This project wasn't as hard as I thought it might be, I guess it is because I had been wanting to design something like this for some time now and this topic helped me along the path :)
Being in the Bee house I wanted to make something that would incorporate bees, bags and yarn.
Whilst rummaging around through my idea heap in my head it suddenly came to me - a felted bee bag! Why not, cute, sunny - a sweet "mascotty" bit of paraphernalia!
So I set about the planning of this project - these are the things I found myself needing to answer:
- Which yarn - brand, type, colour
- Shape - what do I want the bag to look like?
- Patterns - do I want the project to incorporate some depth in the form of colour work and patterning or will I be embellishing it as an afterthought?
- Size - how big do I want the finished project to be, should it be just to show, or should it be a usable accessory?
- What will its' use be - handbag, project bag?
- Who will be the ultimate recipient of the finished project? Age plays quite a role.
- What techniques will I be incorporating in the project? Should it be a little challenging or straight forward?
- Will it be knitted on straights or in the round?
- Will it be knitted or crocheted?
Once these questions had been answered I could set about planning the project in earnest.
As I have already felted bags in the past, I knew how much yarn I would approximately be looking at. I of course headed straight over to my LYS Online store to place some Drops Eskimo provisionally in my basket.
Bees - hmm, black, yellows and I opted for a light grey instead of white.
Okay, now the yarn was sorted and ordered LOL (with a little extra just in case) and in my minds eye the bag was taking shape, colours, patterns how the finished object should look.
My next step was to work out the patterning I wanted to have on the bag. As you all probably know, I am a sucker for colourwork and love spending time creating patterns that fit with my pieces.
I used to work out my patterns by hand on squared paper, but I have since gone over to my PC spreadsheet which just makes things so much easier.
This is the most time consuming part of the creation for me, working out the colourwork so that the image I have in my minds' eye can be realized on the screen in front of me.
To begin with the colourwork, I first need to work out how many stitches I will be working with, otherwise I cannot work out my pattern repeats.
I worked out how many stitches through my previous bags I have created, deciding my shape at the same time. I am a "don't like to sew up the seams" kinda gal, so I create my patterns with that in mind, generally in the round so that I don't have too many seams to sew together.
Once the pattern is visible to me and I am happy with it, the last bit of the puzzle is to decide how I will be finishing it off, what kind of straps, what kind of edging etc.
And the last step is to knit the bag for myself to see if I am completely happy with the pattern, if it is understandable and self-explanatory. This step can be tricky, as I don't generally have the patience to rip and redo, it needs to play out like it did in my head for me to be completely happy!
Lucky for me, this is one of those projects that worked :)
I am coming to the end of this project as we speak and will be unveiling it in all its' glory on Sunday.
Don't miss it as I will be offering the pattern as a round-off to this weeks fun in Blog week as a Pattern Giveaway for 10 lucky winners!
Thanks for visiting.
See you tomorrow.
x
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