[knitting] French Market Bag (with, uh, slight mods)

When last we left the French Market Bag, I was only just barely starting the handles. I knew I wasn't going to have enough of the dyed yarn for handles so I grabbed some off-white from my stash, thinking it would just be a solid color once I dyed the bag again.

I started the handles:



And finished them (here with the red Kool-Aid I'm going to use):



Into the pot:



Soaking up all the dye:



And resting in the sink, apres the traumatic experience:



So, it turned out looking like some kind of "Fruit Punch Tiger" pattern. The crazy electric blue was gone but the remaining color patterning wasn't all that... pretty. Le sigh, whatevers. I threw it into the washing machine to felt.

Imagine my surprise to see that the handles didn't felt. I ended up a using a superwash wool from my stash because I'm an unlucky moron. When I first grabbed it to knit with, I wondered, "Should I knit a test swatch and felt it? ... Naaah, it'll be fine." Mid-felting cycle, I noticed it wasn't felting as fast as the rest of the bag. By the time the bag was done, I noticed the handles didn't felt at all. Of course. Of COURSE I used the wrong kind of yarn.

So it looked a little crazy: felted body, knitted handles. I grabbed some twine and started wrapping:



The bag isn't so bad. It's rather shallow, but wide, and the handles help keep the bag open. I've yet to find out what I can use it for (not big enough for all the produce I actually buy at the market, not the right shape for mail (especially when I get magazines)) but it's nice to look at and think, "I made that bag."