Knit and Felted Tribal Bag

This is how this bag looked after knitting and before it was felted. I already had yarn in brown, natural and blue, so I used it.

Here it is after I felted it in the washing machine. Brown and blue are my daughter's favorite color combination, so either she will end up with this bag, or if I really love it, I may make another one and make a few changes. I would knit the strap separately and attach it after felting. Since you carry the yarns up the side as you knit the stripes, it felted tighter on that side and was a bit warped-looking after it felted. I lined the bag and added a pocket to the lining. I also sewed some ribbon trim to the underside of the strap. I wouldn't make the buttonhole in the bag if I were knit this again and line the bag. It was tricky to line the bag with a buttonhole. I had to slit the lining to expose the buttonhole.

Close-up view. It's all soft and fuzzy looking now.

This was a free pattern from Lion Brand Yarn Pin It Now!