Holiday Knits Winter Tote

[BeginnerKnitter]

Well I searched and searched Craftster for any reference to the book Holiday Knits by Allison Isaacs and Sara Lucas, but I couldn't find anything! So I suppose I'll make a new topic here. I just finished up the Winter Tote bag from it for my mother's birthday (which was yesterday):

There's a little heart embroidered on the top left of the pic (that's what the little blue blob is). It didn't felt nearly as much as I wanted, but that's one of the pitfalls of living in an apartment building with no washer/dryer. It felted a bit, and I hand washed it to felt it more at home. It's perhaps stronger than it looks, but not nearly as tough as I would have wanted. A couple more pictures are on the blog, as always.

Has anyone else made anything from this book?

[Knit_core]

did you line it?

[BeginnerKnitter]

No I didn't have to line it because it's felted (fulled?). It's amazing how strong things become once you felt (full?) them!

(Still not sure if it is technically called felting or fulling.)

[Jera]

Is that the pattern where you use a sweater to make it?

[BeginnerKnitter]

Nope, it's knit up in the round.

[droopymcccool]

Your tote looks great!  I hope to cast on for this project tonight.

I'm surprised that no one is talking about this book.

Dana

[knitchka]

I just did a search to see some FOs from this book after checking it out at the bookstore yesterday. Your bag came out great, BeginnerKnitter - that was one of my favorite patterns from the book. (The gingham cosmetic bag is pretty cute, too). I'm tempted to buy the book, but I just got Melanie Falick's "Handknit Holidays", so I should probably wait for now.

[BeginnerKnitter]

Thanks droopymccool and knitchka!

The book is really nice, I think the ornaments are very cute and it's got a few great designs in there.

If either of you are planning on knitting the bag I would definitely reccommend putting it through the wash a few times. It seems like the one in the book can stand up on its own, but mine certainly can't! I doubt it really would be able to because the handles are pretty heavy, but mine was still a little weaker than I would like.