On my last trip back home to the UK, I bumped into a friend of my Mum’s at Woolyknit, the local lovely LYS. I believe my hands were full of bags of multicoloured fluff at the time, and I had the intense, obsessed look I usually get in yarn shops which made her ask: “Do you like knitting?” YES! I said. “Well then, I’m donating an unfinished sweater to you. It’s a Kaffe Fassett design I started in the 80’s. Do you want it?”
The next day, a large bag/time capsule arrived which contained the partially finished Landscape Jacket. Needles were still attached here and there, some edges were bound off, there was part of a sleeve too. In the bag was the pattern together with lots and lots of beautiful old Rowan tweed yarn in subtle shades and varying thicknesses. What an amazing gift!…but what the hell was I going to do with it? I couldn’t make head or tail of the section that had been knit (backwards, I had been told!), but the work that had been done was fantastic and just too gorgeous to unravel to stash. I thought it would make a really cool bag though, if I could figure out how to make it work.
I steeked here, sewed there, picked up and knitted a top section and then did the same for the bottom, knitting a garter stitch base in the round. The fabric is sturdy and carpet like which gives great structure to the duffel, but I’ll also sew in a cotton lining after blocking. At the top I wrestled eyelets into the knit, added a cord and nifty bits I found in Stoff og Stil, and suddenly the bag was taking shape!
I’m really happy with my time traveling sweater bag- the gorgeous Mr. Fassett design, the unexpected gift, and the sweater’s time traveling journey have all combined to make it a very special project indeed :)
Happy Knitting until next time,
Rosie x