Or, in this case, it is the bag.
You remember this shot from last week, right?
And the excitement I had about a finished knitting project that I couldn’t tell you about at the time?
Well, the secrecy is no longer necessary because the box containing the gift has safely arrived in Quebec.
I knit this:
(If I were a good photographer or blogger, I’d have moved the vacuum cleaner and the laundry (that’s the orange on the right side of the shot), or, at the very least cropped them out. Since I am neither, you’re getting an unadulterated shot straight out of my life.)
This is the market bag I knit for my Favorite Things swap partner, Annie. One of my favorite, most used knitted objects is the market bag I made for myself a few years back. I have learned a few things since that project, such as that having wool in the yarn, even when mixed with cotton, will allow the bag to stretch to a surprising length. While this is no problem for giants like Rudi and me, I had no idea about Annie’s height and suspected she might be of more average dimensions. As such, I thought she might like a bag that didn’t bang against her knees when she filled it.
So I knit this bag with hemp. The yarn is Hemp for Knitting Allhemp6 DK weight in the lilac colorway. Plant fibers, such as hemp, cotton, and linen, do not have the elasticity of wool, so they are ideal for making things that you’d prefer keep the dimensions they start with. (Liquid, gravity, and regular use will stretch plant fibers out. That’s why the knees of your cotton-only jeans bag out if you don’t wash them frequently enough. But a wash and air-dry will restore them to their initial size and shape, and this is also true, I hope, of mesh shopping bags.)
I did a better job of paying attention to the stitch pattern this time and do not have a wonky hole in the middle of the bag. I’m delighted with this non-development.
I used two patterns to help me with the design. The body of the bag is a fairly straight version of Laura Spradlin‘s Grrlfriend Market Bag. But I thought two handles were better than one if you’re making a shopping tote, so I consulted JoAnne Turcotte’s Fantasy Naturale Market Bag for help dividing for the handles.
Ohh, very nice!!
Comment by Jenn 08.27.09 @ 8:48 amThanks, Jenn! Working on socks on tiny needles most of the time, I forget how fast other projects can knit up.
Comment by soe 08.31.09 @ 10:16 amThanks, Sarah!
Comment by soe 09.03.09 @ 11:56 am