It 'Felt' Good!

I was inspired to make this bag after coming across this wonderful bag pattern on the Berroco website. I used some odds and ends of pure wool and a very old punch card design from an old life I had many years' ago...... it looked and felt all baggy and stringy....horrid really but this felting stuff is so much fun :^)

I made the base a bit like an envelope, the bag was knitted from the top down in four sections, two end sections and two side sections. The base sections were all decreased, raglan style, when the bag is fully dry and lined, I'll take a photo of the base so you can see what I mean.
An hour later on a quick 40° wash the bag came out all soft and fluffy and a much better shape, thank goodness!
Here's a close up of the gorgeous plaited strap....Barry's idea I have to admit, I was just going to twist two of the 'tubes' together. So glad he suggested the plait as the bag is on the large size and will need those strong straps. I had to knit 600 rows over 12 stitches, 6 times!!! A bit of a bore and very noisy on the knitting machine, I certainly felt warm after knitting them!! I tried to remember to hold my tummy in as I moved the carriage back and forth, a bit of a work out for me as well as being creative.
This time it's a close up so you can see the fair isle pattern I used. As the bag was knitted from the top down so I could put the neat little hem on the edges of the top and pockets of the bag, I had to reverse the fair isle design which is a doddle with the knitting machine as you simply put the punch card in upside down... The pale pink and green was dyed using KoolAide, thanks Marianne ,I love the colours of the 'pink lemonade' and the 'lemon/lime' and think I will use it up really quickly!
I am very pleased with the results of this experiment and can't wait to choose some funky material for the lining and will show you the results ASAP! The bag is still damp...hurry up and dry!!!