Pink "suede"

The other day I started a new project...a bag, of course! It's a fun pattern I've had my eye on from Knitty. Here's the pattern. It's a cute little purse made of "suede" yarn. I didn't feel like searching out the exact yarns the pattern called for, so I decided to just find some nice yarn that would make a fun purse. I had settled on a blue/purple variegated stuff, I forget what it's called, but then I turned around...and found this:

Lion Suede, in "Rose"

I just had to have that yarn! It's by Lion Brand, and it's called Lion Suede, and it's just so pink, and so soft and fun. I wasn't necessarily after a "suede" yarn like the pattern calls for but when I spotted this I decided it was fate, since I wasn't really jumping up and down about my previous selection. This got me excited to make the bag, so I knew it was the right yarn! They had other great colors too...a couple of nice purples, one so dark it's almost black.

So I anxiously began my bag, and, so far so good. I have made a couple of modifications to the pattern, mainly because my yarn is thicker than what's called for so I had to reduce my stitch count. I also decided that I wanted to knit it in the round instead of flat with a seam on the side. I decided this partly because who wants a seam where there doesn't need to be one? and also because after swatching this yarn, I found that it's one that you need to keep an even tension on, or you'll get visible irregularities in your stitches--it's not too forgiving. I decided that I'd be more likely to keep it all neat and even if I was just knitting around and around and not purling.

I also noticed when I did my swatch that it's hard to cast on loosely. So for the bag I cast on with a size larger needles. I am still using pretty small needles for this yarn (7s, I think, rather than the 9s the yarn recommends) so it's pretty tight, but do-able.

One thing I am intrigued by is the effect I am getting with this yarn. It's hard to describe, but my stitches are doing funny things such that I am ending up with something akin to corduroy. And since it's so soft and nice like corduroy, that makes it seem all the more like it! Kind of fun actually.

My only fear, which I hope turns out to be unfounded, is that this yarn will "worm" like chenille. It is a similar yarn to chenille, but a lot "denser"...there are more fuzzies to this yarn. Anyway, here's to hoping for no worms!