FO Report: Felted Tote
Designer: Debbie Bliss
Pattern Source: Home
Yarn: Four 2 oz. balls of vintage wool that I bought from a garage sale last year for ~$1.50. (about 500 yards used)
Needle Size:  US 9
Gauge: around 4 sts = 1"
Date Completed: Jan 2006
Recipient:  My home

I suppose this can be considered my first official FO of the year, as it's the first one I'm officially posting about.  This was one of the many fun patterns in the new DB book, and as a cute tote bag pattern, I must say that it's definitely a keeper.  I'd really love to do this bag as a scrap wool bag ... I think it'd be so cute.  Debbie asks us to buy 7 balls of Alpaca Silk for this bag ... and as much as I seriously laugh at her description of "using a blend of alpaca silk lends a subtle sheen to the bag, even after felting" (my paraphrasing), part of me wonders what a tote bag would really be like in such a luxurious yarn.  (I guess that when I get to the point of wanting to spend over $50.00 for a tote bag, I'll find out!)

Additional details: I went up a needle size from US 8 to US 9, which I figured she did as she was using a blend that wouldn't completely felt like 100% wool.  You start from the center of the bottom, and increase over 8 sections until the bottom looks like this:

Then, as per Debbie's instructions, you knit back and forth all the way up to the top.  At the point of finishing the bottom, I went ahead and joined the sides and then knit the bag in the round.  When I knit continental style (yarn in left hand), I can seriously speed through a felted bag project.  (My other favorite bag to do this on is the famously wonderful Booga Bag.)

(As an aside:  I find it impossible to purl continental style ... thanks to Leslie's showing me the "Norwegian Purl" in person recently, I might try to learn continental purl as I think it'd make me a much faster knitter.  Who wouldn't like to increase their knitting speed? Back to the notes at hand ...)

As for other changes to the pattern, I also made the handle just slightly longer than Debbie asked me to make them.  The handle is made à la Buttonhole Bag style, and so I cast on about five more stitches on the top of the handle.  I think that next time I'd do a few more, even. 

And I haven't done it yet, but I'd really like to buy a needle felting kit and needle felt a cute something on here ... what do you think?  My ideas are:  1) a monogram ("J");  2) a flower, or series of flowers;  3) a peace sign;  4) or just straight vertical lines, in a modern minimalist style.  What do you think?  Which should I try?