Reincarnation

Poor nerys, she turned out to have an undeniable design failure ~ she was far to bulky for regular wear, too wide and too heavy. I can't bear to see a knit like that languish forever in some forgotten corner, unloved. I have much to learn about scarf design. I also have a few things to learn about knitted bags, the most crucial of which is ~

• The lining is the strength of the bag, until a lining is found and inserted the bag is unusable, or you'll quickly find it stretching where it shouldn't be. This is why alish and candlestick were in my wip basket for so long, no lining.

So, nerys has been unravelled, and my next project is going to be a more practical home for the lovely blue Rowan Big Wool. I found a pair of grey corduroy trousers my mum bought me years ago, which don't really fit and I've been dying to cut up. My plan is to combine the two to create a sturdy satchel, the true workhorse of the urban bag.

I've solved the problem of the chart of the Surprise; the chart is on squared paper, so a square with 22 stitches has 22 rows, whereas my tension will mean a square with 22 stitches has 30 rows. So I simply need to put those 8 rows into the chart, i.e. lengthen the chart by 8 rows for every 22 rows so that when knitted the image isn't squashed down, but is in proportion. My chart has 120 rows, so I need to add 44 rows. I plan to add these evenly spaced throughout the chart, and simply duplicate the row below. This means that I just need to mark on the chart with a pencil line where the extra rows will go, and I don't need to redraw the entire thing, huzzay! (I hope!).

Edited to add: I've decided not to put the pattern for nerys on ravelry, since I unravelled it it hardly seems fair. I hate saying I'm going to do something and then backing out, sorry! But if you are brave and want to try the pattern (maybe in a less bulky wool?) feel free to email me for the instructions and chart.