Inspired by one of my old favorite leather purses, this handy accessory is knit in one piece, wet felted and then finished with faux stitching to give it a more structural look. Great first felting project, and the body and stitching color combos are endless! is pattern was included as a free pattern from Firefly Fiber Arts Studio as part of the 2021 Chicago Yarn Crawl.

Measurements
10” x 6 1/2” x 4”

Yarn
Peace Fleece Worsted in “Evening Marigold”
2 skeins - 400 yards
or other non-superwash worsted weight wool yarn

Jamieson’s of Shetland Fingering in “Anemone” 1 skein - 115 yards

Needles and Notions
Size 10 US needles with 24” cable Stitch markers
Tapestry needle
Laundry bag or pillowcase with zipper

Gauge
15 sts x 19 rows = 4in x 4in stockinette before felting

Pattern & Felting Notes
‣ You should be familiar with the following skills: stockinette in the round and at, knit, purl, picking up stitches, binding off mid-row
‣ I strongly recommend knitting a swatch and running it through your washing machine to see how long and on what settings to use when felting your bag. Using the Peace Fleece, I found a full machine helped to agitate and a hot setting helped with shrinkage. I ran my bag through 3 full cycles, but it may be different for you! If you’re unsure where to begin, wash your swatch in a laundry bag or zippered pillowcase on your hottest and shortest setting and assess your swatch after. If it needs more felting, run another cycle. If you have a top-loader, you can check on it periodically. Different yarns and even the same yarns in different color ways will felt differently, so don’t skip this step!