hsks5 and the secret project

Yay, my spoilee for HSKS5 got her package today!! I've also had a report from my spoiler that there's one in the mail for me now, too! Swaps are fun!

Since the veil of secrecy is now lifted, I can finally tell you about the so-called SECRET project! One of the requirements of this swap was to send a "handmade item" (a bag, a needleholder, or...something else, I don't remember). It was not required that this be a knitted item, but since I don't really have a place to put up my sewing machine and didn't have any other great ideas I decided to knit my spoilee a bag. I ran across the HP House Fair Isle Pouch Bag pattern and fell in love, so I ran with the idea.

As it happens this was my first completed Fair Isle project, and also my first lined bag. I was a bit worried during the knitting because no matter how careful I was with the floats, it contracted into a bumpy tube once it was a few rows away from the needles. I just kept hoping that blocking would fix it. So when it was done, I washed it and blocked it rather aggressively. Thankfully, blocking worked miracles and it came out GREAT!



(I didn't put any fringe on the bottom. I finished the bag late one night and frankly forgot. Then I decided I liked it just fine without.)

Here's one that shows the lining:



And, since knitters always seem to want to see the wrong side of Fair Isle, here's a shot of the inside before I lined it:



I followed the instructions for this bag pretty faithfully--with the exception of the fringe. I did make one major change, which was to use worsted weight yarn (Cascade 220--I'll have to look up the color numbers once I'm home again) rather than DK. I used a size 6 needle because I wanted the result to be pretty dense. Otherwise, I knit it as instructed and just let it turn out whatever size it wanted to be. I think it turned out around 11.5" x 14" post-blocking (Narcissa, can you verify that? I didn't write it down and only vaguely remember from measuring it for the lining). I used less than 1/4 yard of fabric for the lining. I sewed the lining completely by hand, which is something I haven't done for a long time (hand-sewing, I mean). I can't say that I love sewing by hand, but I am definitely proud of how the bag came out and I'm glad I went to the trouble.

I'll let you read about the rest of the swap kit over on Narcissa's blog, but I did want to mention one more thing. I had our wonderful local indie-dyer, Sharon of Stitchjones custom-dye a skein of her fantastic merino sock yarn in Slytherin colors. Here is the beautiful yarn she made for me to send on to my spoilee: