First produce bag

I've been using reusable bags at the grocery store for some time now. I even have ones from both Walmart and Target now. But one thing that bothered me was that since I buy a lot of fresh produce, at least in the summer and fall, was that I was using several plastic bags each time I went grocery shopping. One for the apples. Another for some pears. Another for the onions. One more for peppers and yet still one more for green beans. I might use 4 or 5 plastic bags on a typical weekly grocery trip. That didn't sit well with me, so though I'd never used thread (My fellow crocheters may want to smite me for saying so, but I think doilies are pretty but pointless and I doubt I'd ever use one) I decided to try my hand at making a small drawstring bag that would be reusable and washable.

I used size 3 thread, which is good to start with if you haven't used thread before. It's not much smaller than baby weight yarn. I used a size F hook and Aunt Lydia's Fashion Crochet. I started off making a basic circle. Most crocheters know how to do this, especially if they've made hats! You make a small chain and join it to make a circle, then make dc inside the circle.

Ch 4, join to make ring.
Rd 1 - 12 dc in ring.
Rd 2: 2 dc in each dc around (24 dc).
Rd 3: 2 dc, 1 dc - Repeat 12 x. Total 36 dc.
Rd 4: 2 dc, 1 dc, 1 dc - Repeat 12 x. Total 48 dc.

You get the idea right? For each additional round, you add another dc, which increases it by 12 each time.

I did that until I had 5 solid rounds, and then made 2 more skipping some of the dc and putting ch in their places to make some holes. Starting with Rd 8, I started making the mesh. To make mesh is pretty easy. You just ch5 and then sc. On the first round of mesh, I sc'ed on every 5th space, aproximately. This made 21 loops of ch 5. Here is the trick: On the last (the 21st) "loop", instead of ch 5 and sc, ch 3 and then make a dc in the same space you started the first "loop". This puts you in the middle of the "loop". Continue making ch5 loops, sc in each loop around. Do the dc trick on each round. I made 25 rounds of mesh for this bag which makes it quite long--even the largest ears of corn or longest cucumbers fit in this bag! It stretches quite a lot.

Oh my!

Have I really not updated this since November? Yipes!

I certainly have been reading and crocheting during the past several months. In fact, probably more than I was before. I just keep forgetting to write about it!

I have been posting at least some of the things I've made on Ravelry, though even that doesn't show all the things I've done. I have a list and also several pics still in my digital camera that need to be posted. I'll try to get to it sometime this summer.

As for books, I've read some good ones. Lets see what have I read? A few childrens/YA books, including some of the new "Little House" books, Good in Bed, Skinny Dip, This Organic Life: Confessions of an Urban Homesteader, and I'm currently reading The Omnivore's Dilemma. I'm sure there were more than that, but I can't remember them!

I do want to post on my thoughts on The Omnivore's Dilemma however, so I will be posting more.

Tracy's Afghan

Tracys_Afghan
Originally uploaded by crochetgirl91

I finished this one a few years ago. It was supposed to go off to college with my little sis, Tracy. But she ended up staying at home because the school she wanted to go didn't give her enough financial aid. So it was her Christmas present instead.

This afghan came out just gorgeous! The pattern is from Quick and Cozy afghans, and it's called Understated Elegance. It's a mile a minute pattern, if you can't tell from the pic. I used red heart, and the variegated is Sage Mary, the solids are deep plum, medium sage and buff going outwards. I think this may have been the prettiest afghan I've made so far, but I can't take too much credit, I just followed the pattern! I did choose the colors though. The original was in mauve and taupe.

Books I'm Reading

Or more accurately, not reading. I haven't been hitting even remotely close to my one book a week goal that I set at the beginning of the year. I'm sure I've read more than I kept track of, and I never did finish Other Peoples Children, though I want to. I did devour Little House in the Big Woods, and hope to re-read the entire series, which was a favorite of mine as a child. I also want to read the new ones that have been written by Cynthia Rylant, there is one that fills in the time between two of the stories, though now I don't remember which two...I think Plum Creek and Silver Lake. And then there are the new ones about Rose, Laura's daughter, and also a new series about Laura's mother and her childhood. I hope the library has them.

Warming up to flickr

I've always perfered Photobucket over Flickr. However, when I found out Ravelry was in cahoots with Flickr, I uploaded at least my crochet pics, and will continue to do so. The last 3 entries I made here were so easy! I connected my Flickr account with my blog, so now after I upload a pic, I can just click onto it, and then hit "blog this" above the picture, and write my entry there. It even formats it for me. Woohoo. Hopefully now I can update this easier.....provided of course I remember to take pictures of the things I make! I already forgot to take a pic of the cute little fridgies I sent to Anne. I wonder if she'd snap a photo of them for me? LOL

I keep on rippling along.....

fall ripple 2
Originally uploaded by crochetgirl91

I'm still working on the ripple, haven't gotten as far as I'd like to on it, but when I work on it, it does go quickly. Now if I can just remember to actually work on it. But with fall comes cozy evenings of settling down after dinner with a cup of hot cocoa and a Netflix dvd and my crochet. Ahhhh life is sweet.

"Angel of Light"

angel
Originally uploaded by crochetgirl91

I made this ornament the same day. The pattern actually came from a "fridgie" (that's refrigerator magnets) pattern booklet, but I thought it would make a lovely ornament,and it did. I love this one, I think it looks beautiful.

A star, a star, shining in the night

christmas star 002
Originally uploaded by crochetgirl91

I made this a little over a week ago to send as part of a Christmas ornament exchange in one of my Yahoo groups. I thought it came out really cute, though bigger than I thought it would be. I had originally intended just a star, but it looked sort of plain, so I thought it would be cute to write something on it, and so I glued these foam letters onto it. I had a hell of a time putting it together-I couldn't figure out how at first, so part of it looks a bit messed up and the peaks and valleys aren't very even. Oh well, nothing's perfect right? :o)

Adam & Shawna's afghan

I'm going to post some pictures of the progress I'll be making on my brother and sister in law's ripple while I'm working on it. Here is one to show the colors of the yarn and the pattern. It's going pretty quickly, when I find the time to work on it, so hopefully it'll be done by Christmas. They are also having a new baby in February, so I've got to get started on that baby blanket too.

What I've been crocheting

Lately I've been experimenting with some hemp I bought at the Hemporium in Bar Harbor, Maine. It's not the dull brown most help is. One small bunch is rainbow colors, and the other is a variegated "cool" colors of purple, blue, green and deep pink. I made a couple keychains, which I then sent in an exchange, and made this suncatcher type ornament from altering a snowflake pattern. I plan on getting a brass ring and stretching it across it. I may put a crystal on the bottom, not sure. Anyway, it's fun. The pic of the keychains didn't come out too well. :-( I liked the one with the white beads. Working with beading was something new for me. I bought these "e" beads, thinking they'd be just the right size. Hemp is odd though in that it's not "smooth"...the strands get thicker and thinner and occationally have a lump in them, which you can actually pick out a bit. Some of the beads fit ok, some did not. I got a tube of white, clear, clear with silver inside and iridescent beads, and used all of the different kinds in the different projects.