Cardinal Bag Pattern

This is the story of how NOT to design and write up a pattern - at least not if you want to get the pattern out for anyone to buy.
Last summer when Mom passed away I decided to design a cardinal bag in her honor. She loved red. She loved cardinals. I designed a bag with her favorite colors and included a double pocket on the inside because I'm always losing my phone and iPod.

Once I got the bag felted I stuck a cake pan in a plastic bag inside the bag to help shape it while it dried.


So far so good. I planned on putting a handle on it that I found at a local fabric shop but didn't have time before Stitches Midwest. The first day at Stitches I found a wonderful handle shop. Homestead Heirlooms has the perfect handle. It was red leather 45" with a D ring clasp. That night I sewed on the handle and the bag saw some action when I met up with the She-Knits group that night for pizza and a chat.


Also knowing the bag needed a little more detail because Mom was all about little pins and bracelets and accessories, I found Ivy leaf buttons at JoAnn. They were from Blumenthal Lansing Co. and worked out perfect.


While getting all these things ready I sent out the pattern to be tested and the tester decided to make it in winter colors. Her bag was such an inspiration I needed to make a winter version to photograph for the pattern. That's when I ran into problems.

I made the winter version and decided to felt it looser to give knitters an option and they could see what the different felting would look like. I decided it needed a bit more felting but took pictures (with a bit too much help from Chief) anyway. Then the whole process came to a halt.

The pattern was written, done, complete. ready for sale except for felting the winter bag a bit more and getting pictures. There is where it has sat for forever.

Today I got a request for the pattern and I decided to get it out there without the best pictures of the winter version.
The pattern is written well and tested. I'm not aware of any mistakes but time will tell. It's now up for sale on Ravelry and can be purchased as a PDF download for $4.00

I hope you enjoy the pattern and, please, let me know if there are any problems reading or understanding the directions.

If you are interested in purchasing - click on the BUY NOW button and you can purchase it through Pay Pal.