Felted 2 Color Bag

Knit and felt a pretty bag with two bright blocks of color and a twisted cord handle. Felting helps smooth away any imperfections, making this bag knitting pattern from Premier Yarns perfect for beginners.

Finished Measurements:
Unfelted: 11¾" wide by 36" long
Felted and assembled: Approximately 9 ½" wide by 11" high (excluding handles)

Materials:

• Yarn: Merit (100% Wool; 186 yards/170 meters; 3½ ounces/100 grams)

1 ball 35-104 Rouge (CA)
1 ball 35-111 Crocus Petal (CB)

• Knitting needles: US 10 (6mm)
• Large-eye yarn needle

Gauge: 16 sts and 21 rows = 4" in St st. Use any size needles necessary to obtain the specified gauge.

Abbreviations
CA, CB – Color A, Color B
St st – Stockinette stitch (knit RS rows, purl WS rows)
Sts – stitches
K – knit
P – purl
RS – right side
WS – wrong side

Instructions:

With CA, cast on 48 sts; beg with a knit row (RS) work in St st for 6", ending with a WS row; cut CA.
With CB, work in St st for 12", ending with a RS row; cut CB.
With CA, work in St st for 12", ending with a WS row; cut CA.
With CB, work in St st for 6", ending with a WS row; loosely bind off all sts.

Twisted Cord Handle (Make 1 CA and 1 CB)
Cut six pieces of yarn each 70" long and lay them side by side. Fold pieces in half as a group. Holding all 12 cut ends in one hand, insert a pencil through the fold. Turn the pencil in a clockwise direction until the yarn is twisted very tightly and starts to fold back on itself. Remove the pencil, hold the fold in one hand with the yarn ends and allow the yarn to twist, pulling the new fold down if necessary until the twist is even throughout the length of the twisted cord. Tie a knot in the end of the cord containing the cut yarn ends.

Assembly
With RS facing, fold the bag in half at the division between the 12" sections of CB and CA and sew each side seam. Sew the ends of the twisted cord handle to inside of bag. Weave in ends.

Finishing
Set washing machine to low water level and hot water. Add a small amount of laundry detergent and place bag in washer. Agitate the bag in the wash cycle, checking frequently to see how much the bag has felted. NOTE: Darker colors sometimes felt quicker than lighter colors. Do not run bag through the rinse cycle. If agitation cycle is complete and bag is not felted enough, reset the wash cycle and start again. When bag is felted to desired size, remove and rinse thoroughly under cool running water until all detergent is removed. Wrap bag in a thick towel and squeeze out excess water in a towel. Shape bag and handles and allow to dry completely.
 

Project courtesy of www.premieryarns.com.
© 2009 Premier Yarns. Reprinted with permission.