These instructions are for a modern reproduction of the knitted woolen pouch found with the Gunnister bog burial, unearthed in 1951. The purse contained coins of the late 1600s.

I have adapted this pattern from information contained in A History of Hand Knitting by Richard Rutt and in 17th Century Knitting Patterns by The Weaver’s Guild of Boston (unfortunately out of print). I then checked the pattern with a researcher who has seen and studied the original purse and corrected it accordingly.

SIZE

At 12 sts/inch, the finished size is about 3 1/2 by 5 inches.

PATTERN NOTES

These instructions give a very close, but not quite stitch for stitch, replica of the original. The original pouch is knit at a slightly finer gauge, about 14 sts/inch, and with more stitches
(about 98) so it comes out the same size. The ribbing pattern and color pattern repeats are also not perfectly regular as they are in these instructions.

PATTERN

With fine gray-brown Shetland yarn (a bit lighter than fingering yarn), and needles that give you a gauge of approximately 11 to 12 sts/inch, cast on 85 stitches on three or four needles. (This will likely require a needle size close to 1.75mm/US size 00.)

If you want to reproduce the purse exactly, use its rather peculiar cast-on. To do this, cast on 4, take the last loop onto a small crochet hook and chain 7, fastening the last chain to the first and putting the loop back on the knitting needle. Cast on 4 more and repeat. (You can of course do the chaining with a knitting needle, but it’s easier with a hook.)

Work around in K3, p2 ribbing for 2 inches. Work 1 row of purl all around, adding three stitches to make 88.

The rest of the purse is in stockinette with no shaping: just follow the color chart, starting at the top.

At the end of the chart, before the last red row, fold the knitting flat and cast off the two sides together in red to close the bottom. Braid a cord out of three 2-strand pieces of the main color. Add tassels.

COLOR CHART

This pattern is covered by a Creative Commons license. It is copyright by Chris Laning, 2007. Copies of the pattern, and the purse, may be made for nonprofit educational use only. This copyright notice must be included. Thank you!

In the 19th century, Jean François Sudre invented a universal language called Solresol. Each word in this language is composed of a combination of some of the seven notes of the musical scale (do, re, mi, etc.). People can have a conversation by playing instruments or humming at each other. But that’s not all. Each of the seven notes is also represented by one of the seven colors of the rainbow, so you can communicate in Solresol via a sequence of colors.

The felted items in this project contain a message in Solresol. The vase (on the left, and which could also be used to hold knitting needles) says dore milasi domi, which means “I love you.” And the bag, which could be used as a purse but is perfect to hold small knitting projects such as socks, reads laresolmi mimifaso. That translates to “string everywhere.”

Of course, you can substitute other messages instead. There is a short on-line dictionary and grammar of Solresol available at http://www.ptialaska.net/~srice/solresol/intro.htm. The color equivalents of each note are as follows: do = red, re = orange, mi = yellow, fa = green, sol = blue, la = indigo, si = violet.

Just remember that you’ll be knitting the project from the bottom up, so you’ll need to knit your colors in reverse order. I’ve separated each word with two rows of black (which shows up better than white, and felts better as well). Where two colors appear next to each other, as they do in mimifaso, knit the stripe double-wide.

This project knits up quickly and makes a great gift. Just include a little card explaining your secret message to your recipient.

SIZE
One

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

Before felting:
Height 11 inches
Base diameter 5 inches

After felting:
Height 7 inches
Base diameter 3.5 inches

MATERIALS

Note: 1 skein of each color will give you enough yarn to make several vases or bags.

[MC] Cascade Pastaza [50% llama/ 50% wool; 132 yd per 100g skein]; Color: 008 (black)
[CC1] Cascade 220 [100% wool; 220 yd per 100g skein]; Color: 9404 (red)
[CC2] Cascade 220 [100% wool; 220ydper 100g skein]; Color: 7824 (orange)
[CC3] Cascade 220 [100% wool; 220ydper 100g skein]; Color: 7828 (yellow)
[CC4] Cascade 220 [100% wool; 220ydper 100g skein]; Color: 7813 (green)
[CC5] Cascade 220 [100% wool; 220ydper 100g skein]; Color: 8887 (blue)
[CC6] Cascade 220 [100% wool; 220ydper 100g skein]; Color: 8393(indigo)
[CC7] Cascade 220 [100% wool; 220ydper 100g skein]; Color: 9345 (violet)

1 set US #09/5.5mm double-point needles

stitch marker
tapestry needle
clean, empty 16 ounce jar (optional)

GAUGE

Gauge is not important for this project.

PATTERN NOTES

The vase and the bag are worked the same until the last row. If you want a vase, simply bind off all stitches in the last row. If you want a bag, you will turn the last four stitches into an I-cord.

I’ve used Cascade 220 in this project, but you can use any feltable worsted-weight yarn, as long as it comes in the seven basic colors. I used Cascade Pastaza, a somewhat bulkier yarn, for the bottom and black stripes here because it gives the base a little more heft.

Color instructions below are for the “I love you” vase. Adjust the colors if you wish to change the message. If your message is longer than 7 colors, you may want to change the number of rows you knit in each color, so that your finished project has approximately 60 rows on the side.

4-st I-cord: Knit 4 onto a second double-point needle. [Slide all 4 sts to other end of needle. With yarn in back (it will be at the left side of the work) and RS facing, knit across, pulling first stitch taut so as the create a closed tube.] Repeat to desired length.

PATTERN

Using MC, CO 9 sts. Divide sts. evenly between 3 needles and join, being careful not to twist. Place marker at beginning of round.

Bottom

Row 1: k all sts
Row 2: [k1fb] 9 times
Rows 3-5: k all sts
Row 6: [k1fb] 18 times
Rows 7-12: k all sts
Row 13: [k1fb] 36 times
Rows 14-15: k all sts
Row 16: [k6 k2tog] 9 times

Sides

Rows 1-8: using CC3, k all sts
Rows 9-16: using CC1, k all sts
Rows 17-18: using MC, k all sts
Rows 19-26: using CC7, k all sts
Rows 27-34: using CC6, k all sts
Rows 35-42: using CC3, k all sts
Rows 43-44: using MC, k all sts
Rows 45-52: using CC2, k all sts
Rows 53-60: using CC1, k all sts

For vase, BO all sts.

For bag, BO 59 sts, put remaining 4 sts onto 1 needle. Work 4-st I-cord for 48”, or to about one-third longer than your desired finished length. BO all sts, and cut yarn, leaving a 12” end.

FINISHING

If you have made the bag, sew the free end of the I-cord onto the opposite edge of the bag, forming a strap.

Weave in all ends well.

Felt the piece: Place the piece in a zippered pillow protector (this is to keep fuzz out of your washing machine). Place in a top loading washing machine with a tiny amount of liquid detergent. To assist the felting process, also place a couple of pairs of jeans or old towels into the washer. Set the water temperature on hot and the water level on medium. Turn on the washing machine. When the machine begins agitating, stop the process every few minutes and check the progress of your felting; continue until the project has shrunk considerably and you can no longer see stitch definition. On my machine, this took about 15 minutes, but yours may vary.

Remove project from zippered bag and blot some of the excess water with towels. To block the piece into shape, you may wish to place a clean 16 ounce jar inside the piece. The jar ought to fit a bit snugly. Allow to dry thoroughly; depending on temperature and humidity, this may take a day or two.

If you wish to use your piece as a vase, keep the jar inside to hold water and to provide extra stability to the sides.

[This pattern is copyrighted by dephal. Please feel free to make copies for your own use, but you may not make commercial use of this pattern without my permission.]

ABOUT THE DESIGNER
I live in California’s Central Valley with 2 kids, a Saint Bernard, a cat–oh yeah, and my husband. I’m a college professor and a card-carrying ACLU member. I am a night person but have to wake up early anyway. I am phobic about dentists and enclosed spaces, and I always tip well.

For my first attempt at felting a knitted project, I followed the construction method at www.philosopherswool.com/Pages/FeltedBags.htm in general, though using smaller needles and single strand yarn. I added the piano design which I charted myself in Excel. The result was this cute piano bag, which I finished just in time to give to Mom for her birthday.

More pictures at http://terrathree.livejournal.com/180476.html and http://www.flickr.com/photos/durandir/tags/pianofeltedtote/ .

Materials:

US 7 Circular needles (I used my Denise interchangeable needles)
Stitch marker for beginning of round
1 skein each of:
- Patons Classic Merino Wool, “Bright Red”
- Patons Classic Merino Wool, “Winter White”
- Bernat Lana, “Ebony”

(at least that’s what I used. Any feltable wool is fine. Do a test swatch first. You’ll note the little miniature piano-patterned wallet/purselet in some of these pictures: That was my test swatch. I did about 2 1/3 repeats of the piano pattern, just enough to be able to get it around the needles. Then I sewed up the bottom of the tube and felted it to figure out how much these yarns would shrink. I sort of neglected to use any red in the test swatch, though. Fortunately it felted as well as the white of the same brand did!)

Measurements:

Before felting: 19″ wide, 20″ long
After felting: 14″ wide, 12″ long. Just perfect for holding Mom’s piano music…

Directions:

CO 208 in red. Join the round and K 8 rows.

Row 9: K 22, BO 60, K 44, BO 60, K 22
Row 10: K 22, CO 40, K 44, CO 40, K 22: 168 st.

Continue knitting around, alternating colors to create stripes as you like (see below for a picture that specifies how many rows I used in each stripe, if you’re curious). When you reach the point where you want the piano design, work from the chart given below. (Since you knit this purse top-down, you have to just turn the piano chart upside-down and start from what is actually its top left corner…) After the chart, continue working in stripes until the purse is long enough for your taste. At the end, I did a single-crochet bind-off using a crochet hook to join the front and back of the purse. A 3-needle bind off would work too, but when I reached that point all I had was a crochet hook so I improvised! Or you could bind off normally and then use a tapestry needle to sew the bottom closed. The details aren’t going to show after felting, so the method is open to negotiation!

Felt the bag…you can see on the pattern-picture below the felting method I used, or substitute another that you prefer. I let the whole wash/rinse cycle run (hot wash, cold rinse) to felt the bag as much as possible, for maximum strength. After felting, put in a Tupperware or something of the appropriate size to fill the bag out and block it into a neater rectangular shape.

After drying, I found it helped to take a safety razor and shave off some of the fuzz on the outer surface of the felt, especially over the piano design, to let the black/white pattern show through to best effect. And there you have it! One completed piano felted tote! Mom likes hers.

Click any of the images below for a full size version.

The piano chart:

The pattern, picture style:

This bag is knit with double-stranded yarn. I worked from the inside and outside of a center-pull ball. It is knit in the round after the base, so a circular needle is required. It is a simple project appropriate for novice or experienced knitters. Once fulled (semi-felted) it will be thick and durable.

Use it to carry groceries, craft projects, or whatever you wish. I started this bag at the first annual San Francisco Giants Stitch-N-Pitch on July 27, 2006. The colors are Giants colors (of course!). Change the colors to anything you what (just don’t tell me if you use Dodger Blue). It was a great game, the start of a winning streak and I got to see a suicide squeeze. Yes, I am a bit of a baseball nerd.

This pattern is in Adobe Acrobat reader format. Click here to download the pattern.

Pattern doesn’t make sense? You found an error? Have a question? Contact me at miss_maia@hotmail.com.

Please visit me at my blog. Corrections and questions regarding this pattern will be answered at the Big Bag Page.

I designed “Charm” to help introduce new techniques to scarf knitters to expand their knitting capabilities. You will be using circular knitting, a provisional cast on, three needle bind off and shaped decreases.
Materials:

• One skein Nashua Wooly Stripes (heavy worsted/chunky weight yarn 88 yards) or one skein of Noro Kureyon (heavy worsted 110 yards)
• A pair of US 10 – 16” length circular knitting needles
• One set of double pointed needles size US 10
• 2 stitch markers
• Safety pin
• Crochet hook size G or H
• One yard waste yarn for provisional cast on
• 2 bangle-style bracelets for handles

Directions:

Using the crochet hook make a single crochet chain of 61-65 stitches (sts)

With the circular needle pick up knit 60 bumps in the chain making sure to leave a 1 yard tail, place marker, also mark the first stitch with a safety pin and then join in the round being careful not to twist the sts.

On the next round knit 30 sts and place the second marker, and continue to knit until the piece measures 8 ½ inches binding off the last 8 stitches of the row.

Remove the stitch marker at the beginning and bind off another 8 sts. (16 total)

Knit 14 sts and bind off 16 sts then knit the remaining 14 sts, turn work.

You will now be working back and forth on one handle at a time but before beginning divide the remaining yarn in half and cut it reserving half for the second handle.

1. Purl across and turn work
2. Work a SSK (Slip, Slip, Knit the slipped sts together) decrease then knit across to the last two sts and K2tog (Knit 2 sts together), turn work.

Repeat these two rows until 8 sts remain then continue to knit the right side rows and purl the wrong side rows until you are almost out of yarn then bind off all stitches.

Join the reserved strand of yarn to the wrong side of the remaining stitches on the needle for the second handle and purl across. Work row 2 as written above and continue in the same manner as the first handle.

Turn bag inside out and remove the waste yarn and place the first 30 sts beginning with the stitch marked by the safety pin onto one dpn, and the remaining 30 onto a second dpn. Using the third dpn and the 1 yarn tail you will work a 3 needle bind off for the bottom portion of the bag. To do this you will need to knit the first stitch from the front needle and the first stitch from the back needle together at the same time, do this one again with the next two stitches and then bind off the first stitch. Continue in this manner until all stitches are bound off.

Still leaving the bag inside out and using what little yarn you have left fold the bag bottom so the 3 needle bind off seam faces up and sew across each end about 1 inch in on the seam forming a small triangle at each end. This will help give the shape to the bottom of the bag.

Now you are ready to felt your “Charm”. Pop the purse into a mesh laundry bag and set your washer to hot water and small load size. Add a couple of pairs of blue jeans or large towels and a touch of detergent such as Tide to the tub and run the washer through a full cycle. Remove and block your purse.

NOTE: If you are using Noro’s Kureyon you will probably need to repeat the wash sequence a few times to achieve a desirable result.

When the purse is completely dry, sew the straps down with the bracelets in place using a needle and regular sewing thread.

Enjoy and make another one because these are so fast and so cute!

ONE LAST WORD: You will be using nearly every single bit of the Nashua Yarn, so if you are a very loose knitter you may want to purchase a second skein as “insurance”.

ABOUT THE DESIGNER
Deanna prefers that you call her Dee. She knits too much, cleans too little, blogs a bit and lives in Chicagoland with her husband, two teenage sons and two adorable westies. She is organizing the second and now annual Heartland Knitting Retreat this December 2006 details at www.kneatles.com