This project came out of a desire to knit up my stash, and while none of the Wool of the Andes ball is very long, the way it is packaged, it took up quite a bit of space in the bins. I had originally bought most of these colors to make an felted intarsia sheep bag, but I realized I had zero interest in making the bag so I needed a pattern that used up a bunch of single balls of WotA. Turns out the KnitPicks Independent Designers Program had just the pattern for me. So I paid my $1.99 and went digging to find the best color combo. As it turns out I had enough greens and complementary colors to make this work.
Having had my work contract expire at the end of February and no new work lined up, I found myself knitting quite a bit to releve stress. The actual knitting of this bag only took about 2 weeks, however it took me another three weeks to decided how I wanted to finish it, I was hesitant about the i-cord and I only had one ball of Cloud in my stash, and then another to get my KnitPicks order after I had decided to get another ball and finish the bag according to the pattern.
So the original pattern was named Alluvia, after the glacial feature common in Alaska (where the designer is located). I decided to call my bag Oak Ridge Moraine, which is also a glacial feature, left by the Laurentide Ice Sheet (like from the Ice Age) and is a beautiful, green, rolling landscape north of Toronto. This area is under threat from development and resource extraction (the moraine is basically made of gravel).
So I ended up with a fun bag, although the felting did take away from the flappy-ness of the flaps, but I did accomplish one of my goals, knitting up a whole bunch of yarn.
Project Name: Oak Ridges Moraine Bag
Pattern: Alluvia by Allison Haas of Alaskan Purl (Part of the KnitPicks IDP)
Recipient: Not Sure, it wasn't love at first stitch, but it is growing on me
Yarn: Wool of the Andes by KnitPicks in (from Bottom to Top) Avocado, Evergreen, Jalapeno, Fern, Pampas Heather, Mink Heather and Cloud.
Modifications:
- Managed to make it with the colors I had on hand, and as such managed to get away with only one ball of CC6 (the bottom of the bag). I did end up using the remnants of CC6 to fill in the shortfall on CC5 when I accidentally did too many rows.
New Skills:
- Pleat Stitch - The pleats are formed by knitting together the first and live row of stitches. The pattern has a clear explanation of the technique
- I-Cord - I had been dreading making the i-cord, not because it would be difficult, just time consuming. Turns out it was neither, but it gave me a great excuse to try out the KnitPicks Harmony DPNs, which by the by are gorgeous.
Feedback: Great way to use up yarn mileage. I used colors in my stash for a pair of felted slippers and an intarsia bag I had no real intention of making. It does take a while to knit, there is something like 800yds of yarn in the bag, it is an easy pattern and works well as TV knitting. Coming up with color combinations is lots of fun.
Re-Knit?: Probably not, I am not over the moon about the bag, but it was fun and if I had kids who liked to play dress-up it would be perfect for that.
