Slowly But Surely

Despite being too big to bring along to work and travel for some quality knitting time, progress is being made on the Knock Off bag. Things move fast on big needles and chunky yarn!

It is pretty floppy, just like the inspiration (I finally found a real picture of it). Mine was sort of big, so I threw in some decreases to narrow it down and also give it a slightly different shape than the strictly rectangular inspiration.

I am loving the chilly blue color and chunkiness of the Patons Up Country. But what's up with the splotches of dark blue that randomly pop up?


I guess that's what happens when you try to make something that costs $145 for yourself.

The question now is how to attach the handles. The inspiration piece has nice leather straps sewn directly to the knit fabric. I am worried that I won't be able to attach leather to chunky knit fabric in a way that will be as strong or as neat as the original. Anyone have any advice?

One cute alternative uses corduroy as a thick binding for the top edge with corduroy straps attached to it instead of to the knit fabric. I think that the corduroy binding will make a sturdier base for the straps since it will be attached to the knit fabric all the way around. The straps would essentially be anchored to the fabric by the binding instead of just in four attachment points. Has anyone tried anything similar? Any tips to share?

Hmmm, now that I see the inspiration again, I may have to make a second one when this one is done!

BTW, some people have had trouble leaving comments. I have changed it so that comments are no longer in pop-up window. I hope this makes it easier -- so leave a comment!