The Perfect Kait Bag

I've been trying to make Kait the perfect bag for nearly a year now. The problem wasn't in the knitting or with me. The problem was--she kept changing her mind about what she wanted. First, she said she'd really like this Fuzzy Bag in pink and black. So I bought hot pink fun fur and black Crystal Palace Iceland (oooh, spendy!). I started the bag.

About halfway through...
"Oh, but I want it bigger and with a strap I can wear diagonally...not those cord things."

Uh. Yeah. Changing the size means more yarn. I've already spent $35 plus shipping on 3 balls of the Iceland. Not to mention frogging and starting over. Not to mention changing the size and the strap pretty much loses the style of the bag. So I put it aside.

"Ooooh, I really like that!" she says, as I'm packaging up the laptop bag to send out. "But not those colors."

OK, so now she wants Noro Kureyon. In a colorway that doesn't include pink...or purple...or something? I can't remember now. As I wasn't too thrilled with the idea of buying yet more expensive yarn (What am I supposed to do with the Iceland? No one else wants a hot pink and black fuzzy bag! *sob*), I moved on to other things.

Finally, a crafty friend shared a link to reasonably priced Kureyon. I left the site up and told Kait she needed to pick the color she wanted. Days later--she hadn't chosen, the site was closed and the linked basically forgotten.

Then, I happened to be painting my younger daughters' bedroom last month. I decided to make them new duvet covers and curtains. We took a trip to JoAnn Fabrics. Of course, I had to check out their yarn department. Where I found Lion Brand Landscapes. Em chose Country Sunsets as being "Kait colors" (since neither of us actually liked them).

Some of the crafty girls were posting their Sophie Bags and I really wanted to make one. I figured the Landscapes (wool wrapped around an acrylic core) wouldn't felt up much (I was right), making for a larger bag. So a Sophie it would be.

I planned to work on the bag on the way to our annual beach vacation (15 hour drive each way). Since Kait was staying home to house and pet sit while attending school, I wanted to surprise her with it when we returned. But I wanted to make sure she'd like the yarn. So I just announced, "I bought some new yarn!" and waved it under her nose after showing her the fabric we'd chosen for the girls' curtains.

"That's really cool!"

WOO HOO! We done good!

Prefelted--

Finished, with a strap modification

(I forgot she didn't like the twisted i-cord)

She loves it! She's since wrapped hemp cord around the ring on the strap and wants me to make a matching cozy for her cell phone. Oh, and her friends all want one.

Yeah, fat chance.