Sunday, July 19, 2009

Everlasting Bagstopper

I was quite new to the online knitting scene in the summer of 2007 when the Everlasting Bagstopper was published at Knitty.com. Having never heard of Hemp for Knitting or AllHemp6, I still put the pattern on my mental “I wanna knit that” list.

Two years later, I did!

EB1wide.jpg
Stretched a bit so you can see it's plenty wide

Of course, I have two skeins of AllHemp6 wound and sitting somewhere in the stash, but when I saw the Sapphire colorway, I knew that’s what I really wanted to use.

EB1pouch.jpg

I was a little worried the first time I scrunched it all up into a ball that I had put the drawstring in a little too low. It wouldn’t have been a bad thing if I put it a row or two higher up, but it really is fine where it is.

EB1scale.jpg
My very favorite sandals included for scale. US 9, Teva Mush sandals!

I found the drawstring at the “good” Joann’s, out by the airport. When I went to weave it in, I decided that if I had a bead that would work, that would make it a little easier to pull the drawstring closed.

EB1drawstring.jpg
I DID have an appropriate bead!

Earlier in the week, I had purchased some navy-with-white-polka-dot grosgrain ribbon for handles for this bag. But at Joann’s, I found what I felt was the PERFECT ribbon for this bag.

EB1handle.jpg

It is woven, however, and therefore has a ton of loose threads on the reverse side. So I sewed the 1-3/8” ribbon to a 1-1/2” black grosgrain for the handles. I could have done a better job (witness the slight ripple), but I still like it. All in all, I’m quite pleased with the final effort! In fact, I like it well enough that I’ve already cast on for a second one, which will be a gift.

EB1.jpg

Everlasting Bagstopper

Pattern: Everlasting Bagstopper from Knitty.com
Size: It’s a bag
Yarn: AllHemp6, 2 skeins
Color: Sapphire
Source: Bloomin Yarns, McMurray, Pa.
Needles: US 5 and US 10.5, both from my KA Switch set
Started: 28 June 2009
Finished: 18 July 2009
Mods: Knit it taller than the pattern called for, but not tall enough that I’d run out of yarn. I was afraid that if I knit all the yarn, it would be whacking my ankles when full. I also cast on using Judy’s Magic Cast On, and picked up the sides of the garter rectangle as I would for a sock toe. That meant that I had many more stitches than the 116 the pattern suggested, but as long as I had an even total number of stitches, it didn't matter.

8 comments:

Zonda said...

Nice bag! I like your ribbon handle too :)

Jenn said...

The ribbon handle is really nifty!

turtlegirl76 said...

Size: It's a bag *snerk*

Love the ribbon you found for the handle! And the bead is an extra special touch.

Heather said...

beautiful blue! and that ribbon is great... now, just remember to use it. *mental note* go find the bagstopper up in closet...

Bezzie said...

Very nice! I never realized this pattern had directions to turn it into a sea urchin with the drawstring so low. Cool!

Sarah said...

Awesome! I LOVE the ribbon you picked for the handles.

Jen said...

I like the bead!

Donna Lee said...

That is a great bag. I like the handles and the bead is an inspired touch.