fair isle bag
in journal
finished: april 6, 2006
pattern: fair isle bag designed by beth brown-reinsel, kit from nordic fiber arts
yarn: 8 balls in different colors of Rauma’s 3 tr. Strikkegarn
needles: size 1 and 2 circs, metal addis and some clover bamboos
i love this bag. the pattern was easy as pie to follow and i feel much more comfortable with fair isle knitting than i did before. a fellow guild member suggested i block the heck of it, and that i did. steam blocking with pressure (a new technique for me) was so very fun – and it probably stretched out a good inch or more all around. this bag is definitely a bit bigger than the pattern stated, but i like that.
the yarn is really great – esepcially the brown, which was ever-so-slightly heathered, i think. there’s a lot of leftover yarn, so it’s going to pop up in future projects, that’s for sure. the yardage per skein is really generous and there’s such a great substantial feel to the yarn in general.
so, the bag is not entirely finished, as i mean to add a lining at some point – but that means sewing, something i’m not very good at nor do i like to do. but the knitting part- ahhh, lovely. anyhow, following others’ example, when i was done with a color, i simply knotted it with another and snipped away – no need to worry about all those ends! once i get the lining in, you’ll never know they existed.
also, i added a second strap, again following what others had done – and this one i saw in person at a l.a. meetup, always a bonus.
this was my second fair isle try, thanks to mj’s norwegian knit along, and i must say my interest in fair isle has not diminished. next step will be to work on my tensioning a bit, with another not-yet-decided fair isle project, and then i’m moving to big things, i.e. a sweater i’ve been dying to knit from the excellent book poetry in stiches. yay.
i highly highly recommend this project to anyone who wants to try more fair isle – just remember to steam block it like crazy to get rid of any irregularities in tension, it really does work.
oh, that nect-to-last pic shows trouble’s favorite place to sit the last few days – why is it that cats always love being right where the action is? my first cat, pepper, when i was growing up, loved to sit right on my books while i was reading them. 
[wanna know more? see posted entries about my fair isle bag.]
