I am delighted to let you know that Stonehedge Fiber Mill will continue to sell their gorgeous 100% USA-Made Merino to Noni! We began our businesses at almost the same time and became connected way back in 2008. Nonibags are best made with this yarn. I am excited about the ways that Stonehedge Fiber Mill is evolving and moving toward hand-dyeing. It's so exciting! More to come as they introduce new future colors and products!

Shepherd's Wool by Stonehedge Fiber Mill is a 3-ply worsted weight yarn made and milled in Michigan by a family-owned and run company. The yarn is fabulously soft, made from fine Merino top. There are 17 saturated solids from which the all the heathers and marls are created for a complete palette of delicious colors.

The yarn is perfect for felting, making it my first choice for felted bags and flowers. Because the colors are so vibrant and alive, Shepherd's Wool worsted and fingering was also my pick for many of the flowers in Noni Flowers - the Shepherd's Wool flowers always look at the peak of floral perfection, rather than garish and overly bright or too muted for flowers at their best.

But it is much more than a great felter: we feel this yarn rivals some top brand Cashmeres, making it wonderful to knit with and a pleasure to wear, even next to bare skin. Once you knit with this yarn, you will find an excuse to make mittens, sweaters, gauntlets, Ella Coats, and hats out of it. You'll find yourself saving even tiny bits so you can make crazy ski beanies out of it. You might not want to knit with anything else . . .

Each 4 oz skein contains 250 yds (228.5m) and knits at about 5 sts/inch on US size 6 - 8 needles.

Ella wears clothes with no pockets to weigh her down and the Going Out Bag has the same sort of mentality. She loves to dance. She is all ruffles and flourishes.

In white, she could get married or lead the attendants to their places. In bright mossy green she'd draw every eye on the streets of New York. In mint with blushing petals, she looks good enough to nibble. In Lilac with beaded edges, she is sweet as Spring flowers. Add blue sparkle rivets to a white bag with white ruffles and she would be a bouquet for the bride. Add spikes or cabochon rivets and she gets a little more daring . . .

However you dress her, she is, in short, delicious, flexible, and can go anywhere, from gay frolic through the botanical garden, to the garden party, to cinema, to night club. She is even the best friend of girly little girls.

Take her out. She loves an adventure . . .

Click on the Additional Details tab below for more information about dimensions, yarn amounts, materials, and bag kits that include everything you need to complete this project.

Finished Dimensions

6 3/4" (17cm) across the top
3" (7.5cm) deep at bottom
7" (17.5cm) wide across the bottom
8" (20cm) tall from bottom to frame

Pattern Difficulty

Intrepid Easy/Intermediate: Requires knowledge of knitting, purling, increasing, decreasing, picking up stitches within fabric, some hand-sewing to attach the bag to the snap purse frame.

Gauge

Pre-felted gauge: 20 stitches and 28 rounds = 4" (10cm) in St st with a single strand of worsted weight yarn.

Materials

An Elegant Hardware Kit with Feet is available for this pattern and includes:

1 Elegant Bag Frame 
27" (68cm) purse chain
Stiffener for the bag bottom
6 Noni Big 24mm bag feet
1 Noni Design label

Yarn Requirements

Solid Bag: 750 yds (685m)
Solid Bag with Beaded Ruffle Edge: 550 yds (503m) solid color and 70 yds (64m) of feltable beaded yarn

Needles and Other Materials

Size 8 (5mm) 24" (60cm) circular needle
Tapestry needle
Sewing Needle
Stitch markers

Pictured Samples

The white bag was made with Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool in White. The green bag was made with Tilli Tomas Merino in Moss with Moss Flurries just at the ruffle bind off. Unfortunately, both of these yarns are no longer available.