Living Dangerously

I'm almost done with the little stranded bag I'm knitting for the Purse Round-up KAL I joined. I knit the bag in Noro Kureyon and various shades of Lamb's Pride that seemed to work with it. (I'll list color details when I'm completely done.) And yes, I knew I was taking a bit of a risk mixing these two yarns in a bag I was going to felt. I know that there rate of felting is different after making my entrelac bag mixing the two, but I still liked the results I got with them. I think the main reason it worked with that bag is because I was alternating the yarns on every row of squares, so the small rows of LP were tucked between the larger rows of Kureyon. I wasn't sure what to expect when I stranded the two yarns together though. And here's where a more logical person might think "swatch" but of course I instead just jumped right in and started knitting a bag. I just had a hunch it would work. Here's the bag before felting (and now I'm kicking myself because I forgot to measure it.)

See how the top band is kind of
curling out? I took some sewing thread
and basted the bands shut at the top
so it would keep its shape during the
felting process.

I checked the bag after one washing
and was surprised to see that it was
pretty much done! I've done quite a
lot of felting and I think everything
else I've done has taken at least two
full trips through the washing machine.
Oh I probably could have run it through again but I like the way the yarns look together at this point and I didn't want to push my luck.

Here it is blocking on an appropriate size box I found in my pantry.

I'm pretty pleased with how the yarns worked together. The stitches are a little more apparent with the Kureyon but not much. I think the LP kind of pulled the Kureyon stitches into place and tightened them up.

By the way, it's a good thing I did stop after one wash because when I snipped and pulled out the sewing thread I found that the top had begun to fuse together already. One more wash and I'd have had a real problem opening the bag at all.

I probably won't have a chance to shop for a lining until Saturday. In the meantime I'll mull over what I want to do about handles. It's funny how the little finishing details can really bog things down...I'm so ready to start another bag!