Spring Beauties are a woodland ephemeral that blooms in the forests of the Mid-Atlantic region where I live. The blossoms dance atop slender stalks: tiny, pale pink flowers, each of its 5 petals painted with darker pin striations scarcely visible to the unassisted eye. I was inspired by these tiny flowers (one of my favorites since I was a girl) to design a small purse that would have their timelessness, femininity, and romance.

Because these knitted and then felted bags are quite small, the knitting goes quickly, making them the perfect choice for a gift-knitting project: the romance and delicacy of the flowers make Spring Beauties the obvious choice for a bridal purse, a place to keep and store treasures from that special day. For the traditional bride, imagine a classic, creamy clutch with same color flowers, all beaded with silver-lined white beads. Or, for the bride with a bolder, less conventional sensibility, imagine a white purse with boldly colored flowers, or make a purse as bold as a wedding bouquet of gerbera daisies: a pink purse with hot pink, orange, and bright yellow blossoms . . .

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

Finished Dimensions

7" (17.5cm) wide across the front/back at bag bottom
5" (12.5cm) wide across the front/back at bag top
3" (7.5cm) deep
6" (15cm) tall

Difficulty Level

Intrepid Easy: Requires knowledge of knitting and purling, knitting in the round on double-pointed and circular needles, some hand-sewing.

Gauge

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

Materials

Spring Beauties Hardware Kit is Available and Includes:

5" (12.5cm) classic purse frame in shiny nickel (no longer available through Noni - sorry! We have everything else.)
12" (30cm) rectangular purse chain
6 Noni 16mm bag feet
6 x 9 in sheet of stiffener

Yarn Requirements

140 yds (128m)
2 yds (1.8m) green for long stem (1 flower) (A)
4 yds (9m) for flower petals (1 flower) (B)

Other Materials

Size 8 (5mm) 16" (40cm) circular needles for the bag
Size 6 (4mm) double-pointed needles (set) for flowers. Use smaller needles for smaller flowers.
Sharp sewing needle
Stitch markers
Paper hole punch
Locktite Superglue Extra Time Control clear-drying glue to glue bag into frame
A large-eye sharp darning needle and 26 gauge brass beading wire to wire flowers (optional)

Pictured Samples

All pictured samples were made in Stonehedge Fiber Mill's Shepherd's Wool. Lilac bag with Spring Green flowers, Light Turquoise bag and flowers with Lime stems, Spring Green bag with Lilac flowers.