Maybe it can be a giant dusting mitt

After weeks of work (read: days of work that I spread over weeks) I finished the Zeeby's bag. It's pathetic! Really, for the most part it's not that bad but there are some pretty big flaws in the construction.

1. I measured carefully - at least I thought it was carefully - and determined that I'd knit the sides slightly larger than the pattern called for. I also determined that both sides were, as best I could tell from measuring them both, identical in size. This meant that I had to knit the gusset's length to fit the length and width of both sides.
2. I knit the gusset a good two inches too long. I'd figured that much out when I'd completed sewing on one side of the bag and had a flapping tab of gusset left over. However I was considering unbinding it and unraveling it down to the proper length and rebinding it off. This didn't happen because
3. After sewing on the other side, I found out that one side was higher than the other. A good inch higher.

In short, this bag is ridiculous looking. I should probably take a picture but don't wish to create undue hysterical laughing at what I've created and I also don't want to embarrass the shit out of myself.

All I can figure that that I should in the future:

1. Measure even more carefully than I am currently doing.
2. Knit both sides before knitting the gusset. Skipping around simply isn't cutting it.
3. Get lots and lots and lots of safety pins and pin together the entire bag before sewing instead of just pinning and sewing one side at a time.
4. Be sure I'm not stretching the sides as I pin/sew them together. I think I stretched one side at least some.

Will I frog it? Probably not. It wasn't super great yarn and it was dirt cheap. Will I attempt the bag again? Sure. I'm not going to have taken all this effort and let it go to waste. It's an ugly ass attempt at a bag but it's also a learning experience.

In the meantime I've started knitting the Wavy scarf. Maybe I should try the bag again but I hate to plunge into knitting the same thing again right after completing a project plus the scarf has the added advantage of having me get used to a wavy/swirling rib before I launch into knitting Aibhlinn. I am not going to screw that up again after doing the bobbles for a third time.

I should really take a picture of this wad of yarn that I laughingly refer to as a bag, shouldn't I? At least I didn't bother to sew on the straps. I can keep the straps for the time I knit the bag again because I have more of the same yarn. Luckily, lots more.