Evolution of a stripy felt pouch!

So here is the story behind these handmade felt pouches- 

I have been working on them for about 2 months and I must confess to being very relieved and pleased to have finished the pattern at last.

Originally I made these cheeky little pouches just for fun out of left over yarn from an old tapestry kit. By the time I had finished them I was thinking about doing something a bit different- diagonal stripes! 

 So I started experimenting.

First of all I tried stranding the yarn as you do for fair isle knitting. I did not even finish a pouch like that as the knitting was far too thick, however  I have now learnt why stranded patterns are so popular in the Highlands of Scotland they make a double thickness fabric which must be incredibly warm!

After much fiddling around I had a break through and started weaving the yarns at the back in a similar way to Intarsia knitting but also moving the yarns up and across the work at the same time.

My 2nd stripey pouch, was a bit tatty as I felted it in a hurry . 

I just wanted to see how the pattern would come out!  I was happy with the diagonal stripes they curve all around the pouch just as I had hoped but the band of stripes was too deep- It clashes with the button placement.

Time for pouch number 3

This one I'm happy with, unfortunately I had only got my rough notes to show how I made it.

This meant it was time to knit pouch number 4 slowly and carefully taking notes all the time so I could write the pattern for it when I had finished. I also adapted it at the same time to use 3 colours instead of 4.

Next I wanted to try taking the stripe pattern all the way up the pouch. I had no idea how long it would take to figure this out.

After a week of knitting and thinking I created this finished pouch, although this one looks OK I know the shaped point on the back did not work at all!I was not very happy with the thick stripe on the side either so I started playing just with the shaping.

After a few more days of knitting and unraveling I came up with a pattern I 'm happy with.

So now I have two patterns using 3 or 4 colours and a complex pattern with stripes all over!

These patterns are available in my Ravelry store so if you are tempted to make one yourself you can!