Every problem has a ... silk lining

Going through some old posts and cleaning up the blog a bit.  Here's a purse I finished just before Stitches Midwest.  Used some chunky yarn in my stash and whipped up this awesome purse in a satisfyingly short amount of time.  Inspired by Pat, who made the same one!

We took a class on lining knitted items.  The keys:

1.  Think long, basting-like stitches with thread.  

2.  Start in the middle of the item.  

3.  Neither end is knotted - you just leave a 3-5 inch tail and tuck it in.  The instructor claimed that she had lined a jacket with this technique, and she has never had a problem with the thread catching and tearing out.

4.  After the first row, sew rows on either side, about 1" apart.  Pooch up the fabric a little in between, which lends some "give" to the fabric.

Thanks go out to my neighbor, who gave me a treasure trove of some silk scarves that she had inherited.  Found a perfect one for the lining of this one.  The only problem - I picked out handles that were too small, so I can barely get the purse open!

Lovely stone button found at Stitches Midwest, sewn on in place of the ribbon that the pattern calls for. I'm just not a ribbon and bow kind of gal.  :)

Pattern:  Christine bag

Yarn:  Berroco Sundae, I think