My crochet bag

August this year was bittersweet. It would have been my mum’s 89th birthday on August 4th, but we have just passed the first anniversary of her leaving us. My son reached 18 on August 12th, which was a happy day as he has turned out very well! He is off to university in September and my daughter has gone to Boston USA for 10 months, so August was the last month for a while of us spending time together.

Crafting and my blog has taken a back seat but some projects progressed and a few were finished in August. My crochet project bag took shape over several months but I added the flower decorations and the lining in early August while my daughter was on holiday in Corfu.

When I started crocheting again in December last year, the first thing I wanted to make was a basket like the ones I’d seen on Pinterest. After a few tries, making floppy things that looked like deformed hats I gave up. But having seen the Jolly Chunky Bag made by Lucy of Attic24, I decided to try again. I love Lucy’s stuff and went on one of her workshops in July to make the bower bird but I don’t want to just copy what other people are doing. I want my projects to be a bit individual.

The wool is Drops 100% wool in lovely vintage colours. Grey, pale pink, deeper pink and a soft but brightish blue. They all tone together and the yarn has a lovely texture. I made a round base with double stripes of each colour and then extended up to form the main body of the bag.

I wanted the handles to be part of the bag, not sewn on. This involved a lot of measuring the stitches and putting in stitch markers to get the spacing right. The handles are sewn up a third of the way up and the seam is covered by the decorative flowers.

Its a bit boho and very roomy so I can fill it with wool and larger projects. I might take it out but I think it will be mainly used at home for moving crochet between all the places I like to work – lounge, kitchen, garden, bed and in my home office.

I made up the decoration and detail, adding a sort of blue cuff around the edge and lining it with a contrasting floral fabric. It looks quite presentable.