searchin' for a rainbow

and i found one in these crazy hobo bags.

i have to say i have become addicted to this bag. the first one was an attempt at a sort of sophisticated, subtle, stripey thing:


the next one i hinted at in my last post, as it dawned on me as i dutifully knit stripes on the last one that i had some noro to use up and this could be even more fun.
i call this one sunrise, sunset bag.
here it is in its full noro glory, felted, and either lying on the table in or hanging by the door of my favorite lys abuelita's.

it was so much fun to watch those colors evolve -- the addictive chemical ingredient of noro -- that it occurred to me that i could do even more, so...

i have done a third one as well. i was supposed to be writing up the pattern for the class i will be teaching on sunday, 5/17 (woo hoo!), but i couldn't stop myself from exploring the possibilities with this easy/fun pattern. look, prefelted:


see how much yarn i had left over when i finished it? that's it, in between the handles. i was sweatin' it. out of 6 skeins of kureyon.
here it is, finished, in all of its sloppy, floppy, hobo, hippie glory:

there's no perspective, so what you can't tell is that it is the perfect shoulder bag size, roomy but you're not going to be pulling floor lamps out of it a la mary poppins.

i call this one the "i wish i still had the purple and teal paisley shirt that would totally have gone with this" bag. for every big giant square on the first two that i did, on this one i did four little ones. which makes it look like a hippie quiltie hobo bag for sure! love love love it! i actually bought a zipper for this one and may line it with a worn out pair (many exist) of my little boy's pants. (angela/alittlebird's idea)

i have experimented with the handles each time. i hate to commit to one, but i think the last one, which does not involve any crocheting, and makes a good-looking, sturdy handle, will be my handle of choice.

meaning that, for the class, i actually probably won't have an entire sample to show them.

that is, unless the discontinued noro i got online cheap shows up promptly via the comfortably reliable UPS, and i go ahead and make another one for the class. what? you think i need hobo bag rehab? what if i told you thinking about hobo bag construction was keeping my head from exploding?

i knew you'd understand ;-)

but has UPS' ups and downs delayed my creative knitting insane startitis? no. look what the new "wish i had the paisley shirt" bag holds:



see this? and this? and this?

no, i can't help it if they conspired to make me do this:



another look:


there is a leaf stitch in the nancy bush book. it forms a triangular scarf that increases 2 stitches every other row. you tell me why it shouldn't occur to one to substitute that for the boring stockinette in the weekend cardi? hmmmm? because, you say, one knows nothing about lace, and there's no pattern for the half-diamonds along the front, the part of the sweater everyone will be looking at? that one may have to rip out and reunvent those triangles four or five times? why should that stop one? it's over 100 st. per row by the time you get to the second screwed up triangle?? hey -- the cardi increases at each raglan edge 2 stitches every other row! it's a natural!

and the yarn is fantastic -- not heavy and clunky like kitchen cotton -- it actually drapes and has a sense of itself.

now if i can only finish this thing before the noro gets here, i'll be good to go. cloning is my only other option.