knit purse....with celtic knot design?? **details added to page 3**

[turtlie]

got some brown superwash wool at School Products and started knitting away.....(can't beat about $12 for a cone of the stuff...i love that place!)

after about a month or so of knitting off and on:


inside flap....lined with fabric from P&S....had to hand sew it....my sewing machine's back in cali!
oh! and i finally got my hands on those magnetic clasps at pearl paint's craft store...only 87cents!


pockets for my cell phone and wallet


Close up of cables


Thanks for looking....i'd love your comments!

[Lulu Clyde]

This is great. i have been meaning to get to school products.

Great job on that bag!!

[Synne]

The bag looks great! (The fabric is adorable too) I miss School Products and Smiley's! You can't beat the deals they have...

[awgoodkitty]

The purse is FABULOUS!!!!

I've never heard of School Products.  Unfortunately their website is being updated, but I'm going to be sure to check them out as soon as they are back up.  $12 for a CONE of superwash?  I'm so there!

Congrats on a great job!

[Jazzybelle]

That is GORGEOUS and AMAZING. I'm seriously stunned. I love what you did with the cables. Did you write the pattern yourself?

[roxybadoxy]

BEAUTIFUL!! it reminds me of my FAVORITE grey purse! its lovely

[alexisnice]

very pretty. how did you attach the lining? i'm never sure of the best way to do that.

[beandip]

The fabric in the lining is absolutely gorgeous and goes so well with the yarn. Well done!

[cotneyroo]

Beautiful. Nicely done. Love School Products. Not allowed to go there till I whittle down the stash some more. Lining looks terrific too!

[beansquared]

It's so pretty!  I really like your choice for the lining fabric.  I can't believe that's all hand sewed!  I always wanted to make one of those Jordy purses, but i have no sewing machine and have no idea how to use one!  I'd love to try making one of these, at least i know how to knit!

[Kerry Berry]

I really, really like the bag, but I absolutely love the fabric.  What's P&S?

[pastel-heart]

That is some serious skill at knitting and sewing!  Great job!

[tinab363]

Your purse is sooo cute.  I love the yarn and fabric both.

[craftykate]

so pretty!

[aedara]

Wow, that looks fantastic, I love the fabric you lined it with and how you put the butterfly right in the middle like that.  Wow!!! 

[mozilla]

wow, the purse looks great.  You did an awesome job.  Looks so professional and the color is purrrrfect

[Miss_T_Dane]

That purse is stunning! I love the lining as well. You didn't perchance write up a pattern, did you? Cause, you know, I'd like love you forever if you did. Haha.. No, seriously. I would.

[wasabipeasrule]

That is gorgeous! I love the lining too. Hey, could someone tell me what exactly a "cone" is?

[MirageTheDog]

That is beautiful! And those are some fabulous hand sewing the lining into the purse skills you have. I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and say I'd love to see the pattern as well. 

[yarnvirgin]

beautiful!  How big is the bag?

[knithippie]

This is so nifty... I love how wonderfully the lining fabric goes with the outside cabling.

[turtlie]

Thank you all so much for all the great comments....I feel so loved !

Jazzybelle, Miss_T_Dane, & MirageTheDog:  I made up the pattern as I went along, but I did take some notes, let me see if I can make it something understandable!

Awgoodkitty:  School Products is an AWESOME yarn store in Manhattan who’s “specialty” is selling cashmere yarn from designers at EXCELLENT prices, they also have cones of other wools, merinos, etc….all very well priced if you do the math.  If you’re ever in NYC…it’s great just walking though the store and feeling all the knitted samples….such yummy yarn!  School Products 1201 Broadway, 3rd Floor New York, NY 10001 212-679-3516
   
Alexisnice:  I just sewed up the lining like a pocket and blanket stitched it along the edge of the purse and along the flap http://crochet.about.com/library/weekly/aa120702.htm

Kerry Berry:  P&S Fabrics is in NYC, near Chinatown, south of Canal, It’s mostly a large fabric/trim store, but they also have tons of acrylics, cotton, and some wools (red heart, lion brand, patons, carron, etc.) at pretty good prices and carry a pretty extensive selection of clover bamboo needles, I think susan bates, etc.  P&S Fabrics 355 Broadway New York, NY 10013 212-226-1534

Aedara:  hee hee thanks, the butterfly placement was actually and accident, but thanks!

Wasabipeasrule:  cone yarn is just yarn that is wound on a large cardboard cone, much like big spools of thread, they’re what’s used by machine knitters.  Most cones I’ve seen are at least a pound of yarn, the yarn can sometimes feel rough cuz it’s often coated with oil for machine knitting, but I’ve also gotten cashmere from school products and when washed, it’s oh-so soft.  Hope that helps, if not, do an ebay search for cone yarn and you’ll see some pix.
   
Yarnvirgin:  measuring bag as I write this message…..it’s about 8x6 inches and the strap came out to be about 20 inches long
   
Ok, off to find my notes and see if i can scrouge up a pattern of sorts!

[turtlie]

K, here's as much of a pattern as i could muster up.....it's not complete, but get creative and play around with it!

I just added and modified the very popular celtic braid pattern (available here http://www.knitting-and.com/knitting/patterns/afghans/celticbraid.htm w/ descriptions)
The part in [brackets] is the celtic braid part and then on either end, I have cables twisting in opposite directions.

I hope I did the chart/instructions right as I’ve never written out patterns before!

Cast on 50 stitches
(for some reason the patterns starts from the wrong side, and I didn’t know this initially, but the chart is worked from bottom up)
Row 1: K2, P6, K2, P1, [K4, P4, K4, P4, K4, P4, K4, K4], P1, K2, P6, K2
Row 2: P2, K6, P2, K1, [P4, C4B, P4, C4B, P4, C4B, P4, P4], K1, P2, K6, P2
Row 3: K2, P6, K2, P1, [K3, P4, K4, P4, K4, P4, K4, K3], P1, K2, P6, K2
Row 4: P2, C6F, P2, K1, [P2, BT3, FT4, BT4, FT4, BT4, FT3, P2], K1, P2, C6B, P2
Row 5: K2, P6, K2, P1, [K2, P2, K3, P4, K4, P4, K3, P2, K2], P1, K2, P6, K2
Row 6: P2, K6, P2, K1, [P1, BT3, P3, C4F, P4, C4F, P3, FT3, P1], K1, P2, K6, P2
Row 7: K2, P6, K2, P1, [K1, P2, K4, P4, K4, P4, K4, P2, K1], P1, K2, P6, K2
Row 8: P2, K6, P2, K1, [P1, K2, P2, BT4, FT4, BT4, FT4, P2, K2, P1], K1, P2, K6, P2
Row 9: K2, P6, K2, P1, [K1, P2, K2, P2, K4, P4, K4, P2, K2, K1], P1, K2, P6, K2
Row 10: P2, K6, P2, K1, [P1, K2, P2, K2, P4, C4B, P4, K2, P2, K2, P1], K1, P2, K6, P2
Row 11: K2, P6, K2, P1, [K1, P2, K2, P2, K4, P4, K4, P2, K2, P2, K1], P1, K2, P6, K2
Row 12: P2, C6B, P2, K1, [P1, K2, P2, FT4, BT4, FT4, BT4, P2, K2, P1], K1, P2, C6F, P2
Row 13: K2, P6, K2, P1, [K1, P2, K4, P4, K4, P4, K4, P2, K1], P1, K2, P6, K2
Row 14: P2, K6, P2, K1, [P1, FT3, P3, C4F, P4, C4F, P3, BT3, P1], K1, P2, K6, P2
Row 15: K2, P6, K2, P1, [K2, P2, K3, P4, K4, P4, K3, P2, K2], P1, K2, P6, K2
Row 16: P2, K6, P2, K1, [P2, FT3, BT4, FT4, BT4, FT4, BT3, P2], K1, P2, K6, P2


Repeat pattern 8 times, but on the 8th repeat, I modified it a bit to make the tapered part of the purse’s flap….and I didn’t write down how I did this, I just started decreasing some of the areas where there were extra stitches and started altering the “braid”part so it would be sort of pointy, then added a couple of rows of knit or purl to match. (sorry, I wish I had exact details for you)

There were 3 repeats for each the front and back, one on the bottom, and one modified one for the flap.

For the strap, I did the following: 
Cast on 18 st,
(18 stitches) Knit 15 rows
K 16, K2tog
K 15, K2tog
(16 stitches) Knit 10 rows
K 14, K2tog
K 13, K2tog
(14 stitches) Knit 5 rows
K 12, K2tog
K 11, K2tog
(12 stitches) Knit 5 rows
K 10, K2tog
K 9, K2tog
(10 stitches) Knit 120 rows **this is the strap, so make longer/shorter as you like**
K 9, M1 on last stitch
K 10, M1 on last stitch
(12 stitches) Knit 5 rows
K 11, M1 on last stitch
K 12, M1 on last stitch
(14 stitches) Knit 5 rows
K 13, M1 on last stitch
K 14, M1 on last stitch
(16 stitches) Knit 10 rows
K 15, M1 on last stitch
K 16, M1 on last stitch
(18 stitches) Knit 15 rows

Sew it all together, add magnetic button and voila!

[ibelongtoneil]

I love it!  I knit a braid like that in a scarf for my mom once- it took forever and I ended up not giving it to her!  I t looks much better on a purse.

[kseiznickska]

 Awesome tutorial and purse!! I applaud you. Thanks so much for the inspiration!!

[rmj318]

What a beautiful purse! I love the cabling that you did and thanks for the tutorial. This is a keeper!

[natagirl]

so great.  i love making purses - this might have to be next on my list.

[amie]

Oh, wow! How lovely! I like everything about it. It looks like a well-put together bag. NICE JOB!

[mistresscandace]

I love this design so much.  Thanks for posting the details!  I recently saw something on felting knitted cables and it was really neat.  This this would felt well?

[frogsrock]

I love this design so much.  Thanks for posting the details!  I recently saw something on felting knitted cables and it was really neat.  This this would felt well?

no it would end up really really small, but if you made it bigger it would be ok

i really want to make this but im a bit afraid of the cable and there being a problem with the pattern...

[Calysa]

Simply gorgeous!!!

[mistresscandace]

I love this design so much.  Thanks for posting the details!  I recently saw something on felting knitted cables and it was really neat.  This this would felt well?

no it would end up really really small, but if you made it bigger it would be ok

I know that it shrinks after you felt it.  I was mainly concerned about the design detailing and if it would still show up.  Looks like it may be a bit too detailed, but could work.