knitting is a hereditary disease

Stow Away Shopping Bag

Posted on 03/03/2010 by Barb | Comments (2)
Filed under : Dyeing, Finished Objects, Knitting, Spinning, Stash

Recently a friend was “de-stashing” (we all know about that, right?). Among other things, she tossed a ball of her first attempt at Navajo plied handspun yarn on the table and blathered to the knitting group, “This is so seriously overspun, it’s awful, if someone doesn’t take it, it’s going to be tossed out … blah, blah, blah.” (I just love the word “blathered” and couldn’t resist using it … no offense intended, D.)

It was pretty seriously overspun, no doubt about it. But her control of color was good and there are lots of uses for tightly-twisted fibers, right?

My brain went immediately to the Stow Away Shopping Bag pattern by Oat Couture, which I bought at Double-Ewe Yarn. The plan from the get-go was to surreptitiously knit it up and then give it back to her.

I didn’t have quite enough of her handspun so I Navajo-plied a bobbin of emerald green I had already spun and used that. Still not enough, so I took a little leftover reddish-orangeish-pinkish-purplish-with-sparkly-bits handspun I used to finish of a little cap, called That Hat, pattern also from Double Ewe Yarns. And here’s the finished product.

I have to say, this bag is such a great little project. I made one for my daughter before her trip to The Czech Republic. It folds up into a pack about the size of your two fists…

… and tucks into its own built-in pocket. Toss it in the back seat or glove box, or in a suitcase, and hit the road … easy-peasy.

(If you're interested, here's a good short video on how to do Navajo plying.)

2 Comments

Hi - I'm working on this pattern now and wondered if you could help me figure something out. I've made the pouch/bottom section and went on to the increase row (m3, k20) 4 times and I come up with more than the 92 stitches. Any chance you know where I might be going wrong. I've tried it twice. Thanks so much!

- said Libby (03/03/2010, 11:16 AM)

Hey, Libby, I hope my email helped ...

- said Barb (03/03/2010, 11:16 AM)