Free Pattern -- The Balloon Bag
A versatile shape for any yarn!I had made this bag many, many times when I finally learned (from a colleague on Knitters Review Forum) the best way to block it was with a balloon. So now I face the arduous task of reblocking all with balloons before this year's art fair season.
The pattern is a collection of ideas from many sources, and a nice introduction to shaping if you have made mostly Booga Bags and want to try something more sculpted.
Finished size is about 9 inches across and 7-8 inches tall.
Kureyon Alert!
This bag can be made with three balls of Kureyon - thus continuing my love/hate relationship with this yarn! Select three balls that match fairly well. Use ball #1 double-stranding (working from the inside and outside of the ball) to make the base. The colors won't match up, but it won't matter as much. When you get to the body of the bag, switch to balls #2 and #3, which you have selected because the color runs match as closely as possible. Knit until they are all gone. Use #1 again for the I-cord cast off, but use 4 or 5 stitches single-strand instead of the 2 indicated in the pattern. Make a 4 or 5 stitch single-strand i-cord with what's left of #1. Felt the living daylights out of it, because Kureyon only felts after lots and lots of abuse.
Note: This is all conjecture on my part, having never done it myself, but Anniknits did one, and it looks really great. Click here to see a forum entry on the finished bag.
Click here to download this FREE pattern in PDF
If you are having trouble downloading this file, you might try updating to the most recent version of Adobe Acrobat here.
Or you can try the more streamlined, less boggy Foxit PDF reader (only for PC users) here.
The pattern for this handbag was created especially for:
Nina - a well-knit shop
1655 W. Division
Chicago, IL 60622
773/486-8996
www.ninachicago.com
posted by Diane in Chicago at 3/01/2006
16 Comments:
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
lovely bags...do you have dimensions for both? and on materials list is that total yardage or is double that amount needed?
Dimensions, hmmmm.
Well, the balloon bag is about 8 or 9 inches across.
The Little Coco is about 9 or 10 inches across.
The yardage given is generous, and you don't need to
double. For example, I have squeezed out a Balloon
Bag with a single skein of Cascade 220, if you don't
make the strap too long.
D
Oopsie! An error has been reported! Please download the revised pattern. The problem is in the increases at the bottom of the bag.
Sorry!
Thank you so much for sharing these patterns. I have been wanting to try felted bags and these are adorable.
love the bags and I have some perfect yarn to be enticing! I never thought about using a balloon to shape and have always wrestled my bags into jugs and such.
felted beret???
I have been trying for one half hour to get teh pattern and having no luck
on Adobe.
Please, please be so kind as to tell me what I am doing wrong--I have always wanted to try a felted purse and this one is adorable!!!!!!!
Thank you-
Jo Ann White, schnauzers125@yahoo.com
I have made a few of the Coco Bags and I have to say it is the best bag pattern out there. I have made lots of the bags from the Pursonality series but yours seem to be the ones that people want and love.
Thanks for a wonderful pattern which will be a Classic in my eyes.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Bebe:
Please read the comments for the Little Coco Bag. Some people there had tips for downloading that seemed to help.
I am Mac, so I am not so good at helping PC people.
Very pretty design! Keep up the good work. Thanks.
»
Hi! Just want to say what a nice site. Bye, see you soon.
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Love the bag! This is my first felting project and I am well pleased. A few deviations I made, mostly because I didn't want to have to go out and buy anything new, so I made do with what I had on hand. I knitted up the entire purse (strap and all) with 1 strand each of sage green alpaca (light worsted weight) and fuschia shetland (fingering weight). I used #10 DP needles. I have a front loading washer, so here's what worked for me. I put all the purse parts in a lingerie bag and added a pair of jeans. Once through on heavy wash cycle with a little soap and hot wash/cold rinse. No spin. It needed one more quick wash cycle (also hot/cold, no spin, but no soap this time) before it was just right. The alpaca makes it wonderfully soft and beautiful! I used an 8" balloon. Thought I'd share...
I wasn't able to find the Manos del Uruguay yarn in my town so I'm trying to sustitute Paton's Classic Wool(it's the only feltable wool available to me). Could you please post the before felting measurements for me so I can figure out the number of stitches I'll need to use in order to get the proper size after felting?
By the way, I love all your patterns.
There is no "proper" size, the type of yarn you use and the aggressiveness of your felting determines how big the bag ends up. So knit away! Just be sure your stitches are nice and loose, and you have balloons at the ready!
Happy knitting!
Diane
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