Sophie mods and pre-felting photos

Here are the "before" photos for Charcoal Sophie:


The bottom, the strap, and 20% of the sides are complete here. Just 40 rows to go.


I'm trying a Double I-cord for the strap, another idea that I picked up from the Knitter's Review Forums.

• Cast on 7 st
• [K4, bring yarn to front, slip 3st as if to purl, turn]
• Repeat, repeat, repeat

Because the Double I-cord is 7st, I modified the pattern slightly so the handles would be centered.

• Knit the strap first, starting with a provisional cast on.
• When the strap is the desired length, put the stitches on a stitch holder. Now you have 7 live stitches on both ends of the strap, ready for grafting.
• When picking up stitches for the sides of the bag, pick up and knit 17 st on the short sides.
• When knitting the first row in the round, k39, PM, k17, PM, k39, PM, k17, PM.
• After knitting the 50 rows and all the decreases for the sides, you should end up with 72st total.
• BO 29 st, graft one end of the strap to the next 7 st, BO the next 29 st and graft the other end of the strap to the next 7 st, being careful not to twist the strap.

Here she is. Once I sew in a couple of loose ends, she'll be ready for the wash.