Couple a' Bags

The bag on the left is from the natural dye day at Marilyn's last summer and the yarn is spun of luster long-wool, I think maybe Border Leicester. I'm not sure that it matters any more as knitted luster long-wools seems to felt up pretty much the same. The color sources are marigold for the gold, rose madder for the handles and (unseen) base and indigo overdyed on cottonwood for the teal. I'm going to knit another set of handles from the overdyed madder gray wool on the top. These are a bit too anemic for my taste. The bags change so drastically after being felted that it's hard for me to think how they'll look while I'm knitting.

Both of these bags have the same number of stitches, but the purple bag is from Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride and I think the crimpier wool felts different. It's narrower and taller. I'm trying to decide if this is important, and if so, how I can use it as a design element. I carry a squatty bag and it's easy to access the contents. I'm not so sure I'd like to carry the taller bag, though I like it's looks better. But then I have already admitted that I'm shallow and easily swayed by pretty appearances.