Pink is the new Brown Bag

It's called "That's Pink." Clearly.

As some of you may know, I've been freelancing for quite a while now. Most of the time, I work from home, but I'll be working with a client on-site for the next few months.

This brings up an interesting conundrum. On the one hand, I loathe fast food (except for an Egg McMuffin whenever we fly somewhere. Don't ask, I can't explain it, just have to have one - with a hash brown smushed in the middle - on the way to the airport. Luckily, we don't fly very often!). On the other hand, I'm inherently lazy when it comes to packing a lunch. I know, it's a vicious cycle. One that often has me driving aimlessly around the office neighborhood for 20 minutes because a) I'm starving and therefore slightly delirious, and b) nothing sounds good.

Time for some obnoxiously bright inspiration! Enter the Pink Brown Bag!

All aboard!
Since I was riding the Nyquil express last weekend (thanks for all of your well wishes, btw!), this turned out to be a great way to break the whiny couch potato boredom get in some knitting without having to worry about things like gauge and counting.

It's a super easy pattern - even on a cold medicine high I was able to whip it out in a day. Just two little mods: did it double-stranded with worsted weight yarn and upped the CO from 25 to 30 stitches to hit the pre-felted width.

Look how perky!

I knitted the bottom on 10s, but moved up to a 13, 24" Addi when all those body stitches hit scrunchy town. In retrospect, I prolly shoulda started over and done the whole thing on 13s with the suggested number of CO stitches, but I was coughing up a lung and couldn't be bothered with stuff like logic.

The different needle sizes didn't really matter, though - it all meshed perfectly fine once felted! The final size is about 8.5" h x 8" w x 4" d. Just right for a Tupperware container, plus a couple of snackies! Maybe even a piece of fruit, too. Although, that might throw my body into shock...

I know, I'm overexposed. Just call me PiBro.

Oh, and here's a handy little tip I learned from my Noni Bag - snap some binder clips on the sides while it's drying to get those nice, firm creases!

Yarn thoughts
This is Patons Classic Wool Merino, a yarn that's readily available at your local big box craft store. It's super cheap (especially with a coupon), comes in plenty of bright colors, and felts like a champ - this only needed one cycle!

As far as I can tell, it didn't bleed, either. The last thing I felted turned my zippered pillowcase a loooovely shade of grey, but there wasn't a hint of pink left on this one. The yardage worked out perfectly, too - I used every. single. inch of those two skeins on this bag. There's not even a piece of lint left over!

It's too scratchy for me to consider for wearables, but this is definitely my new felting go-to yarn. Half the cost of Cascade 220, and I don't have to wait for the random 3 hours a week my LYS seems to be open these days.

Oh, and that little white accent on the flap is just some leftover KP WoTA Bulky from my overs bag.

Wrap it up
It's bright and obnoxious - so of course, I love it! ;) Pinky here will hopefully inspire me to pack my lunch, so I won't have to drive around looking for food during my work day. Not that that isn't fun and all, but since I actually got excited when gas fell to $3.98 a gallon the other day - how sad is that! - staying put might be a better way to go.

Pink is the New Brown Bag
Pattern: Brown Bag from knitty, Winter 2006
Yarn: Patons Classic Wool Merino, 2 skeins in That's Pink + KP WoTA Bulky in White
Needle: Addi Turbo, Size 13, 24" (size 10s for the bottom)
Mods: Used double-stranded worsted weight, upped the CO to 30 stitches