Saturday, September 27, 2008

One day while I was kniddling…

I

Autumn's bag

For me the problem is portability. Seeing as I am about to become highly portable myself in the coming months, I need projects that will travel well and behave themselves in airports—no hefting about multitudinous bags of yarn or attempting to stuff said yarn into tiny carryon bags. No frustrating entanglements or the unauthorized encounters with security personel either. I also yearned for a relatively quick knit, one with near immediate satisfaction along with ample opportunity  for embellishment. 

Really, had I been more on the ball I would have realized sooner that bag was the perfect solution.  Not just any bag, of course, but something ornamental and perfect for gift-giving with a flap just begging for a gorgeous button or clever closure. So, I kniddled ('kniddle' : to fiddle while knitting) until I worked out a deviously simple stitch combo providing a sturdy fabric that looked somewhat mosaic-like. Here's my first take.

I've yet to make the strap. That's next as is the making of two other different designs, one in undersea colors and the other probably of the brass genre.

If I had a daughter, I'd make her one of these for a holiday gift but any friend should be happy to receive one (if not, scratch them from your list). They'd make lovely jewery bags, too. Now, I'm thinking maybe a needle bag, perhaps a tote. And, why not reuse yarn from defunct projects? Actually, frogged yarn often comes with an inherent kinkiness perfect for projects requiring a sturdy hand. We like kinky right? Or, at east, the right kind of kinky. In any case, these could get habit-forming: quick, portable, inexpensive and rather pleasing to the eye though not quite the glory of Liz's Knit a Beach Bag...