Turtlegirl’s Bloggy Thing

Remember the felted thing? Well, the day after that post I brought that thing to my weekly knitting group at the local Books-a-Million and proceeded to have fun with it. So many of you said “I’d wear it!” or you knew someone that would, I got to thinking. Just who would wear it?

The Trendy Lady

The priest at the Church of the Explosive Colors

Carmen Mirfelta

Girl Scout Troop #666

Miss Fug 2008

Captain Fug

I’m betting there’s people out there that will still wear it though, aren’t there? The felted thing is destined to become a piece of artwork on my wall, just how has not yet been determined or executed, but on my wall it will go. Around my neck or waist or head, not again, no.

Yesterday’s post spurred me to go ahead and finish the prototype version of the bag.

Made in good ‘ole Lily Sugar ‘n Cream. I used a little less than 2 balls of it for this version. What’s different between this and the one in the pattern? Well in this version, I had used a cast on over a chain rather than a loop, so it’s got a hole in the middle. I started with 12 double crochets into that hole.

You can see how the bottom is a bit more “open” using the double crochet. This is why Sandy suggested I switch it up to half-double crochet since it would make the bottom more sturdy and less holey. And also why I changed the cast on, because I don’t dig on the hole in the middle.

I really dig the bottom ridge on this bag. I can’t say enough just how cool a concept it is and how nice and edge it results in. The mesh pattern remained the same but I did 16 repeats of the mesh rather than whatever it was the pattern said to do. I think 18? I can’t even follow my own pattern without changing it.

On this version, I had enough yarn to do the optional single crochet edging around the strap and the top of the bag. This reinforces the join of the strap to the bag and gives it a more finished look.

The Strap

The top row of the bag

There will definitely be more of these in my future. I can also see how you could put one of these together from leftovers. Just use a russian join to join your yarn and you won’t have to worry about trying to weave in your ends midway through the mesh pattern. You could do the base and the strap in one color and the mesh in a completely different color. That would be neat looking. Hmm….maybe that will have to be my next one.

The beer is Yuengling

Pattern:Beginner Crochet Market Bag Download the PDF
Yarn:Lily Sugar’n Cream Ombres & Prints inn “Playtime” - 4.15 ounces
Hook:6.0mm (J)
Started:Sometime in late May
Finished:June 29th 2008
Mods:The bottom was done with a different cast-on and in double crochet instead of half-double crochet. 16 repeats of the mesh pattern, 20 inch long strap, added single crochet edging around strap and top of bag.

Yup, another Crochet FO, but this time, an original! I wrote this pattern with some help from my co-worker at Charlotte Yarn, Sandy. She’s the resident expert on crochet, so she’s been a great help and inspiration to me as I fall deeper and deeper down the proverbial rabbit hole. This project came about rather serendipitously. I had already started a version in some kitchen cotton (yeah I haven’t finished that yet, soon) when I saw her at the shop and she mentioned that Remi (the owner) was wanting her to work up a market bag from a pattern she’d found online. We took a look at the pattern and decided neither of us liked the fact that the bottom was holey, so I mentioned that I had already started working one up that I was planning for an original design. I showed her what I had, she suggested changing the double crochet on the base to a half-double crochet and using a different cast-on and I took the idea and ran with it. Behold, the bag:

I know it looks funny because I put a bag of onions in it but hey, it’s modeling too! That’s the only good shot I ended up with of the whole bag. I need to get a few more shots of it in action at the shop. This now lives as a shop model at Charlotte Yarn and the pattern is free with purchase of yarn. For those of you that aren’t local though, or might have something in your stash that will work (I’m planning on more in the kitchen cotton) I have been given permission from Remi to offer it as a free Ravelry Download.

So what’s so special about this bag? Well, the mesh stitch is certainly common enough, right?

The handle isn’t exactly ground breaking:

It’s the base that’s got it going on.

Once the circular base is complete, you do a slip stitch all the way around the perimeter and then do a double crochet into each slipped stitch all the way around to give you a nice defined base with a neat ridge. That’s my favorite feature. I thunked it up all on my own!

The pattern as written takes every bit of one hank of Louet Euroflax Linen (worsted) using a size G (4.0mm) hook. If you have some scraps in another color or leftovers from another hank you can always add a single crochet edging all the way around the handle and top of bag. The kitchen cotton version will take a bit more than one ball but hey, it’s also $1.50 compared to $21 for a single ball/hank. So go forth and make this bag! Then tell me! Or hey, ya know, add it to your ravelry notebook with a pic so I can see it.

Pattern: Beginner Crochet Market Bag by turtlegirl76 & knitter525 (Our Ravelry aliases) Download the PDF
Yarn: 1 hank Louet Euroflax Linen (Worsted)
Hook: G - 4.0mm
Gauge: Not important. There are better things to worry about, like which color you want to make your first one in.

There’s your damn spoiler warning you non-peekers you. I think everyone in the booty club should have their shipment by now but just in case some poor delicate soul out there hasn’t yet, look away ‘cus I’m about to post pictures.

See that black? That’s the last you’ll see it. Talk about hard to photograph!

This is the last shipment I’ll be receiving from Yarn Pirate for a little while. I had to drop out of this club too. I’m so sad. First Artsygal and now Yarn Pirate. Next thing you know I’ll have to dropout of my fiber clubs too.

This shipment is dyed on a base of Superwash BFL. 420 yards of it. It feels so nice. The colorway is named “June Bug.” I’m still not sold on the color combination. I’m reserving judgment until I see it knit up. The black seems to have a purple tint to it, which intrigues me. But over all, I’m not digging the colors. But I’m also not going to turn around and destash it right away.

There are several members of the club that have already posted their June Bug up for sale. Some even before the rest of the booty club members had received theirs! I wondered if they got whiplash with as fast as they turned around to sell it. It made me sad to see so many people wanting to destash their booty so quickly after receiving it. Georgia (they dyer) was on vacation when it all started to be received. I can only imagine how she felt when she got back to see all the destashing.

So I will wait and see if this grows on me. I will wait until I see a few FOs made out of it. I will wait, lest I live to regret it. Because the colors really are pretty. I think it’s the grey-ish green and the black that’s not doing it for me. But it may look completely different knit up.