This little bag is great for an E-reader or those who like small purses for credit cards, cell phones and glasses, etc. I gave all my other E-reader purses away, so my solution was to make one for me; yeah! Any wool will do as long as you can felt it.

Felt Striped Reader Purse

By Berta Gilholm

Materials:

100% Lion Brand Wool Leftover’s (1 sk - Brown, ½ sk Gold, ½ sk Tan, ½ sk Orange, ½ sk White) or any colors you prefer.
Crochet Hook US K/10.5 – 6.5mm
Yarn Needle
Notes: Work in rows, ch 2 counts as first dc on each row of dc. Weave in tails as you go. Front and back of purse has stripes, back has an eye glass/cell phone pocket.
The finished purse measures – 8” x 6 ¼” with a 32” strap; the pocket measures 6 ½”  x 4 ½”.
Before felting the purse measures – 10 ½” x 8”  and the strap was 35”, the pocket was 8” x 6”.
Abbreviations: Ch = Chain, St = Stitch, Sc = Single Crochet, Hdc = Half Double Crochet, Dc = Double Crochet, FO = Fasten Off.

Instructions: With Brown Ch 30, turn

Row 1: Sc in 2^nd ch from hook, sc in each ch across, turn (29 sc)
Row 2: Ch 2, dc in next sc, dc in each sc across, turn (29 dc) Mark this row for front.
Row 3: Ch 2, dc in next dc, dc in each dc across, turn (29 dc) FO Brown, Join Gold
Row 4: With Gold, Ch 2, dc in next dc, dc in each dc across, turn (29 dc) FO Gold, Join Brown
Row 5: With Brown, Ch 2, dc in next dc, dc in each dc across, turn (29 dc)
Row 6: Ch 2, dc in next dc, dc in each dc across, turn (29 dc) FO Brown, Join Tan
Row 7: With Tan, Ch 2, dc in next dc, dc in each dc across, turn (29 dc)
Row 8: Ch 2, dc in next dc, dc in each dc across, turn (29 dc) FO Tan, Join Brown
Row 9: With Brown, Ch 2, dc in next dc, dc in each dc across, turn (29 dc)
Row 10: Ch 2, dc in next dc, dc in each dc across, turn (29 dc) FO Brown, Join Orange
Row 11: With Orange, Ch 2, dc in next dc, dc in each dc across, turn (29 dc)
Row 12: Ch 2, dc in next dc, dc in each dc across, turn (29 dc) FO Orange, Join Brown
Row 13: With Brown, Ch 2, dc in next dc, dc in each dc across, turn (29 dc)
Row 14: Ch 2, dc in next dc, dc in each dc across, turn (29 dc) FO Brown, Join White
Row 15: With White, Ch 2, dc in next dc, dc in each dc across, turn (29 dc)
Row 16: Ch 2, dc in next dc, dc in each dc across, turn (29 dc) FO White, Join Brown
Row 17: With Brown, Ch 2, dc in next dc, dc in each dc across, turn (29 dc)
Row 18 through Row 27: Repeat Row 17, FO Brown, Join White
Row 28: With White, Ch 2, dc in next dc, dc in each dc across, turn (29 dc)
Row 29: Ch 2, dc in next dc, dc in each dc across, turn (29 dc) FO White, Join Brown
Row 30: With Brown, Ch 2, dc in next dc, dc in each dc across, turn (29 dc)
Row 31: Ch 2, dc in next dc, dc in each dc across, turn (29 dc) FO Brown, Join Orange
Row 32: With Orange, Ch 2, dc in next dc, dc in each dc across, turn (29 dc)
Row 33: Ch 2, dc in next dc, dc in each dc across, turn (29 dc) FO Orange, Join Brown
Row 34: With Brown, Ch 2, dc in next dc, dc in each dc across, turn (29 dc)
Row 35: Ch 2, dc in next dc, dc in each dc across, turn (29 dc) FO Brown, Join Tan
Row 36: With Tan, Ch 2, dc in next dc, dc in each dc across, turn (29 dc)
Row 37: Ch 2, dc in next dc, dc in each dc across, turn (29 dc) FO Tan, Join Brown
Row 38: With Brown, Ch 2, dc in next dc, dc in each dc across, turn (29 dc)
Row 39: With Brown, Ch 2, dc in next dc, dc in each dc across, turn (29 dc)
Row 40: With Brown, Ch 2, dc in next dc, dc in each dc across, turn (29 dc)
Row 41: With Brown, Ch 2, dc in next dc, dc in each dc across, turn (29 dc)
Row 42: With Brown, Ch 1, sc in next dc, sc in each dc across, turn (29 sc) FO Brown Leaving a 2 foot tail.

Finishing: Working on back with right sides of work together, match up the rows side seams on the side you end on, thread the yarn needle with the 2 foot tail and sew the 2 sides together with a medium whip stitch, fasten off, weave in ends. Take a 2 foot piece of Brown and sew the opposite side seams together the same way, fasten off, weave in ends.

Attach and crochet Strap:  Holding the purse  so one of the side seams faces you, join the Brown in the third stitch to the right of the seam, Ch 1

Row 1: Hdc in same stitch as joining, hdc in next 5 stitches, turn (6 hdc)
Row 2: Ch1, Hdc in same st, hdc in next 5 hdc, turn (6 hdc)
Row 3 through 84: Repeat Row 3, Do not FO,

Finish Strap: Being careful not to twist, on the opposite side of purse - lay the other top side seam of the purse and the last row of the strap together, edge to edge and front to front, crochet them together with 6 sc in the same area as you did the beginning of the strap. FO and weave in ends.

Pocket:  (Using only Brown)

Ch 20,
Row 1: Sc in 2^nd  ch from hook, sc in each ch across, turn (19 sc)
Row 2: Ch 3, dc in next sc, dc in each sc across, turn (19 dc)
Row 3: Ch 3, dc in next dc, dc in each dc across, turn (19 dc)
Row 4 - 16: Repeat Row 3 -13 times, Do not FO, working around entire pocket do the following;

Border Row for pocket: Ch 3,

Hdc 17 times across row, 3 hdc in last dc (corner stitches), Hdc 30 times down the pocket row edge,
3 hdc in last st (corner stitches), Hdc 17 times across sc row, 3 hdc in last st (corner stitches),  Hdc 30 times up the other pocket row edge, 2 hdc in same st as ch 3 (corner stitches), jwslst to top of ch 3, FO brown leaving a 1 ½  foot tail and turn purse inside out,

Pin pocket to front outside center of back of purse with the pocket positioned at top of purse, and leaving top of pocket open, sew it in place with whip stitch around the 2 sides and bottom using pocket tail and yarn needle. Weave in all ends and Felt.

Felting:

Felt the purse  twice. Put a small hard piece of plastic the size you want the finished pocket inside the pre-felted pocket area of the purse to help separate that area, you can also put a piece in the purse area. Then put the purse in a pillow case and tie closed with a piece of yarn. Place pillow case, tennis balls or other articles and detergent into washer. Wash on hot for a regular load until just before spin cycle (Do not use softener, it will stop the felting process) this usually takes me 15 minutes. Remove the purse from case, stretch to check for size after each washing and smooth shape straps.  When you are satisfied with the size lay it flat on a towel to dry, or hang it from a door knob, leave it there 2 days to dry in a dry warm spot. Don’t use the dryer during felting, it will mess it up.