Out on the Town!

Vintage Clutch

I'm ready for a night "out on the town"!

I've been easing my way back into knitting with felting projects.

For some reason,

I think that knitting with two strands of yarn on bigger needles is easier on my fingers and hand as I recover from hand surgery.  

It's been challenging knitting since I still have swelling and numbness (on my long finger) 

even now 8 weeks post surgery.  

Physical therapy is helping and selecting fun "felted" projects seems to inspire me 

to pick up the needles every few days. 

I decided that my felted tea party hat needed a matching purse 

so this week I knit and felted a darling clutch purse called

 Vintage Clutch. 

The pattern is very easy to knit and a well written pattern.  

My version is knit in Cascade 220, color 9419/Vermeer Blue.  

The purse takes less than two skeins and is knit with the yarn doubled.  It's finished size is 6" x 12".

Here are a few before and after photos of my purse.

 Pre-felting

Here's how the purse looks pre-felting.

 Felted

Here's how the purse looks after a few cycles in the washing machine with hot water, 

a little soap and a little magic!

G.G.'s brooch

The most fun part of this project is the finishing work 

and determining what brooch or pin 

you will embellish your handbag with.

Since the designer named it Vintage Clutch...

I think it's perfect to use a vintage pin on it. 

I used a vintage brooch from my jewelry box that belonged to my great-grandmother. 

 I called my great-grandmother G.G. and she is the one 

who taught me to knit and crochet when I was a little girl.  

G.G.'s brooch is a vintage Weiss rhinestone pin 

and very special to me.  

I know my G.G. would love that her pin and love of knitting 

live on through me.