FO: Argyle Skull Satchel

Pattern: Satchel with Arrrgyle Socks Graph both modified to fit my needs.
Yarn: Lion Wool in Ebony, Cadet Blue, Lemongrass, Winter White.
Needles: size 10.5/6.5mm
Cast on: 11/3/07
Finished: 12/14/07 (it was done sooner but sat there for a while waiting for me to sew on the strap...)

I learned a lot from this project - mainly, what I will never do again, and what I will not do next time I knit a bag. I absolutely love the way the felted argyle pattern turned out, and may redo it on another bag some day. Perhaps I will gift this one to a non-knitter who won't notice it's many mistakes.

Which are:

• Applied i-cord edge... applied to the wrong side on the left and right sides of the flap. A shame, since the properly-applied edge looks so tidy, and the wrong side of it looks so crummy.
• Way too wide, not quite tall enough, flap too short, hangs all funny. I knit and felted 6 different swatches and crunched numbers for two days to make what I thought would be the perfect bag, but alas...

• Not so much a mistake, but the next bag I make like this will employ D-rings, dog-leash hooks (whatever they're called) and a canvas strap to save me the time and hassle of knitting/felting/blocking/sewing (then, oops! sewing on twisted and having to undo and redo and trim and then sew back on) a frigging strap.

Here is a shot of it in action!

And my Sears Catalog pose.