I'd like to share a very good question from my e-mail box the other day. Rani asks:
I'm working on your Louise Bag right now and have a question about the Trim and Sides section. You say to "Using B, work applied I-cord around curved edge of back. I've only ever used applied I-cord when I had some live stitches to start from. How would I apply the I-cord and how far long the curved edge should I apply it? Could you help clarify this?
Rani, first off: thanks for trying the Louise bag! Here's how I do applied I-cord.
- First, I cast on 3 sts on a dpn.
- Then I knit two of the 3 sts,
- Then temporarily slide the last st over with the two-just knitted sts,
- Next, with the spare needle (the one with no sts on it at this point) pick up a st from the lower edge of whatever I'm applying the I-cord to,
- Slide the last st (the one that didn't get knitted) back onto the needle with the picked-up st, and finally
- Knit these two sts together!
- Repeat steps 2-6 for desired length of applied I-cord.
In the case of the Louise bag, work the cord around the entire curved edge of the back. If this doesn't make a whole lot of sense, there's another explanation over at knitting-and.com. And finally, someday soon I hope to have a picture how-to here at bruxknits explaining the technique. But progress on this has slowed as I've been working on getting our paperwork finalized for Guatemala (good news: I'm almost done!)
In the comments last week, Louise asked:
I've printed out the pattern for Misty and will go stash diving this aft to find some Kureyon. How did the felting go? Is the bag pretty firm?
Louise, I'm delighted to report that even after carrying my Misty for 5 or 6 months she is still very firm--I ran the bag through the washing machine 5 or 6 times and she sits up by herself with no problems. IMHO, when it comes to a handbag, it seems to take longer (i.e. more trips through the washer) to get them felted down to the size that seems to be right. It also helps to find an appropriate blocking surface (I used one of those kitty litter pails--after washing it off!), although I've talked to several people who just stuff plastic bags into their felted creation and wait for it to dry that way. Hope this helps Louise, and thanks for giving the pattern a try! xoxo