Gelato Bag

Feeling brave - and frankly, a little inspired - after making my first felted purse, I immediately set out on another. This time, I chose the Fiber Trends Gelato Bag, a pattern I was assured would be easy to learn on my own.

Thankfully, it was. At least the second time I tried it.

My first go yielded a really tight knit, so tight that it was nearly half the size it should have been and there was no way it would felt nicely. I ripped several hours of work out, rewound my ball and tried again with needles two full sizes bigger. I noted in my pattern my new needle size and the yarn used, so I won't make the same mistake again.

Once finished (it took about a week of some serious knitting each night after the kids were asleep), I brought it to Prairie Yarns for felting in their machine.

After all of the work I put into it, I was slightly horrified by the finished product. Here's why:

But the shop employee assured me all the bag needed was a little haircut. So, an hour and a half later with a pair of scissors and a sweater pill remover, the bag looked like this:

What a relief!

But I also noticed - now that it wasn't so hairy - that the bag has a slight twist to it. I'm still not sure if something was off with my knitting or its trip through the washer caused the angle. I'm trying not to let it bother me and telling myself it adds character.

Finally, last night I added a magnetic clasp and some bling to finish it out.

Merry Christmas, mom. This one's for you!