Felted Flower Tote Bag~

I think this project wins the longest I have ever let a project go on for.

This pattern was in the Winter 2002 issue of Knit It! In a section labeled "Weekend Wonders"... knowing how long it took me to finish it, that is almost a joke.

I used the same type of yarn as the pattern called for, (Lamb's Pride) but not all the exact colors (which I regret in the case of the yellow). I found out that if a yarn has been bleached it doesn't felt as well.

The flower is especially neat because it's all one piece and is knit in a spiral, the layers stack on top of each other. I will certainly make the flowers again. Only not out of that yellow color.


The body of the bag is knit in 3 pieces - main piece and two side pieces with garter stitch as an edge along the top and on the whole bottom of the piece.
The main piece has two channels for plastic runners to give the top structure and the bottom has a piece of plastic in it too. The pattern called for quilting template plastic. I didn't have any, so I used plastic rulers that I got for $.25 and stole the bottom piece from a different tote I didn't use anymore.

The pieces are joined with single crochet and then a return of slip stitches back over the the sc.

The main body is knit from single strand bulky weight Lamb's Pride (10 1/2 US needle)Flowers, leaves and vines in single strand worsted (8 US needle)Straps in double strand worsted (10 1/2 US needle)