My sister gave me this lovely little bag last year, the Best Friend bag from Knitty - in aqua cashmere!!! I knew I needed to add handles, though; I was too afraid of leaving it in some restaurant, or on a checkout counter somewhere. So, I asked if I could trade her for the rest of the yarn, so I could make handles. (Jenn, I don't think I ever gave you anything for this, lemme know if you have any ideas!)
I let it sit for a few months, it wasn't very high on my priority list, and I'd never done I-cords before. I only realized this after editing my Ravelry profile, that I've been knitting for 4 years, without trying such a basic technique. It sort of bothered me, so I put a few other things aside for an evening, and knit up a pair of 9" I-cords (5 sts on sz2 needles.) Turns out, they're easy peasy! I should've figured, but I'm a fairly shy knitter. I'm trying to remedy that, though! I did my first short rows on the Blue Sky Alpacas Pleated Skirt I'm working on (watch for more details on Wednesday!) Anyhoo, I used the tail ends to sew jump rings onto the ends, and then threaded them up through the I-cord itself. When I moved both ends to the middle, I knotted them and stretched the handles slightly, to draw the knotted ends up into the I-cord. I wanted the handles to be sturdy, and not stretch too much when I wanted to carry heavier items like my camera or sunglasses. I'm very pleased with the results, I feel like they won't stretch unless the knots pull out - and I took my Mom's advice and tied my knots in the opposite direction of one another. Did you know if you tie them the same they can pull out, easy as punch?!?! Thanks, Mom! It's an awesome tip to learn & know!!! Thanks also to Jenn, who's one of the most talented knitters I know!
This bag is lovely!
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