cats love lace

I finished the art lace bag from Interweave Knits! My bag is slightly smaller than the one in the pattern. The bag in the pattern was knit at 2 stitches/ inch and the final dimensions were 19 inches wide at the bottom, 12 inches wide at the top and 13 inches tall. I knit my bag at 2 1/2 stitches/ inch and the final dimensions were 16 inches wide at the bottom, 8 1/2 inches wide at the top and 9 inches tall. I had been worried about sewing in the lining and attaching the handles, but that ended up going very smoothly as well. I was able to do both this evening after buying the supplies at the fabric store (which were, by the way, very reasonable) today.

One thing about lace knitting that I had forgotten from my last foray into lace is that cats are particularly interested in sitting on lace knitting instructions. Perhaps they can sense that you need to look down at the pattern more frequently than usual? They are undoubtedly attracted to the energy. Thankfully, my cat Maxwell, who is the most attracted to lace-knitting-pattern-sleeping, can be easily transferred to a lap, as long as it is my lap. Now that I have guinea pigs who like to nibble on yarn, the frequent batting at knitting that cats do seems inconsequential. Mostly. I spent a good bit of time knitting this bag with at least one cat on my lap and another eyeing the instructions.



Knit bag pre-lining and handles.



Finished bag and closeup. I chose a deep magenta-purple to contrast the orange. Flashy.