Friday, November 24, 2006

Lopi loopiness


I bought a bunch of Lopi yarn with the intention of making a Constant Companion bag. But the yarn had a different idea. It told me that it should become a Run About bag that I had been thinking of making.
Sometimes, one ought not listen to the yarn. But I haven't knitted enough with enough different yarns to know better.
The runabout bag is a free pattern on the Internet. You knit a tube and then the main bag. The tube is sewn inside the main bag to form pockets.
The colors are great- a burgundy, a mauve, a tan, and a turquoise. The burgundy actually has bits of turqouise in it.
Soon after I started, I realized I wouldn't have enough of the dark burgundy to make both the inside tube and the bulk of the outside bag as I originally planned. To compensate, I striped the tube, which would have made a nice decorative element, had the rest of the bag came out as intended.
Both the tube and the bag were knitted in the round and came out with a horrible bias. That meant that when I flattened the bag and tube to sew up the bottom, it didn't come together evenly. I straightened it as best I could and hoped it would work itself out during the felting process. It didn't.
On top of that, the inside felted at a different rate than the outside and it all felted up very bulky.
It was time for some serious knitting first aid. Thankfully, felted fabric can be cut without raveling. I cut the bottom and planned to sew it with thread. The inside tube proved to be too bulky and wouldn't sit nicely in the bag. I cut out the tube and planned to line the bag so I could add pockets.
Prefelting, I also crocheted a picot edge around the flap of the bag. I love how it came out. That is a technique I'd like to try again.
My conclusion is that Lopi is NOT a good choice for the Run About bag. It's also felts very fuzzy, which I'm not crazy about. If I get that bias again, I will just close up the sides and felt it without sewing up the bottom. It can always be trimmed and sewn after felting.
I hate to waste knitting, so I haven't tossed the pieces I cut from the inside. I have some plans for those that I'm working on now and will post about soon.

1 comment:

Janice said...

I ran into the same problem with the Run About bag using Noro yarn... The pattern is just too bulky. (I have come to modify all bags that have a seamed bottom.....)
You made the most of the situation and have a lovely bag and a fun accessories:-) Great job!!