Done Wobbling

We're in the midst of a long anticipated visit with far flung family and have been enjoying a rare and welcome stretch of sunny warm weather. The weather combined with the company has resulted in a wonderful and action packed week. Though knitting time has been limited, I have managed to complete my Wobbly Circles Tote.


First I finished knitting both sides.

Both to conserve yarn, and to provide some knitting excitement, I decided to switch the colors around a bit, for side number two.

I brought the bag along on an excursion Out The Road to Eagle Beach. While the kids played at the edge of Eagle River, I finished sewing back to front.

Here she is awaiting felting:


Because we have a front loading washer, I thought I might have to resort to hand felting.




Before long, however, I abandoned the plunger and 5 gallon bucket and with a leap of faith, tossed the bag and some towels and jeans into the washer. I believe I ultimately went through 4 cycles before it was felted to my satisfaction..
..and I am very satisfied. After all of my angst and obsessive fretting about handle length I managed to achieve just what I envisioned - a too-rare occurrence in my knitting world-so I am delighted.

Wobbly Circles Tote
Pattern: Wobbly Circles Tote designed by Leigh Radford/Interweave Knits Spring 2006
Yarn: Lamb's Pride Bulky
Needles: Addi Turbo Circular size US 10
Modifications: I modified the handles so they would fit over my shoulder. At row 103 I only knit 20 stitches at each edge and bound off the center 26 stitches. On the next row I cast on 70 stitches across the gap created by the bound off stitiches. I worked 8 rows straight and then I knit an applied I-cord around the top of the bag and inside of the handles for reinforcement. (A recommendation I found here.)
SPECIAL THANKS to my brother Will, photographer extraordinaire, for patiently indulging his neurotic older sister me and photographing the bag on my shoulder.

Dilemma

I've become obsessed with the Wobbly Circles Tote. In its pursuit I have neglected second socks, Level I swatches, and yarn destined for community project hats. I have been driven the last few days despite the fact that it's fiddly and cumbersome. I was delighted a day or two back when I figured out this solution:


By placing the two chairs facing one another, I was able to move me as I rotated between knit and purl rows, rather than turn the knitted fabric. While not totally eliminating the need to detangle every row or so, it greatly minimized the mess and confusion.

Here it is today, a few rows from the finish:



But there's a catch: Even though I said it was going to be a nice stress free project because I wouldn't have to worry about gauge or fit, I've found something else to worry about. I'm more of a shoulder bag person. Yes, I knew this going into the project, but I thought it had such lovely handles I'd just go with it and maybe make a modification for a future project. However, it's knitting up bigger than expected (of course, I substituted yarn and knew it wouldn't be the same) and now I'm thinking I'll really want it to fit over my shoulder. Here's what I'm thinking:

1. Follow the pattern and since everything is already bigger, maybe the handles will be big enough to slip over my shoulders.
2. Bind off several extra stitches and make the opening a little bigger and hope for the best.
3. Knit and felt a swatch/sample and see how long the handles really have to be, to be perfect.

OK knitters, let's face it, no way am I doing number 3, obsessive or not. Besides, on top of everything else I'm worried about having enough yarn. 2 seems the likely choice to me, it's just that the handles are such a lovely shape and wouldn't it be a shame if I ended up with some that were too short to slip over my shoulder and too long and loose to hold comfortably?


At the top, the tote is 66 stitches across. The pattern calls for binding off the center 20 stitches for the handles. I could increase that to maybe 30? I really don't know because I don't know how much length and width I'm going to lose when I felt this. (Back to option 3, but please don't vote for option 3.) I can keep a close watch on it during felting, of course, and stop if the handles are getting too short, but I am partial to a really well felted fabric and that's what I envision for this.

My nearly-finished dimensions are actually only slightly larger then the pattern calls for, pre-felted. I get approximately 23 1/2 " wide at the top and 25 1/2" tall to their 20 1/4" wide at the top and 25 1/4" tall. Finished measurements are supposed to be 13" wide at opening and 13" tall .

Oh, what to do? What to do?