the same number and crochet a 40-inch rectangle (these are the lengths from the knitting pattern). Attach that one a few inches from the first. Viewing a clock face as your circular bag, the attachments would be like at 11 and 1 on the clock and at 5 and 7 on the clock.

Felt the bag by washing in very hot water in a top-loading machine, highest possible agitation. You may need to run it through more than one cycle. To reduce lint, you might want to put the article in a pillowcase, securely fastened, but that makes it harder to check how felted the bag is.

To fasten, the long loop passes through the shorter one, then you can wear it on your shoulder.

The above is not based on actually crocheting one of these. Just an educated guess.

Copyright 2007 by Sue Ann Kendall. Thanks to Jodie Lucas for input.

And if you knit, buy a copy of the Lucy Bag pattern. It's by Two Old Bags and can be found many places on the Internet.