Felted Rose Purse

Another Christmas '07 recap! This was for a handmade gift exchange for my mom's group. It's an original design. I knitted two identical sides on my Bond Ultimate Sweater Machine (USM) which is really a knitting machine for anything, not just sweaters. I even got the stripes to match on both sides. I also knitted a handle on the USM then seamed and felted (or fulled) it.
After blocking, I needle felted a rose by coiling some of the same yarn I used for the purse on top of some leaves I cut out of wool felt. The closure is a pearly vintage button and I just cut a slit for the buttonhole since the wool really felted well. I left it unlined due to time constraints, but in future versions I will line it, probably knit a separate panel for the bottom, and reinforce the bottom for added rigidity.