Well, this week we have kind of a re-useable bag theme going on here, at Alive & Knitting. First there were bags we could make from reclaimed or vintage sweaters, that had been felted to make them tough. And now, here’s a bag knitted from scratch, ready to be used again and again and again.

But first, a bit of a saga. Remember the sweater I made from Noro Kureyon? Well, I had some leftover yarn and wanted to use it. (Stash management is key, right?) Remember my Dr. Seuss Socks? There’s just something about using a self-striping yarn like Noro in stripes that works for me in a big way. Noro Kureyon is said to felt wonderfully, so I decided to make a felted stripey messenger bag with those leftovers.

I paired the Noro with a colourway of Patons Classic Wool that I bought on a pilgrimage to Spinrite – thus, yes, doing some responsible stashbusting while pursuing a responsible project. This must have been a test colour because it’s not on their site. ($9.99 C for 8 x 100g balls. That’s not temptation. That’s inescapable acquisition.) Actually, there were a number of colours available at the mill, all of which had one ply that had a long graduated colour change. This is a mustard with the coloured ply changing through reds and purples. It worked well with the greens in the Noro Kureyon.This is the massive project that has been taking up my needle time. After all the knitting was done, I wanted to add I-cord. Ugh. There are about 10,000 miles of applied I-cord on this bag. It’s not strictly necessary, but it does make the edges look so much better. Here’s a shot of the I-cord in progress – it’s done on the left but not on the right:See how the I-cord neatens up those edges, and makes the bag look more crisp? I get really bored knitting I-cord, but I love the results.

I found some amazing buttons in my stash – I bought these because they were so wonderful, but never found a project for them. (Until now.) They look like pieces of amber, but have little lines inside them – Mr. C. says they look like rutilated quartz. I’m taking his word on that.

And here’s the finished bag before felting:It’s HUGE. The edges wanted to roll so I pinned them down – here’s hoping they just stay flat once it’s felted.

And here it is, after felting and finishing. Of course, it has a zipper and a lining, because I’m kind of compulsive like that.

I LOVE this bag! What do you think of it?

My Ravelry project page is here.

The pattern is posted as a free download on Ravelry right here.