Video: Porch Goose Crochet

Do you love a porch goose as much as I do? Come hang out with me as I show you the wall hanging I tested this year along with all his accessories and outfits :) I go over the pattern itself plus my tips and tricks to make one of these for your own home. Click the video below to watch now.

 

Video: Everything I Created in 2025

It's that time of year, friends! It's time to look back on everything I created this year. Lots of socks but some sweaters and other accessories as well, plus a chicken coop and a duck house! Very diverse lol. Click the video below to watch and let me know what your favorite object is that I made :)

 

Video: My Favorite Christmas Knits

 

This year I'm showing you the knitting and crochet projects I made for the festive season. Come hang out while we gawk at a sweater, amigurumi, and socks! Also see what my yarn advent calendar is up to. Click the video below to watch!

Video: Christmas Lights Sweater in September?

 

I made a Christmas Sweater in July  August  September! lol This sweater was meant to be done in July, but you know life. Come and see the particulars of my very first crochet garment (I know, right?!) and learn tips and tricks for this fantastic FREE pattern from Hobbii - The Christmas Lights Sweater. Click the video below to watch now!

Video: Crochet Boot Cuffs

 

Today we are having a nice simple project that solves a problem for me - cushy crochet boot cuffs. Come and hang out with me as I make my boots more wearable and talk about practical uses for crochet. Click the video below to watch.

Video Tutorial: Crochet the PERFECT Pumpkin! with FREE Pattern

 

This new video is an ode to the ultimate easy home decor project: The Small Pumpkin :) These are seriously so quick and easy to make - I made 5! This video has a step by step tutorial, but I'm also writing out the pattern here for anyone who prefers to have it typed out (that would be me, lol). So watch the video below and then scroll down to find the complete pattern. Enjoy!

Little Pumpkin Pattern:

Supplies:

• Approximately 1/2 a skein of Hobbii Honey Bunny Candy Halloween Yarn  in Pumpkin colorway (2 skeins makes 5 pumpkins)
• 10 grams Vanna's Choice yarn in Toffee colorway
• US H crochet hook
• Darning Needle
• 18mm craft eyes
• Polyfill
• Scrap of black yarn

Directions:

Pumpkin:

1. C2, SC 6 times into 2nd c from hook (6 sts)
2. SC 2 in each stitch (12 sts)
3. *SC 2 in next st, SC in next 1 st* repeat 6 times (18 sts)
4. *SC 2 in next st, SC in next 2 sts* repeat 6 times (24 sts)
5. *SC 2 in next st, SC in next 3 sts* repeat 6 times (30 sts)
6. *SC 2 in next st, SC in next 4 sts* repeat 6 times (36 sts)
7. *SC 2 in next st, SC in next 5 sts* repeat 6 times (42 sts)
8. *SC 2 in next st, SC in next 6 sts* repeat 6 times (48 sts)
9. - 14. SC around for 5 rows (48 sts)

    15. *SC2TOG, SC in next 6 st* repeat 6 times (42 sts)

    16. *SC2TOG, SC in next 5 st* repeat 6 times (36 sts)

    17. *SC2TOG, SC in next 4 st* repeat 6 times (30 sts)

Stop to add eyes: Place eyes on Row 9 or 10 with 5 stitches between them. Stuff body.

    18. *SC2TOG, SC in next 3 st* repeat 6 times (24 sts)

    19. *SC2TOG, SC in next 2 st* repeat 6 times (18 sts)

    20. *SC2TOG, SC in next 1 st* repeat 6 times (12 sts)

    21. *SC2TOG* repeat 6 times (6 sts)

    22. SC2TOG stitch 1 and 4. Fasten off leaving 2 foot long tail.

Thread tail through top center of pumpkin down into the center of the bottom of the pumpkin and pull tight to cinch down. Thread tail back up through the center of the body 1 stitch over from where you came out and pull to cinch down. Keep tension on the initial cinched section while you thread the tail through the center of the body again and wrap the tail around the outside of the body on one side of the face, threading back through the center top of the pumpkin and pull to cinch. Wrap tail yarn through the center of the body and around to make 5 cinched sections. Fasten off snugly to maintain the cinched shape.

Stem: 

1. With brown yarn, make magic loop and SC 6 sts (6 sts)
2. *SC2 in next st, SC 1 in next st* repeat 3 times (9 sts)
3. SC in each st (9 sts)
4. *SC2TOG in next st, SC 1 in next st* repeat 3 times
5. Fasten off. Sew to top divot on pumpkin body.

Embroider Mouth 2 rows down from eyes in the center 2 stitches.

Enjoy your new pumpkin!

Video: My Fall Knitting Plans ALL From Stash Yarn!

The season is changing, and my knitting plans are moving right along with it. Come check out what I plan to make in the coming months, nincluding both knittin and crochet. Head over to You Tube or click the video below to watch :)

Video: Crochet Without Pain

A few years ago, I realized that I crochet differently than other people I've seen, and that has enabled me to avoid pain and crochet for hours on end. This is the video where show you how I do that, so if you have any pain when you are crocheting, check out this video and see if my method helps you :)

Video: Quick Mason Jar Cup Cozy

 

As a frequent smoothie maker, I have been meaning to make a cozy for my quart sized mason jars for AGES, so I decided to film the process when I finally did this weekend. This is such a ridiculously easy project - cup cozies are about as beginner as you can get, but it's still proved very useful and I'm glad I finally buckled down and filled this need. Now my hands don't freeze! Huzzah!

Head Over Here to watch the video yourself and maybe make a cozy of your own :)

FO: Crochet Flip Shirt (and New Video!)

 

I finished my project for the Crochet Flip Challenge last week and I'm so pleased with how it turned out! This challenge was dreamed up by Shannon Talks Yarn and Coco's Crochet on You Tube, and I thought it was a great idea so I wanted to join in. The challenge was to take a thrifted item and improve it in some way with crochet. I used this as an opportunity to use a technique I've been wanting to do more of: Irish Crochet. 

I'm trying something a little different with this blog post in that I don't have all the before and after shots like I typically would since I made a full you tube video to talk about all the details. So if you want to see what this shirt started out as and what it looks like now along with an explanation of the process, please head over here to watch my video and tell me what you think! 

Would you try Irish crochet? I'm addicted now and have plans on making a full shirt out of it eventually. I'd like to really do it the right way, but in the meantime I'm really enjoying this finished shirt and I know I will wear it a lot.

Summary:

Yarn: Knit Picks Curio 3 in Jalapeno, Serrano, Canary, Clarity, Clementine, and Lichen with Royal Maid size 5 thread in Cappuccino - $5.00

Pattern: Modern Irish Crochet Craftsy Class

Notions: thrifted shirt - $1.00, thread - $0.25

Time: 5 hours

Total Cost: $6.25

A Year In Yarn: 2023

Knitting and crochet have always been my go-to crafts over the years, even when sewing went by the wayside. This year felt a bit more productive than the past several, so I think I'm really back in the swing. These are all the pieces I made with yarn in 2023 and each project is linked if you want to find out more about it.

1. Baby's First Toilet
2. Florist Bolero
3. Haruni Shawl
4. Hungry Snake

5. Baby's First Planet
6. Honeybee Cardigan
7. Stonecrop Tote
8. Gus Gus

9. Gingham Baby Blanket
10. Liesl Cardigan
11. Sock Week Socks
12. Playin' My Song Shawl

13. Minion Rattle
14. Pusheen
15. Susan Shaw Cardigan
16. Chuck Sweater

17. Pink Bear Hat
18. Ravenclaw Scarf
19. Ravenclaw Hat
20. Pikachu Scarf

21. Blue Bear Hat
22. Spiderman Scarf
23. Spiderman Hat

24. Pokeball Hat

25. Pan Handle Cover

26. Fuzzy Neon Beanies

27. Finger Knit Blanket

28. Belladonna Cardigan

I managed to squeak in the Belladonna cardigan just under the wire on the 28th. It's currently blocking, but since the knitting was done in 2023, it totally counts! This means I managed to make 6 sweaters this year, 2 of which were fingering weight, one of those was knit almost 2 full times by the time it was done. Seventeen of the 28 items I made with yarn were gifts, which is pretty impressive. Mostly I just knit myself sweaters and a few shawls, but I highly enjoyed all the things I made. The last 12 items were all made for Christmas and I will be posting about those in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for details on those if you're interested.

I do still have some standing UFOs to account for:

1. Irish Crochet Top - this one still upsets me, lol. I 100% plan to make this into a shirt yoke, but I have to either sew or find the right shirt first. This project was a lot of fun and I have now amassed a lot of colors of crochet thread to make lots of things, but this one has to be finished first. Hopefully I can decide on a shirt and it work out unlike the last one.

2. Hockey Socks - I started these the last few days of 2022 at a Solar Bears hockey game and I have hardly touched them since, lol. And what I did knit seems to have been done wrong at the decrease point, so I have to take it out anyway. I will eventually finish these - I just haven't really needed a sock project this year.

3. Cathedral Rose Window Afghan - I have completely lost steam on this project, sadly. I love the idea, but to be honest I didn't like the colors I had on hand to make it up and the whole reason I started this was to try and stash bust. I have the first several rows done, so maybe I can make this into a circular pillow?

4. Raffia Beach Hat - This one is annoying. I got the whole hat part done before the brim and it is just too big. One swift breeze and this baby would be gonzo. The paper yarn tends to not like being pulled back and the more stitches I make with each sections, the more prone to breaking it is. I do still want a beach hat, but I just didn't have the heart to start over this year. Maybe when it warms up again I'll go for it.

I also have several garments that I swatched for but then never got around to making, which now means I will have to swatch again if I pick them up. First up on the list to make is the Rose Street Cardigan from Squid's School of Vintage Knitting. I swatched this back in April when the pattern was released and I just wouldn't let myself cast on until I finished the Susan Shaw Cardigan, so this will be started very soon. I also swatched the Mudblood Cardigan and I've had the yarn purchased for this project since 2015 (oh my gosh, lol), but the idea of knitting all that stockinette ... it just feels so boring. I like the finished sweater and I feel like it would get a good amount of wear, but the idea of making it is less than thrilling. I also don't love the fit I've seen on others who made it with the too wide looking shoulders. Maybe I will just recreate this myself on the knitting machine? I also swatched the Solstice Top when I was majorly jazzed about knitting a linen shirt, but again I wouldn't let myself start until Susan Shaw was done. Now I probably won't start this until after the winter at least, but I still love the idea of this.

So that's 2023 in yarn! I'm excited to see what this round up is for 2024!

FO: Pusheen

My niece who got the embroidered jacket turned 1 and after I made the jacket I realized that I hadn't made her a gift yet, lol. I immediately started hunting through my Ravelry library to see what I could whip out in just a few days.

How cute is this guy, eh? My sister loves Pusheen, so when I saw this pattern in my library I knew it wud be a good one. I grabbed yarn from my stash and made this within abut 24 hours.

The yarn I used is all I Love This Yarn in the Gray Mist and Greybeard colorways. The little bit of colorwork was fairly easy to accomplish. This pattern is Pusheen the Cat by Emma's Animal Creations and it is free on her blog. I was able to just keep the webpage open on my phone next to me and get this whole thing made

I decided to make baby safe eyes since my niece is only 1 so she could decide to chew on this a bit. I simple used black yarn and made a circle in chain stitch and then a French knot of the gray in the center. I embroidered the rest of the face with the same back yarn scraps.

While I was making this, it brought up the question: What is Pusheen from? I didn't know if he was just an internet cartoon or part of an adorable Japanese show or what, so I looked it up. He was just an internet cartoon created by some people from Ireland. Very interesting. He's so adorable in general though and now since he has gifs and emojis, he is a household known face whether they know his name or not.

I stuffed this bad by into a flat rate bubble mailer and I was pretty proud of my stuffing abilities on that package, lol. I had to tell my sister to open it carefully But he arrived and my niece loves him as much as a 1 year old can really love anything, so that's god. My sister thought it was awesome, so that's what really counts on a baby gift, right?

FO: Minion Rattle

 My youngest sister has decided she wants to learn to crochet. She has seen all the chunky stuffed animals made with fuzzy yarn on instagram and pinterest and wants to make her own. Now that she lives near me again, I'm working on teaching her. We are starting simple with the bird from the Craftsy Woodland Animals Class, but I needed something to work on myself so that I could demonstrate the stitches for her. We started the first weekend in September, but given that we both have kids and she just bought a house, we didn't have time again until 3 weeks later, lol. I reserved this project to only be worked on while I was teaching her, so he took 3 weeks even though it actually only took a couple of hours. Anyway, let's meet the minion!

I used the Minions pattern by Jenni Ferwerda, which is free on Ravelry. The pattern has 3 different shaped minions, so I used the twinkie shaped one - so this is Kevin. There was really no rhyme or reason to me picking this guy, it just happened that way. My sister's husband is obsessed with minions and they just had a baby back in June, so I decided that my project would be a rattle for her baby. He can't really enjoy the characters much yet, but I figured adding a rattle and making it something that had lots of chewable appendages would be the best way to go. So he got a minion, lol.

I grabbed acrylic yarn from my stash to make this. These are I Love This Yarn in Yellow and Gray Mist, and the rest are Vanna's Choice in Colonial Blue, Black, and White. All in all this was a good example to use for teaching purposes but still keep it simple and interesting for myself. You make the twinkie body shape, then do the legs, then the eyes and mouth, then the arms. The only change I made was putting a rattle in the middle of the body. The pattern is very straight forward. The only part that could use a bit more explanation is the suspenders - the pattern just says to embroider suspenders, no mention of what stitch to use or anything like that. I used a chain stitch because I knew it would be the simplest, but if I wasn't familiar with embroidery I would not have known what to do for that feature.

I went with baby safe eyes because obviously. This was meant to be chewed on from the very beginning, so I couldn't justify shank eyes. For my eyes, I just used the same black yarn and chain stitched a circle then added a white French knot with embroidery floss. I find that the French knot is key to not having your item have "creepy eyes" as my sister was worried they would be. You have to give them that little glint or they seem like dead eyes. I spent a decent amount of time on the eyes and glasses alone just to make sure everything was even so it didn't throw off the look and I'm pleased with how he turned out. I also forgot to add the strap to his goggles, so I chain stitched that last.

My nephew is still a bit young to quite know what to do with this offering, but he likes the color contrast and the rattling sound because he just stares at it and sometimes wiggles excitedly, lol. He was a bit too wiggly to get a not blurry photo, actually.

And he has already christened his minion with a chewing session! The ultimate baby seal of approval. I know once this little guy gets a handle on grabbing things, he will be all over this toy.

This was a very fun little project that was not too complicated to teach and talk while I worked on it. That's a good project in my book :)

FO: Baby's First Planet

There have been so many babies in my family this year and I was majorly feeling the pressure to make them all gifts. I've made a baby gift for all of my nieces and nephews, so when my sister had her 3rd baby I knew I had to keep up the tradition. But what to make? My sister was planning a space theme for his room, which was surprisingly hard to find patterns for. In the end, I decided to keep it simple and just make my newest nephew a planet.

This is the My Own Planet Amigurumi pattern by Stacey Trock, which is a free pattern. I have a soft spot in my heart for Stacey's patterns because she is how I learned to crochet amigurumi. Her patterns are always a pleasure to work with. This was an extremely simple shape, so I was able to make this up in one evening.

I had this really neat skein of Lion Brand Mandala Ombre I picked up in a thrift store a while back and I knew it would be perfect for this project to add some interest. The previous owner had wound off each color into separate balls and the biggest one I had was the darker blue color, so I made that my main color. You knit most of the main planet, then you stop and make the ring, then finish the planet and tuff it all. Pretty cool, but I ran out of the main planet color where I stopped to make the ring. 

No problem! I just used the lighter blue from the ball of yarn to finish it up. Because of the marled nature of the yarn and it's a planet, I just call it a topographical difference, lol.

Since I had the different colors of yarn that all matched, I decided to switch colors in the middle of the ring. The pattern just uses one color for the planet and one for the ring, but why not have fun with yarn when you can, right? It was a very easy change to make. I also put a rattle inside this to give some interest for the baby when he gets bigger, and the more I think about it the more I think this planet is the perfect baby toy. It rattles, it's compact, the ring is perfect for little hands to grab and chew on. It's washable, lol. All good things.

In the end, this is what yarn I had left, so it worked out great. I really liked this yarn - it was very soft and stitched up great.

And I was able to bring this with me to the hospital to give to my fresh little nephew :) He was born on May the 4th, so space is definitely going to be the theme of his life. I'm glad I could keep up the tradition I've made of making something for my newest little family additions. I hope this little guy enjoys his planet as he gets older.

Summary:

Yarn: Partial skein of Mandala Ombre by Lion Brand - $0.50 (thrifted)

Pattern: My Own Planet by Stacey Trock - Free

Notions: Jingly Cat Toy - $0.25

Time: 2 hours

WIP Wednesday: Linen Obsession and Waiting For Yarn

 I've been on a bit of a yarn buying kick lately - it was my birthday last week, and what better justification for buying some yarn you've wanted to try for a while? Did I need yarn? The answer to that is basically always no given my ridiculous stash, but did I have the yarn for this top I wanted to make? Also no. Conundrum. Anyway, this time a good sale on Lion Brand caught me on the right day and I made a purchase: linen! I've been kind of loving linen in all forms lately. I love wearing it, but it's so dang pricey that I don't exactly have much of it. Enter the idea of knitting my own linen top, and here we are. 

One of the books I borrowed from the library a few weeks ago was Lovely Lace Knits by Gabrielle Vézina, and I immediately fell in love with this t-shirt design. I never thought I'd be knitting a t-shirt just because a wool t-shirt sounds pretty counter productive for Florida, but then the idea of making it up in linen jumped in my head and I couldn't let it go. So when I saw that Lion Brand sold cones of Silk City Fibers 100% Linen yarn, I pounced. Even the color was close to the example photo, which I loved.

So Monday night I knitted a swatch. I used a size 2 needle and got 8 stitches and 10 rows per inch, which is a bit too small for the pattern, which calls for 7.5 stitches and 8.5 rows. I will confess that the color is slightly less saturated than I was expecting from the photos, but I still like it. I like the fabric I got with my swatch, and linen doesn't fluff up at all with blocking, so I'm just going to do a bit of math and maybe go up one size for mine. The swatch is just so bouncy and drapey - I wish I could convey that in a photo. So, did I need a new project? Absolutely not. I have so many going right now, and I've been on a planning spree with the purchases I've made the last little while, so it was kind of bound to happen. In all likelihood, I won't even finish this top in the summer, lol. BUT it's hot here all the time, so I'm not worried about the season in which I finish it. So that seems to now be in the works.

And my Irish crochet collar is on pause while I wait for another order of yarn to arrive with the connecting thread. I didn't watch the Craftsy class ahead enough to know that you make the connecting mesh out of thinner thread than your main motifs, so my idea of just using all the same yarn for my first project didn't exactly work out. These motifs are all in size 3 crochet thread, so I ordered some navy blue size 10 thread to connect them all. They will be different brands, so I'm not positive I will like the two different navy blues together. I'm thinking I should have the new thread by next week, so we will see. So whether I use the navy or a different color, I'm at the point that I need to join these together. I also kind of need to pick a shirt or make one to put this on, lol. Today I had planned to go to my favorite thrift store, so we will see what I find there.

So things are looking light weight and summery around here with my knitting. I'm still plugging away on my Susan Shaw cardigan since it's my most portable project, and I'm gearing up for Sock Week in July. All kinds of things going on. Love it.

What do you have going right now? Anyone else have plan-itis and cast-on-itis this summer? Let me know!

WIP Wednesday (on Thursday): Playing with Irish Crochet and A Little Mending

I've had a little rabbit hole obsession lately that I just can't get my head away from: Irish Crochet details on clothing. I love them all - the Victorian and Edwardian examples of embellished Gibson girl style shirts with insertion lace and added motifs, the crazy colorful Russian crochet clothing, and everything in between. It started from watching this YouTube video (and it's predecessor) by Jenna Phipps. Now, I'm certainly not one to make a backless top that is entirely crocheted. Not a chance. But I loved the idea of putting various flowers together to make a top or sweater from, and let's be real - her color scheme is fabulous. I love the way all the colors she chose went together - it felt very high end and interesting without being crazy loud. Like a sophisticated crazy crocheted flower top. This started me thinking about what I could do to incorporate these ideas into my own making. I do also love the top in this video by Engineering Knits, which I watched ages ago. I am leaning more toward this idea with making a collar for a fabric top, but I wouldn't have the neckline so open. I'm thinking of making a t-shirt and having some of the sections open underneath but some of them backed with the knit fabric. That's what's rolling around in my head anyway.

So I decided to look up Irish crochet where I always learn how to do new fiber crafts: Craftsy. I have a membership from their Black Friday deal (it was like $1.50 for the whole year), so I started watching Modern Irish Crochet. The class goes into how to read Russian charts (very useful because they look a little different) and gives some common flower and leaf motifs. I started crocheting all of the examples she gives in the class just as practice, but I figure I will be able to put them together afterward to accomplish my t-shirt collar dreams. I grabbed a random crochet cotton from my stash - J&P Coats Royal Size 3 in the Navy colorway, which I got for free at a thrift store several months ago. It's a lovely color that I knew I could incorporate into something I would enjoy wearing (I love navy blue). I had a rather enjoyable evening just making up the flowers while watching the class. Once I get enough flowers made, I will progress to the class of connecting them together.

Then yesterday (actual Wednesday) was my birthday and I decided to take myself out for the day and go to Orlando. I had this Talbot brand dress I thrifted months ago - I bought a bag full of clothes in a bag sale back in January or so and this was too small but I thought I would turn it into a skirt, so I grabbed it when I had room in the bag for more clothes. Well, now it fits perfect! This was an exciting realization a week or so ago, but I discovered that the dress was missing buttons at the sleeves, it gaped a bit at the bust and waist, and the pockets were sewn shut. So before I went out for the day, I spent a little time sewing on some new buttons from my stash and then adding snaps in the gaping spots and seam ripping the pockets open. It was very cute and comfy all day. I did discover the waist buttonhole is ripped a bit, which makes the button prone to pop open (lovely), but this is an easy fix before I wear it again. I'm glad to have this cute dress in my wardrobe with just a few minor fixes, and it felt cute on my birthday with some of my favorite shoes.

I've also been working on my Susan Shaw cardigan - I finished the back piece and started the left front - as well as my raffia beach hat. The hat is very slow going, I must say, but we are getting there.

Anyone else pick up any new crafts lately? lol 

WIP Wednesday: Sun Hat Obsession

I've gone to the beach several times in the last few weeks, and it has made me realize the gap in my wardrobe: a sun hat that fits my giant head. I have a very large head for a female, so I can never fit into the hats in stores. I've toyed with the idea of making one for a long time, but I recently found some raffia yarn for very inexpensive on Temu which has made it all more a reality for me to make.

I started looking at what hat patterns were available, and I settled on 2 different ones that both happen to be free and from the same author. The first one is this Raffia Beach Hat by Joanne Loh - this is just a classic wide brim sun hat and is just what I'm looking for. It would be nice if it had some kind of more interesting stitch than just single crochet, but that is very secondary to actually having a good hat to wear. I plan on adding plastic boning to the brim to retain its shape. 

Then I also liked this hat for days I don't want the wide brim - this is the Raffia Bucket Hat by Joanne Loh. I like the decorative stitch and that it's just enough of a brim to protect from the sun. My plan is that if I have raffia leftover from the other hat, I will make this one as well. 

The yarn I got is Navy colored and I think it will just be a lot of fun :) I will say - crocheting with raffia is definitely a different animal than any other yarn I've ever used - I even broke the yarn once. It's much slower to stitch and I have to make sure not to pull each stitch super tight like I do for toys and whatnot, but it's going along and I'm excited to have a practical item to wear this summer as I take my kids to the beach more.

And with how it looks so far, how could I not be excited? lol

What do you have going this week? Anything new and exciting?

FO: Stonecrop Tote #SomethingOldSomethingNewMAL

We are jumping around in making order with this post. This is actually something that I just recently finished (whaaat?). The deadline for this project is June 7th, so I wanted to have all the particulars posted by then.

I love make alongs - it's rare that I can join them due to usually having a deadline I need to finish certain projects by, etc. Every once in a while one comes along at the right time and I am able to jump in and I find it's like inspiration and motivation just flow. Love it.

This project came about due from the Something Old, Something New Make Along hosted by Tayler Earl of Wool Needles Hands. In honor of Earth Day being last month, she wanted this to be about repurposing and using what we have - both things I love to do. The prompt was:

• Not a garment or wearable accessory
• Made with stash yarn
• Incorporate something repurposed (i.e. yarn from an unraveled sweater, etc)
• 1 month to complete

I love a challenge and a precise framework, and it just so happens that I had a great idea. I had learned about the Stonecrop Tote from a different podcaster, The Copycat Stitch (can you tell I like watching knitting podcasts? lol). It looked very cute so I had it on my wish list already, but having a challenge come up that was mainly about making bags made me look at it closer. I used Ravelry to hunt my stash for appropriate yarn and came up with 2 skeins of James C. Brett Marble Chunky in the purple colorway. This yarn had been given to me by a woman who was destashing her sewing supplies to me, but she tried knitting once and decided she didn't like it. So she gave me a big handmade duffle bag with about 5 skeins of bulky and super bulky yarns. I so rarely use yarn that big that I had no idea what I would do with these gigantic skeins, so when I saw that they would work for this pattern I knew it was meant to be. 

I did make some alterations to this pattern on the fly. It has you create the bottom and then just crochet in the round up from there, but when I made the prescribed bottom piece I knew the bag would be much smaller than I was wanting from the example photo. I am a notoriously tight crocheter - I make toys, after all - so I don't fault the pattern for this size discrepancy. I decided to just increase the bottom until it had 11 stitches between each short corner and then follow the directions from there. As the bag got taller, the sides seemed to splay out more than I wanted, so I did a decrease at each corner about 5 inches up from the bottom, then kept on going. Toward the top, I noticed it was still a little too wide open, so I decreased 4 stitches again about 5 rows from the top edge, and this certainly seemed to do the trick. My repurposed element would take care of the handles, so I just crocheted this baby until I used up all the yarn, which is great because now a yarn that I had no idea what to do with is not taking up room in my stash and it is a useful item. Perfect :)

Now for the repurposed part. I had planned on using some of the creamy colored leather pieces that I scalped off a couch that was in the trash at a condo I lived in years ago. I've used it here and there for a few handles, but barely made a dent in the stash. Perfect opportunity to use some more! BUT when I pulled out my box of leather, I discovered several belts that I forgot I had thrifted at some point. I had 2 other options, but I decided to go with a brown belt (originally from The Limited). I unpicked the seaming to hold the buckle on, gauged how big I could make the handles, and cut. I rounded the exposed edges and then used a heavy duty upholstery thread in my stash and started off just using the old stitching lines from the buckle and then matched that by hand on the other ends to attach it to the bag. Because of the size I wanted the handles to be, I decided to just incorporate some of the original belt holes on one side, and honestly I really like this as a feature now. It's a nice little nod to what this originally was. 

Once the handle was on, I could have just stopped and had a useable bag. Being me, I couldn't just let it lie. I didn't want to the bag to stretch out over time, and I knew a lining would greatly help with that situation. I went through my stash of fabric that was given to me (by a different person), and after much deliberation, I decided on a dark paisley print cotton. I was feeling a little of the ~dark academia~ vibe from the bag in general, so I felt that this print complimented that idea. 

To make the lining, I laid the bag out on the fabric and cut around (accounting for seam allowance). Then I cut out a pocket. I sewed the pocket first, then top stitched it to the lining, then put the lining together. Next, I wanted to add a magnetic closure to the top. I was given a lot of these as well, so why not? I added the closure to the lining, interfacing the area where the tabs to secure the closure. I did have to add some tucks in the fabric to account for my decreasing as the bag got taller, but I just did that as I hand stitched the lining below the top edge. 

So this is truly the most repurposed project I could muster - all the materials were pre-owned, most of which were destashed to me. The only thing I bought was the belt YEARS ago, and that was only $1. I'm pretty ridiculously proud of that. I could have gone a step further and used an old sweater worth of yarn, but realistically with my schedule and how crazy my life has been, I know I would not have been able to make that happen in the 1 month time period. I'm very happy with my new bag :) So much so that I've been carrying it to work everyday since I finished it. It works great to carry my lunch, my knitting, a book, etc. I was worried maybe the handles would need reinforcing, but they've held up great. The bag gets a little lumpy sometimes, but that's just the nature of anything crocheted or knitted, you know? It holds everything I need and it contributes to my general librarian-esque aesthetic. What's not to love?

I'm so glad that I found out about this Make Along. I had a lot of fun puzzling out this project and just as much fun making it up. Now I have a bag to use that I'm sure I would never have made otherwise. Thanks to Taylor of Wool Needles Hands for such a great prompt and excuse to make this up!

Summary:

Yarn: 2 Skeins of James C Brett Marble in Purple - Free

Fabric: 1/2 yard paisley cotton - Free

Notions: Leather belt (thrifted) - $1.00, magnetic purse closure - Free

Time: 1 week

Total Cost: $1.00