First?

And I guessed right! Wooo Hooooo

Love it, and your cute pink remote.

The mini bag is so cute. Like you I am so paranoid aobut losing my bag when I go out. You have the perfect solution.

I love it! I'll be trying one this weekend!!

See you do make more than scarves like you told me last time. :)

I just finished a booga bag and it turned out really cute. Gotta take pics and post them.

When is it you go to France? Is the bag going with you?

Love the bag Purl. You must take it to Paris with you!
Inspired by Le Fear post from this weekend, this morning I purchased my tickets to go to Ireland in May. This will be my first international travel.

Vannessa -- WOW! That's huge, I am SO GLAD you're going, you will have a ball :)

Rhett, we leave ...uh. Near the end of the month. i feel weird about taking out an ad on the innernets LOL. I know, i am crazy!
thanks Donna & psychomom :)

That bag is adorable. I think I am finally ready to jump ship and try making something other than a scarf. Your brangelina hat inspired me.

How cute!!! I'm going to make one for my daughter! (in black of course......she's been wearing only black for a year now.

Check your PO box today....my package could be there.

This is so, so cute! I do hope you know many of us are waiting for a tutorial on increasing. I must admit I am scared of increasing. Decreasing, not so much.

This is a great stash reducer too, I can see doing this with the leftover bits of yarn I have...

Yay! Very cute bag. You should submit some of these you know!

that first picture I thought you were knitting a MERKIN!!!

I love the bag - it is "tres chic". (Is that how you say it?) This weekend I am going to make the brangelina hat for my friend that lives in NYC. Thanks for the inspiration!

Oooooh, I love it! Now where's the Brangelina hat? I've got the most perfect wool yarn sitting on my shelf, waiting to be Brangelinized.

(We're awfully demanding here on the Internets, aren't we?)

(I need me one of those bags. I tend to jam all my going-out stuff into my back pockets. Minus the lipstick. It would probably melt. I'm very, very, very lucky I haven't lost anything. Yet. It's probably only a matter of time.)

I am laughing so hard at Cheryl's comment that I stopped breathing for a minute. Whew. MERKIN. Hi-lar-i-ous.

Anyhoo, the bag is very cute, very quick, and a fabulous idea. Leave it to you to come up with something so clever.

Laurie, this looks so fun, and like you said, so practical. I think that this will be the perfect project for me to finally try felting. I want to make this bag soon:

http://www.larissmix.typepad.com/spork/

but I'm afraid of knitting so much and then doing something wrong during the felting process. Your cute bag will probably end up being my gateway drug into the felting world. :0)

Adorable! I've been looking for a little something sweet to make a young girl who is about to become an older sister (sibling displacement syndrome?), and i think this is perfect. Thanks!

Genius! And I love the Hello Kitty remote!

Laurie--You are so adventerous! (Yes, you.) Making up your own patterns. The bag is a great idea. I have a couple of previously unused braclets in my jewelry box that I think are going to have a new life.

Colleen--It is practically impossible to mess up the felting process. For the truly paranoid (like me), just stand by the washer, pull it out every 5-7 minutes to check and stop the job when it's to the point you like. After the first few times, I can now go a whole 12-15 minutes without checking!

What a fantabulous idea! Thank you Purl!

Very cute bag, Laurie. And a very clever design. I'm thinking I might make one for my daughter.

Since I managed to post a comment before there were 300 comments ahead of me, I just want to say I love your blog and I admire you tremendously. Watching your growth over the last year or so has been really inspiring. And funny, too. I think there are a lot of us out here who you don't even know about who are rooting for you to find complete happiness, love, courage and more Up Country yarn.

haugh, haugh *hairball*!

:)

SO FREAKING CUTE!!!!

I'm going to make like...8. Because they're that cute. I'm going to line them all up and look at them lovingly every evening. :)

Thanks Diane for the felting advice! Count me as one of the truly paranoid. :0) I will give this a try.

It's official ... you're a knitter! ;)

Laurie, you're a DESIGNER! I'm so very impressed. Bracelet bag, hello, what a great idea! I have a hard time keeping up with my valuables too.

Hello Kitty Remote. You are crazy. Nice codpiece, too.

This is sooooo cool!
Finally I know what to use my copper-coloured Brazilia Lamé for! And I am confident that I will get this done by April 3d to use during the "big dinner invitations" while business traveling to Barcelona and Bologna- will try to send you a picture...

All the best from grey and cloudy Germany,
Doro

And isn't Prom season coming up soon? I just sent a link to your Blog to my girlfriend whose daughter just bought her dress for Senior Prom.

Trust us: Increasing ain't no big thang.

But please tell this midwesterner what a Merkin is. Is it something like a cod-sack? *snicker*

What's a merkin?

Cute!!

Love Felting!! It is my favorite knitting project. You picture a front loader in your page, & yes you can felt in a front loader, but it is not reccomended. You can not check your project mid-felt & many times you do not want it to spin. In which case in a front loader you can not stop mid cycle. Just a felting tip is all. Cute purse. I may make one for my Mom who is going cruising to Europe next year. Thanks!

Go here for some information on Merkins. By the way, the Scottish purse is a Sporran, not a merkin, but it still gives you a good idea.

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_232.html

you only messed up one thing: This bag wants to be called "It Gets Felted Anyway". Other than that, ...PERFECTO!

Designer Laurie! Knitting book in the future?? Only because I have used many of your ideas. The co-worker scarf? Sized it huge to make a beautiful wrap for my sister-in-law.

I have a front loader and haven't had any problems felting. I have a short pre-wash cycle on mine that works well.

Maggie - I checked out that link. TMI! Sorry I asked.

Cute bag design! It's simple and quick, and I like that you can felt it in a pillowcase. That way the fuzz doesn't block up the drain. Good idea. :)

Cute, cute, cute!! I have left my purse in soooooo many bars. Never again!

Is that Bob's "le tigre" pose?

Well, Laurie, you got me again. I read an entire blog about knitting. And I really enjoyed all your asides. Very funny! If only you were in Philly...oh boy.

One comment about the bag. No offense, but it kinda looks like my bosses' toupee. In a cute way, though.

I tell ya...black fuzzy yarn not a good idea for hand knit thong...unless it is part of a Lady Godiva costume.

Love the bracelets. Great idea, I always hate keeping up with small bags unless they are firmly attached to me.

That is cute! You should take it for a spin tonight. I think it will come in handy in Paris!

Hey, a merkin is a wig to wear under the thong. Really. Sometimes it helps to be old. Well, not really. But there was a movie called Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness - and merkins were all the rage then.

I loves it! I love that it can be made of leftover yarn and AND! left over bracelets. Very cool.

And I love that you have a Hello Kitty remote. Splendiferous.

Oh! And I just realized that you used a pica ruler in your before and after felting shots! You have to be a graphic designer too, no? Do you remember the days of paste-up? I worked in paste-up at a Florida daily paper many years ago, and I still have scars on the tips of my fingers from when my exacto blade would jump that same type of pica ruler and slice me. And then after the paper went to press and we got off at 1am we'd head over to the local bar and play darts. Memories . . . :0)

Ah, yes.

A Hello Kitty remote.

Of course.

Tee hee. Cute and creative. Go you!

Curiosity killed the cat. Learning something new everyday.

http://www.merkinworld.com/

When the nurse prepped me for my c-section, I requested an arrow. Cheep thrills.

Great bag Laurie! I must make some for my girls. We like to go dancing and are always on the hunt for dance night bags. Our prerequisite is that it must have room for our contraband vodka.

Okay, that's fantastic!

I'm always on the hunt for both handbag patterns and fast patterns to use as gifts, so this is exactly my kind of thing. Thanks so much for sharing!

WOW - I love it, now I want to learn to knit... (no new things to spend money on, no new things to spend money on...) & why great kitty helpers you have! (Maybe I can quilt one.... The bracelets idea is truely inspired, I'm with you on the "I need it close to my body" wavelength...)

You should try sending that pattern out to a knitty magazine... I know people who would buy that pattern, it is clever, quick, & easy!

Enough gushing on my part...

i understand.... i am just preparing myself for the sad withdrawal from your postings. i read your site daily from work. :) it is the bright spot in my eversogray work place.

have a good time!

Too Cute!!!
I thought I was the only one who called their patterns "recipes". I find that you and i have a lot in common.

Very cute! I'll have to give this a try when I'm comfortable with the increasing and decreasing aspect of it all.

so cute! can you make a briefcase for me like that? something cute but that will hold the 35lbs of shit i carry with me every day? no?

ok just thought i'd ask

Frankie and Bob want you to make one for each of them so they can stuff them with kitty treats.

when ARE you going to france?

WOOHOO one more gift on my Christmas knitting list.
Thank you so much for the pattern!

A great idea... it could have a velcro closing sewn in to stop any thing sliding out as you drink the vino and flirt with Marcell & Henri.
Have yourself a blast and at least one adventure.
I got lost in Paris with a girlfriend and had to walk back to the hotel late at night. No one spoke English and it was only lucky that I had written the name of the hotel on a card for some reason. Also, I have a very good sense of direction. AND we were staying way outside the ring road so a lot of bloody walking.
This after walking from the Lourve to the Arc de Triomph and BACK!!!!! Scary but an adventure..

i think your calling is a school teacher. i would have gotten everything with such prefect examples.

Great Lauries think alike. I started knitting a cute evening bag for my upcoming trip to Jamaica, also while watching Jaws, my favorite Sunday movie. I don't have bracelets, but thanks to the recent Berocco newsletter, I'm going to use aquarium tubing for the handles.

Quick question, though: Does the felting process mess with the fizzy yarn?
Love the Hello Kitty remote. I saw a Hello Kitty TV/DVD player at Target and sooooo wanted it.

www.merkinworld.com is HILARIOUS.

Love your little handbag! Love your Hello Kitty remote! Love your beautiful kitties! Love actually is all around us!

I am totally following your recipe, as soon as I finish the cardigan I am currently knitting. (And being faithful to. I want this cardigan! Hello, product knitting!) In fact you may have helped me with some of my Christmas knitting right here. :) Also! I made a Co-worker Scarf with 18 stitches on #11 needles with Lion Brand ChunkyUSA, a bunch of which I bought at Michael's last year when they were clearing it out for 50 cents a skein. It's really cute in the ChunkyUSA, and only required one skein. I'm just sayin, in case anybody else bought a bunch of it on sale and then didn't really know what to do with it...like moi. :)

Excellent!

too cute! I can see making several of those for the little miss. and maybe even one for me. and presents!!!! thanks for posting such good instructions. I have been loop-stitching almost everything since you posted that :)
Tonja

It is very very cute!! and I LOVE the remote!

I'm just glad you're making something for GOING OUT. That right there is pure-n-ty progress.

Laurie.. that bag looks like a bush in dire need of a brazilian wax... ieeeuwwww...

My first thought was indeed along the merkin/pubic hair line. But how cute would that purse be in a nice sparkly hot pink? Pink! It would match your pink cell phone.

that. is. adorable.

now do it one in pink!!

ahem, that should say "now do one in pink". i blame blogger.

In pink it would look like Pink's bush..

Handbags should be bought whilst giving your credit card a nervous breakdown.. Don't knit something in 2 hours and take it with you to Paris of all places... pu-hu-liezz...

Wow. The bag. Um...

Have a nice trip to Paris, France!

@Laurie in Austin: pink cell phone? What do you call that thing you are typing on?

Holy crap! I just visited the merkin site. Funny! I think I'd be really hesitant if I was confronted with one of those for real.

It's NOT KNITTING ... but you HAVE TO check out these cross stitching patterns!

http://subversivecrossstitch.com/

quite a hoot!

"@Laurie in Austin: pink cell phone? What do you call that thing you are typing on?"

Um... I call it a keyboard. Why do you ask? And, yes, pink cell phone. Laurie has the pink razr phone and showed it to us a past posting.

What an adorable bag, Laurie!! Thanks for sharing the recipe.

Did/do any of the southern ladies of your acquaintance call a recipe a receipt? My childhood friend's grandmother did, and we always giggled about it. Now I feel mean, seeing as how she's dead and all. But I'm pretty sure it's not because we laughed at her.

How is Roy?

Ok, I go away for a few hours and I come back and the following has happened:

1) MERKINS???

2) People seeing bikini wax in my poor lil' handbag's future (trust me, it's hard to photograph black and no, it does not look like a bush on a handle) (but! FUNNY! Bush on a handle!)

3) The bag isn't actually black, it's charcoal grey, but every time I tried to use flash, it bounced off the bracelets (so it's grey bush! HAR HAR)

4) Ya'll. Really. I learn so much here.

I also pity the poor merkin-lovers who google their ...um... images of choice, and end up on a knitting/cat/foolishness website. heheheheh

My poor children will be subjected to merkins tonight. They should not have to wait until they are 44 to find out about this kind of stuff. Ignorance is not always bliss.

you are such a smartypants - bracelet handles - what a great idea!

As for you merkin fans - just be glad no one has ever asked you to apply one to someone at work (and you have to have a straight face and find a polite way to say, "You are not paying me enough to touch that stripper's hoo hoo. Call me again when we go union.") Yes, it's happened to me. EEeechhh

OK. I see lots of discussion of making a bag to match your pink cellphone but that still doesn't answer my question. Is the bag large enough to hold ID, lipstick, money, keys, AND cellphone?

Where the heck did you get that Hello Kitty Remote??!
My daughter (19) loves anything HK.
Hmmm... maybe I could make a pink bag w/HK on it.

The HK remote goes with the pink HK tiny teevee in the guest room :)

Dagny -- it all fits!!

Oh, and to the person who said a handmade bag isn't cool enough to take to Paris ... hi! You are so not a knitter!! heheheh If I could have knit myself a suitcase you'd know I'd be felting that sucker as we speak ;)

ohhh a felted suitcase.....I bet it could be done!!!!!! Think of it!!! OMG!! (yeah that post was just a troll!)

Will you add a lining? Or does the felting close up all the holes?

i think i have a new exclaimation to use! Thank you laurie!!! "Well,FLAAAAAMING MERKINS!" yes it is a good thing...
nice bag btw....hee,hee,hee....*snicker*...i hope i didn't give all my old bangles to the neighbor girl to play dressup with!

psychomom... it doesn't need a lining at all, no holes! It's very dense fabric. Flaming merkins!!

quelle adorable! (hope I spelled that right, but hey, I took German in high school, so what do I know?)

Oooh at first it looked like a woolly thong!

I couldn't make that bag, my cats would'nt help.

No, they just have looked at me in disgust.

Stay cool
V

Can I please call this my "drunk night out bag"?

I agree with everyone else -- what a great idea! It uses , things we all have: leftover yarn and leftover bangles. Plus, wouldn't it also hold sock knitting??? (You know, just in case it's a really boring evening......)

Love the bag, Purl. Ingenious idea. I'm going to have to whip one up for mee-self. I'll have to come up with my own "recipe" as you call it. I don't knit, just crochet like crazy. I don't know how I found your blog but I'm glad I did. You're hysterically funny. Oh, and I love your fur-babies - so sweet and cute.

I just love your Hello Kitty pink remote!!! Havea a great time on your vacation!

It's a wonderful purse and perfect for a trip to Paris! Hope it will be one of the patterns in your first knitting book. ;o)

Laurie
Very funky little bag. Keep up the great blog. Reading it is hilarious.
Mia

WOW! You are good! (I guess?) ;)

Laurie - again with you rocking the casbah! And you just gave me a fantabulous idea for 1)Christmas, and 2) how to finish a bag I'm going to be working on next month.

So much love!

It's M.I.L.K. purse! Got MILK? that's the code when leaving to go out for Girl's Night. All you need is Money, Identification, Lipstick and Keys.

Love it. I am a purse finatic and would love to make this! I'm bookmarking this post immediately! The thong would be a bit scratchy, though, no?!

What a great idea! And if I make one, I can think of "Jaws" every time I use it (my all-time favorite movie)!

Lauriegirl! I don't care about the bag, because I have no nightlife, but I want to know ALL ABOUT the Hello Kitty remote! Do you have a Hello Kitty TV???

That bag ROCKS.

I love this bag!!!! I don't wanna knit one - I wanna buy one from you!

What a fun little bag! I can finally do something with all those bangle braclets we used to wear in junior high! I'll have to make up one for each of my girlfriends - thanks so much for the pattern! :)

what a fun project!

I'm another regular reader in awe of your talent and itching to go and make one of those cute bags. Even though I don't normally use a bag smaller than a daypack. Yes, even when I go out at night.

And to the person the other day who wondered why you got so many responses - let's see, lots of cute photos, funny yet poignant writing, really useful knitting tips that inspire people and demystify techniques...

I'm joining the Please Publish a Knitting Book Aunt Purl brigade.

I just LOVE the bag - the possibilities are endless! And much love for the Hello Kitty remote! Do you have the HK toaster as well?

Brilliant! That would be great for carrying a sock while knitting and walking or something. I'll definitely have to give it a try rather than buying a bag for that purpose. Thanks for the free (and entertaining) pattern!

Adorable! Brilliant! Please put up a more printible version of this ASAP! Thank you!

I'm curious what the TV looks like that goes with that pink remote!

Great bag!
Lol Colleen, I thought the same thing- Hey a pica ruler!

That is the sweetest bag. It may just make me strike out to unknown territory (something besides hats and scarves).

Bookmarked for future reference!

I've been lurking on your blog for ages and very much enjoying it. I just wanted to let you know I made two of these fabulous little bags, and I love them! What an ingenious design.

Thank you for sharing the recipe!