Les Tuileries Evening Bag (No. 150)

The day was spent in the garden, walking along avenues, under arched trellises, past espalier pear trees. Later, you grabbed that little bag you made just for this trip. Dinner in Paris. The bag sits on the table like a pastry or still life. The marble of the tables feels cool to the touch. Watching the people walk past, lingering over a baguette, cheeses that amaze, and wine with notes of flowers, honey, fresh raspberries. Delightful in hand-dyed or beaded silk, a scattering of sparkle rivet stars.

Lovely in felt for an evening at the opera, it’s lushness perfection with velvet and satin. A beautiful gift to yourself or for someone special.

Pattern Difficulty

Bags -- Intrepid Easy: Requires knowledge of knitting, purling, increasing, decreasing, knitting in the round on circular needles, working 3-needle bind off.

Cactus Flowers -- Intrepid Intermediate: requires knowledge of knitting and purling, increasing and decreasing, picking up sts, working in the round on double-pointed needles, and some simple hand-sewing and wiring.

Gauge

Bags

Pre-felted gauge: 16 sts and 22 rounds = 4” (10cm) using a single-strand of worsted weight yarn.
Felted/non-felted gauge: 19 - 20 sts and 40 rounds = 4” (10cm).

Flowers

24 sts and 32 rows over 4” (10cm) using a single-strand of worsted weight yarn on a size 6 (4mm) needle or needle size to obtain gauge.

Materials

Bags

Felted Bag
263 yds (240m) worsted weight, feltable yarn
Size 8 (5mm) 24” (60cm) circular needle or needle size to obtain the pre-felted gauge

Unfelted Bag
168 yds (154m) worsted weight silk or other yarn
Size 6 (4mm) 24” (60cm) circular needle or needle size to obtain non-felted gauge

Both Bags
Tapestry needle, sewing needle, and like-colored nylon beading thread
Stitch markers, 1 in contrasting color for beginning of round 1
Noni 6.8” snap purse frame (FSN)
7mm and 10mm Noni Sparkle Rivets in red, pink, blue, purple, green, clear, or black to decorate the front face of the bag

Cactus Flowers

Size 6 (4mm) double-pointed needles (set of 5) or needle size needed to knit the flowers densely (i.e. at the recommended gauge)
At a dense gauge, each flower requires approximately 20 yds (18m) of worsted weight yarn. If felting, use a feltable yarn. Knitters with a looser gauge will find that their flowers require more yarn. Please purchase enough yarn for your project.
Lock-stitch markers used as stitch holders for petals (5 holders)
Sharp, large-eyed darning needle
28 gauge beading or brass wire
7mm and 10mm Noni Sparkle Rivets in red, pink, blue, purple, green, clear, or black to decorate the flower centers

Fiber Options

The felted bag was made in Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd’s Wool in Christmas Red. The felted beaded bag was made in Tilli Tomas Flurries in Chocolate Cherry with Noni Sparkle Rivets in red. The unembellished silk bag was made with ArtYarns Silk Pearl in pale yellow (#224). The embellished silk bag was made with 1 skein of ArtYarns Beaded Pearl & Sequins followed by 1 skein of Silk Pearl, both in pale yellow (#224) and then decorated with lots of Noni Sparkle Rivets in clear.

Pictured flowers are made with ArtYarns Beaded Pearl & Sequins (worsted weight; 100% silk with glass beads & sequins; 80 yds 73m per 1 3/4oz 50g skein) #142 with Noni Sparkle Rivets in Pink.