I’m going to Peru in October on a “textile” trip – to visit with weavers, tapestry makers, embroiderers… artisans who create a wide range of textile related art works.

My contact person – Sasha – lives in Victoria. She’s not going on the trip to Peru this fall and she asked me as a fellow Canadian if I would return some embroidered “necklaces” to the women who created them. Of course I agreed to do that. So she sent me the pieces she wants returned.

I opened the box when it arrived just to see what I was bringing with me. While I would never wear something like this, I was taken by the very fine embroidery and crochet and wanted to do something with one of the pieces. The stitching in the embroidery is splendid and the tension in the crochet is perfect!

Too big and bulky for a t-Shirt, same for the back of a jacket. I don’t sew or collect pillows. So I decided to make a new knitting bag incorporating one of these necklaces into the design.

Yesterday I bought a small amount of black fabric (along with some black broadcloth for the lining) and this morning I whipped up the bag:

I’m not sure how the artisan who made the piece will feel about what I’ve done with her work – but my knitting bag is something I use just about every day and I will stop to enjoy it each time I take my knitting out and put it in!