Patchwork Satchel ©marheck2022

 On a roll now.  A felting project for you.

This purse/tote/satchel is easy to make and is sturdy.  It can be knit on any gauge machine, but a midgauge or bulky machine is preferable; a midgauge was used for the sample.

In selecting yarns, be sure the yarns are 100% wool, not superwash or treated to be washable and dryable.  It’s best to use the same brand for all of the colors.  Even so, the colors will likely felt at
different rates.

I chose saturated colors that are considered to be “jewel tones”.  You may prefer earth tones or pastels.  It’s a good idea to put the colors together and study them a bit, perhaps removing some and adding others as you study the composition.  You could also knit with just two colors for a checkerboard effect.

The purse is constructed so that you attach pieces as you knit.  This eliminates seams. 

This is a good project to use up small amounts of yarn in your stash.

The knitting level is approximately at an advanced beginner level.  Some sewing skills are required.

I lined the bag for extra body, but this is optional.

MACHINE   Pattern is written for the midgauge but a bulky machine would work as well since the science of felting is not so exact anyway .

YARN  I used Paton’s Merino wool-  a medium worsted weight.  I used small amounts of 16 different colors, 2 skeins of the colors used for the hems and straps.  You could successfully use less colors and place them randomly.  If you are using up yarn from your stash, improvise as far as how much of any one color to use.   You can also use a thinner yarn and double it to approximate the medium worsted weight, but do this throughout, not for just selected patches.

GAUGE  Before felting, 4 stitches and 5 rows = 1 inch. 

FINISHED SIZE   14” high by 20 inches wide;  depending on how your yarn felts, it may vary some from this size.

OTHER MATERIALS  five ¾ inch beads for decoration and closure, ¾ yard coordinating lining material, small amount of interfacing for inner pocket, matching sewing thread, large- eyed sewing needle and sewing machine.

KNITTING NOTES

·        As stated above, this pattern provides directions for a midgauge machine.  You can modify for the machine you are using.  That is, if using a bulky, you could multiply stitches and rows by 80% or so, or knit it the same as the directions for a slightly larger bag. If using a standard gauge machine, I would multiply the stitches and rows x 140%.  Always use the highest tension (loosest) for best felting, regardless of which machine you are using.

·        It’s a good idea to do a tension swatch to see what you need to do for each patch. You may want to adjust the size of the squares.  I was aiming for square patches, but mine came out a little on the rectangular side.  Even though I did do a swatch, the knitting tends to shrink more in length than it does in width.   If you’re ok with this, follow the directions as written.  If you want squares, add a few rows to each patch to compensate for the extra shrinkage in length.

·       Examine the edge of the knitting.  You want to be able to identify the loops.  The knitting will have a loop and on top of that a knot.  You will hang the loops to attach one strip or piece to the next.

·       It’s not a bad idea to draw yourself a chart on paper and decide color placement ahead of time.

 

DIRECTIONS

Straps       Knit 2 the same

T 10.(loosest throughout) Ewrap 18 needles, knit 120 rows.  Bind off loosely.  (This size makes a comfortable shoulder strap.)  Fold in half and stitch shut with a mattress stitch.  Two layers makes it stronger.

 

Patchwork strips to make the rectangular sides  - Make two sides 

Strip one:  Cast on with waste yarn over 20 stitches, T 10. and knit a few rows.  RC 000. With main yarn, E wrap on and knit to RC 24.  Drop color one and knit 24 rows of color two.  Drop color two and knit 24 rows of color three.  Drop color three and knit 24 rows of color four.  (RC 96)  Take strip off on a few rows of waste yarn.  Tie yarn ends together so they don’t unravel.

 

Strip two:  Cast on with waste yarn over 20 stitches, T 10. and knit a few rows.  RC 000.  Ewrap on with main yarn.  With the wrong side of strip #one facing you, hang the first loop on the left needle.   With new color main yarn, knit 2 rows.  Pick up the next loop from the completed strip, hang it on the left most needle, knit 2 rows.  When you have reached 24 rows of the new patch, change colors and proceed in the same manner until you reach the top and have added 4 patches.  (RC 96)  Take off on a few rows of waste yarn. Try to make the colors come out so that they line up across from each other.  Fudge if you have to, but if you are picking up loops, not knots, it should come out right.

Strips three and four:  Knit in the same manner as you did strip two.

Tie yarn ends together so they don’t unravel.

Make the second rectangle the same as the first. Hide yarn ends.  Remove waste yarn from the bottom of the bag.

 

SIDE GUSSETS

These are knit while hanging the bottoms and sides at the same time.  (See drawing below.)

 

Cast on with waste yarn over 24 stitches, knit a few rows T 10.  Change to main yarn, knit one row.  ( I knit the bottom of the gusset in one color and the sides of the gussets in a second color, but you can use just one color.)

With the wrong side of rectangle #one facing you, find the exact center of the bottom and hang that stitch on the leftmost needle.  With the wrong side of rectangle #two facing you, find the exact center of the bottom and hang that stitch on the rightmost needle.  Knit two rows.  When you get to the corner, knit 3 rows before hanging rectangle stitches.  (This helps the gusset go more smoothly around the corner.)  Check frequently that you are in the same place on both sides.  If you get off track, it’s best to redo or the bag will bias.  When you have knit the gusset and joined all the way to the top, take off on waste yarn.  Turn the piece around, pick up the bottom stitches from the waste yarn and knit in the other direction.  Difficult to explain, but it’s not hard to do.  When done knitting the second gusset, remove waste yarn.

TOP HEM

You should have 100 stitches on each side of the bag --- 80 from the rectangle, 10 for half of the gusset on both sides.  Hang  one half of the bag stitches, wrong side facing you, decreasing evenly across to 80 stitches.  With main yarn, knit 13 rows.  Pick up and hang first row to make hem.  Knit one row by hand left to right and bind off loosely. Repeat for the other side of the bag.

 

I CORDS

 

Side ties:  Set machine to slip one way, knit the other to make I cords.  Knit a 4 stitch I cord, changing colors as desired to RC 220. Bind off by placing the outer stitches on the center stitch and binding off the two remaining stitches. Make two the same.

Front closure:  Knit one four stitch I cord 80 rows long.  Bind off  as above.

Short I cord decorations:  With the wrong side of one side facing you, fold down the hem toward you.  Pick up 3 stitches from the right side, 2 ½ inches from the edge and immediately under the hem.  Set machine to slip one way, knit the other to make 3 stitch I cords.  Knit 40 rows.  Bind off as above to one stitch.  Repeat across the bag, staggering the I cords every 4 stitches or so and changing colors and lengths at random.  My I cords were 20, 30, 40 and 50 rows long using all the colors in the bag, one to each I cord.  Leave a 2 ½ inch space when you reach the end.  With a large-eyed embroidery needle, hide yarn ends by sewing up into the tube and snipping.

Repeat on the other side of the bag.

FINISHING

Sew the two sides together at the top hem with a mattress stitch, both sides.  Felt the purse, I cord side ties, front closure I cord and straps at the same time in the washing machine.  Hot/cold cycle with a small amount of detergent and a few other smooth pieces of clothing.  (No towels.)  Stick around to watch the progress.  Repeat cycle if necessary.  When felted to your satisfaction, stuff the satchel with scrunched up plastic bags and lay flat to dry.

 

Pinch the sides together at the top and with a large knitting needle (at least size 10) poke a hole through all 4 layers.  Thread the I cord side ties through these holes and tie a knot close to the purse.  This cinches in the purse at the top.  String a bead onto the end of each side I cord and tie a knot to hold in place.  Repeat for other side. If you don't cinch in the sides, the top is too wide open. 

With a sewing machine, sew straps to purse about 3 inches in from each side.   Sew a few times for strength. Fold the front closure I cord in half and sew the two ends to the top middle of one side, on the inside.  Sew a bead onto the purse, measuring  where it should be. 

Slip over the bead for measurement and sew together just above the bead with sewing thread so that the top stays closed.

LINING

Lay the bag on a piece of paper for a pattern and trace around it leaving room for 5/8” seams on all sides and a 2” hem on the top.  Cut out two layers of your lining with this pattern.

For pockets, cut two rectangles about 10” wide x 8” long out of the lining material and same out of interfacing.  With right sides of the lining material together and the interfacing on top, sew around 3 sides.  Turn right side out.  Stitch down the pocket to one side of the lining about two inches down from the top and  in the middle.  Sew vertical lines to divide the pocket for pens, cell phones, etc.  Embroider initials on the other side of the lining.  With right sides together, sew around the lining, leaving the top open.  Push into the felted bag, tacking the bottom of the bag to the bottom of the lining in a few places on the inside.  Fold under the top hem to cover up the machine stitching.  Hand sew with tiny stitches and doubled thread. 

I hope you enjoy this project. It certainly will be unique to you.

Need a stocking stuffer? Knit some Fuzzy Feet Slippers

Fuzzy Feet  by Mar Heck ©2019

 This pattern is adapted from an easy, old, hand- knit slipper pattern that for years has been passed along from grandmother to grandchild and probably has been knit a million times.   Adding three twists to the pattern:  they are done on the machine in lightening quick fashion in stockinette stitch, we are adding fun fur to tickle our fancy and we are felting them to make them extra warm. MACHINE:   9 mm Bulky or midgauge 

SIZES:

   Child to adult.  Adult in parenthesis.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

  3 (4) skeins Lion Brand Fun Fur™ (60 yards per skein, polyester), purple used for the sample

  1 (2) skeins knitting worsted weight wool yarn (Do not use wool yarn made to resist

   felting,  called superwash.) Light blue used for the sample.   Large eyed needle for sewing up

SKILL LEVEL:

    Beginner.

         Skills needed:  Making a swatch and determining gauge

                                E wrap cast on.               

                                Mattress stitch for hand sewing.

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Determine the recipient’s foot size by taking two measurements.  Measure the foot length from heel to toe and then measure around the instep close to the ankle.  The foot length will be the finished slipper length (number of rows)  and the width will be how high the slipper comes up each side of the foot on the sides of the heel/ankle (number of stitches).  The slipper is just a plain rectangle.

2.  Make a swatch .  You will make the slipper the size of the felted gauge. With one strand of fun fur and one strand of the wool held together, e wrap cast on 20 stitches and knit 30 rows at the largest tension your machine will do.  End with waste yarn and remove from machine.  The waste yarn will tell you which direction is the rows.  If it felts really well, it’s hard to otherwise tell which direction is which.  It will feel like a big waste of yarn, but you’ll only have to do this once for a particular brand of wool.  (You might be able to later think of a use for this little swatch.)  Throw the swatch in the washing machine until the wool felts.  Depending on the yarn you choose it may take a few cycles for it to felt.  After it attains the look you want, measure the swatch to determine stitches and rows per inch or centimeters, whichever you are more comfortable with.   Multiply the stitches and rows per inch times the dimensions you want to determine how many stitches and rows you will knit for your rectangle.  (See note below for calculating.) Note that it will have shrunk more in length than in width.

***If you prefer not to make a swatch, for a rough reference:  using the largest tension, my child’s slipper turned out to be at T 10.. 44 stitches X 50 rows to fit an 7-8” foot.  My adult women’s slipper, about a size 9, turned out to be 50 stitches X 74 rows to fit a 9 -10 inch foot. Because felting is not an exact science, you’ll need to do a little experimenting with the yarn you choose.  If you use the same yarns for different sizes, you can knit a pair using your best guesses for stitches and rows then adjust for other sizes by adding or subtracting stitches and rows. This works fine if you would prefer not to waste yarn on a swatch.  (You can’t reuse yarn that’s been felted, so some people would prefer to just dive right in.)    Another thought: you will want the slipper to be a bit snug, so do not add any ease.

3.  Directions for knitting.  Knit one rectangle for each  slipper.

*  E wrap cast on loosely from left to right with one strand of each yarn held together over the number of needles  you have determined you need.  Leave a yarn tail at the beginning about 10” long to later sew up the heel seam.

*  Put the yarns together in the feeder and turn the dial to the largest tension number.  Set your row counter to zero and knit one row from right to left.  (May be a bit hard to push the carriage.)

*  Hook the cast on comb into the stitches.  Add as much weight across the knitting as you can. Use ribber weights if you have them.  For the first 2-3 rows, pull all needles out to E position each row to make the stitches knit off a little easier.  Yank the knitting down after each row so that the fur doesn’t get hung up on the gate pegs.  Knit the number of rows you have determined you need.

*  End with the carriage on the right side.  Take the yarn out of the feeder and cut a length of the two yarns about 1 ½ feet long which will be used for sewing up the top of the slipper. ( I sewed mine first then felted them. ) Thread both strands into a large eyed  needle and take the stitches off their needles, one at a time from right to left onto this thread.  When all stitches are off the machine, pull the stitches as tight as you can.  This will be the toe.  You will most likely have a little hole, so stitch across the hole from north to south and east to west a few times.  Neatness doesn’t count because the felting and the fur will hide your sewing.

* Don’t break yarn.  With this same length of yarn, sew up the top of the foot seam with a mattress stitch from the toe towards the back of the slipper.  Again, for reference, I sewed a 3 inch seam for the child’s slipper and a 4 inch seam for the adult.  Fasten off by sewing through your last stitch again and then hide the yarn tail inside the slipper by sewing through the backs of 5-6 stitches and cutting the yarn off.   You need a large enough opening to slip the foot into, but small enough to stay on snugly.

*   Thread both strands of your beginning yarn tail into a large eyed needle and sew up the heel seam. You will be folding the back of the slipper in half and sewing from top to bottom.  The stitches face each other, so you can’t do a mattress stitch.  Any seam will do. Sew twice for strength.  Hide the yarn tail as above.

*  Note:  the edge that ends up around the ankle needs no treatment.  When felted it lies perfectly flat.  No problem there!

4.  Felt both slippers at the same time in the same wash load(s) giving them the same treatment as you did your swatch.  My wool needed 3 hot/cold cycles to felt, but each yarn brand seems to behave differently as do different colors, so you just need to monitor it.  When felted to the size you need, scrunch up some plastic bags, stuff the slippers so they have a nice shape and let them dry for a day or so.  Petting them doesn’t prolong the drying period, so have at it.  It’s amazing how the wool pulls together and makes the non-felting polyester “fur” more dense.  People are kind of surprised you can do this on a machine.  Just one bit of warning, they’re slippery on smooth floors.

5.  I found this addictive and made several pairs. They are so soft and cozy! For your next pair, you can do stripes and/or embellish them with bows, eyes, ears, tails, whatever.  Baby booties would be really cute and easy.  Because of the slippery nature of the slippers  (is that how the word came about?), the pattern may not be appropriate for toddlers or older folk.  You decide.  Once you have your gauge, the next pair is a snap. They are so silly, they’re fun!

New Knitter Notes:

Ewrap Cast On:

Pull needles that are going to be in work out to E position.  Make a slip knot and hang it on first needle on the left.  Push the knot back to the needle bed.  Just as though you were writing a cursive “e”, wrap the yarn around each needle counter clockwise, from left to right up against the bed, not in the hooks of the needles.  Easy does it---don’t wrap too tightly.  No need to wrap the last needle on the right.  Just put the yarn in the yarn feeder and that stitch will knit automatically as you push the carriage from right to left.  After your first row, hang the cast-on comb.

One way to calculate the stitches and rows per inch:

This simple method works in this case since we are dealing in approximations anyway.  For a sweater, you would want to do a more extensive swatch.  In this example, you knit 20 stitches and 30 rows and then felt your swatch.  When it has felted to your liking, measure the width.  Say your swatch, after felting, measures 4 inches across.  20 stitches divided by 4 inches = 5 stitches per inch.  To get your number of stitches for the width of the slipper, multiply 5 times the number of inches you want.  Say the length ended up to be 5 inches.  30 rows divided by 5 inches = 6 rows per inch.  To get the number of rows for the length of the slipper, multiply 6 times the number of inches you want.

Hand sewing a mattress stitch: 

Have the right sides of both pieces facing you, side by side.  With your large needle, go under two bars on the right side of the first stitch of the piece on the right, then under two bars on the left side of the first stitch on the left piece.  Go back and forth repeating from side to side, pulling the yarn taut now and then.  The stitches from each side pull together making the seam invisible from the right side.

Wow, it's been just over a year since my last post.  No excuses, just lazy.
I thought I would share with you my latest "quicky"/"quirky" knit.  Hope you can use.

Knitted Covers for Wooden Hangers  

A project that uses up scraps of fabric and small amounts of yarn and is quick and is useful and can get you out of a knitting funk!!!  What could be better?  I have a lot of T shirts and camisoles that I’d prefer to hang up rather than fold and put in a drawer.  They always fall off regular hangers.  I don’t hang my sweaters, but these are also good for jackets where you don’t want a hanger mark on the shoulders of the garment. 

I decided to take a tip from friend Donna V and make covered hangers. She does a lot of craft fairs and when she knits a beautiful shawl, she makes a matching padded hanger for display and to go along with it.  Hers are no doubt more elegant than mine.

This is a long explanation for a quick and easy project.

What you need:

1.    Wooden hangers (without the bar for pants) are preferred.  I have also sawed off the bar if it’s wooden, discarded the bar and used the hangers that way too. (The coverings prevent any rawness to show or be felt.)

2.    I have purchased many  wooden hangers from a local thrift store for 10 to 25 cents each.  You might be able to find them cheaper.   Also had some in  my own closets.  The only ones that I couldn’t seem to saw off had an extra metal bar that resisted my attempts to remove it.  Some of the ones I have purchased were almost rusty on the hook so I had to sand them.  You  can also use heavy duty plastic hangers, but they are less desirable because they break.  And then your efforts are wasted.

3.   Fabric scraps, any color, preferably cotton so no insect critters are attracted.  I ripped or cut the scraps into 1 ½ to 3” strips, any length. You can also use leftover batting, felt, polar fleece, etc. It all ends up being cushy.

4.   Knitting machine, any gauge, and yarn leftovers, preferably acrylic or cotton, again so that no insect critters are attracted.

First, wrap fabric around the hanger, as fat as you want and fasten it with safety pins where necessary, to be removed later as you progress sewing along the seam.  I used safety pins so that the pins wouldn’t be forgotten/left into the project/stick me.  Depending on the fabric you use, you may want to go around several times in one place before moving over.  Start and end by leaving ½” of wrapped fabric hanging off so the end of the hanger gets covered.

Knit the cover on your knitting machine.  I used the purl side of the every other stitch tuck dishcloth pattern.  On the 970 standard gauge it’s #45 and I doubled the length to get more texture.  You’ll have to knit one, try it on your hanger and then adjust.  I did some in stripes and some plain.  I suppose you could do any other stitch design---this was just easy and fast.

On the standard gauge, using the tuck pattern, my covers were 40 stitches, T 7, 8, 9 or 10 depending on the thickness of the yarn and  about 240 to 270 rows.  For the ends, I ewrapped on leaving a 10 inch tail and at the other end took off the stitches with a double eyed transfer needle, also leaving a tail of about 20 inches.  Too large is not a problem, but too small you might want to adjust and start again.

Fold the piece in half to find the middle of the length and the middle of the width and slip it over the hanger’s metal loop neck.  Stretch the knitting as much as needed to cover the ends.  Cinch up the stitches that were the end of your knitting and begin sewing shut.  For the other end of the hanger, take the 10” thread and sew in and out to be able to gather the stitches closed.  Take a few stitches and secure.  Using the 20” tail, continue seaming it up doing a mattress stitch. 

The knitting is very forgiving, so if the knitted piece is too large, just fold under one edge and stretch less.  If really too short and not wide enough, try again.  The seam runs along the underside of the hanger.  

 çunderside.   Hide your ends and voila, a nifty thing to add to your closet.

If using a midgauge or bulky machine you’ll have to experiment with your stitches and rows, but the construction will be basically the same.  For the midgauge calculate about 7/8 of the measurements here and ½ for the bulky.  You might be wondering why I didn’t cast on and end with every other needle.  It works, but the coverage of the fabric underneath isn’t as good in my opinion.  You can, of course, do whatever you want.  I also tried to use colors of yarn that would cover up the fabric underneath.  You could also tie a little bow where the neck meets the hanger, wrap yarn around the hook  or add a little sachet to make it fancier.

I confess, I have made 60 of them so far.  I plan to give some away to family for extra Christmas prezzies next holiday…..  I’m quite enamored with them and have most of my closet converted over to these.

Machine Knit Confetti Scarf

Wow, I see that it has been more than a month since I last posted something.  I have been knitting, but have neglected posting.  Maybe in the winter months I'll be more faithful.  Here's just one of the things I've knit lately.

 

Confetti Scarf  by MAR HECK    September, 2015

I took this to my mk guild for show and tell.  I introduced it by saying, “You’re probably going to think I’m crazy….” when I was interrupted by a dear but wonky friend who said, “Oh!  That boat has left already!”  REALLY!  We have a lot of fun in our guild mtgs, so I didn’t take it toooooo seriously.  This was from a person who made a quilt that consisted of more than 10,000 pieces.  So who’s cray cray now?

Here’s how I made the scarf.  Take a really thin yarn that you maybe can’t think of another use for and use it as your main yarn.  I used a cone of Tamm Spirit, which I doubt is made any more, as my main yarn.  The label says it’s 97% acrylic and 3% cotton.  I wonder why bother with the cotton since it’s such a minimal amount.  It looks and feels like a dress yarn.  Anyway, for the contrast yarns I took snippets, about 6 to 9“ long of seven colors of other yarns and doubled  them. (I used red, turquoise, blue, yellow, light green, purple and hot pink.)   I had a lot of cone ends that needed to be knit up.   I randomly ewrapped these snippets onto the needles in work.  The needles are pulled all the way out for the ewrapping.  I left ½”  hanging on each end and hung onto the beginning end when I pulled the carriage across .  No need to tie a knot at the beginning and no need to work in these ends.  Knitting with the thinnest yarn and a fairly loose tension makes the fabric almost lacy looking. 

Machine: any, but a midgauge or bulky seem to work best.  I used an LK150 midgauge.

Gauge:  doesn’t matter.  I used T 3 since the main yarn is so thin.

Yarn: as described in note above.  The contrast colors were Tamm Sky, Mary Lou Solo, mystery yarn, 7 colors.  A fancy novelty yarn would be fun to try too.

Skill level:  very beginner

Finished size:  for a scarf that is long enough to go around the neck and do some fancy tying, about 14” wide and 7 feet long.  Measure as you knit.   You could also make a circle scarf by joining beginning to end.  Twist or not. I seamed mine the long way so that the fringes and purl side were the public side.

Directions:

Ewrap on the number of stitches you need to get the width.  Mine was 60 stitches wide on the midgauge.  Choose a tension that knits smoothly with your yarn.  Add weight evenly distributed.  Knit 10 rows.  Grab one of your snippets, pull out some needles and ewrap the snippet doubled on as many needles as it will cover, right on top of main yarn.  If you pull out too many needles for the length of your snippet, just leave them.  Since you aren’t doing patterning, they will just knit.  If you didn’t pull out enough needles, pull out some more.  Knit 2 to 4 plain rows (or more as you wish) with the main yarn.  I knit different number of rows randomly too.   Add other snippets randomly color-wise and placement- wise across the needle bed---- as many as you wish across the row.  Don’t forget to move the weights up every 20 rows or so.  Repeat until the scarf is long enough.  The more snippets you add, the longer it will take to complete the scarf, but the more colorful it will be.  If your snippets are made of fatter yarn, you may not need to double it.

I laid out my snippets on the chair beside me so that I could make the color scheme look random.  I didn’t want too many sections of the same color. You will need a lot of them.   Trim ends so that they are basically the same length. Steam the scarf to control the edges if you’re not seaming.  It’s kinda fun to make and definitely different. 

The yarn I used:    main and fringes