Mods: I used size 10 versus 10.5 needles since all of my longer Needlemaster cords were in use and I had the size 10 circs from a previous project. I never understood why there’s a size 10.5 needle. To compensate for the smaller needle, I cast on 36 stitches vs. 34, and knit for 36 rows. This also meant I had to pick up more stitches. I didn’t do the I-cord strap. Instead, with 2 strands of Fun Fur and the wool, I cast on 9 stitches and knitted in garter stitch until I ran out of Fun Fur. Normally I would have picked up stitches on the bag sides and knitted the strap to prevent later finishing work. But I wasn’t too sure how the strap would felt. So I did the strap separately. The strap was maybe 6-7 feet long when done knitting. After felting, I pinned the strap to the bag and adjusted it to the length I liked. I ended up having about an extra 6” of strap on each end. I could have cut the strap to the desired length. Instead, I sewed the extra down the side of the bag, to help reinforce the sides. I used some left over red fun fur from a chemo hat to sew the straps in place in the inside of the bag. You won’t be able see what you’re doing. So I felt around with the needle to pick up a bit of felt without going all the way through the bag and then attached the strap. Red embroider floss probably could be used too. Just comb out the strands of fur that get caught in the stitches. The fun fur is a bit more invisible, however it did like to get tangled up as I was sewing. The nice thing about the fun fur is that you can’t see your crappy hand stitching.
It took about 3 cycles in my washer to get the bag to fully felt.
For some reason I ended up using almost twice as much fun fur as stated in the pattern (designed by my friend Eve!). The pattern states to hold the fun fur double, which I did. However, I might have been fine holding it single.
Sewing the facial features together has been the most time consuming part. I’m using cheap craft felt and traced various household objects to get the shapes. I’m using a backstitch with thread held double. Polar fleece or other fabric could probably be used as well. I thought about using my machine to at least sew the pieces together. But I’m still kind of scared of my machine! Some of the fur will get caught in the stitching so you will have to brush or comb the fur out. And yes you will feel silly for brushing your bag.Mods: I used size 10 versus 10.5 needles since all of my longer Needlemaster cords were in use and I had the size 10 circs from a previous project. I never understood why there’s a size 10.5 needle. To compensate for the smaller needle, I cast on 36 stitches vs. 34, and knit for 36 rows. This also meant I had to pick up more stitches. I didn’t do the I-cord strap. Instead, with 2 strands of ... Read full instructions »Difficulty:
This monster bag is meant to eat up that embarrassing Fun Fur stash you accumulated as a beginner knitter. I had bought a ridiculous amount of red Fun Fur thinking Id turn into a blanket when I first started knitting. I was inspired by all of the uber cute monster bags Ive seen on craftster.org.
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