Rainbow-Rama Duffle Bag

This colorful bag is made with left-over Lily Sugar 'n Cream cotton yarn.
(Click the photos to enlarge them).





Here it is squished flat and then with the drawstring rope pulled.





This is the bottom and where I began. I made the bottom circle starting at the center and then working in a spiral.
I used a size J hook.





I stuffed a blanket and pillow in it so it would stand up. One is with the drawstring open, the other closed.





Still stuffed with items, here's the other side which is exactly the same. I did the tapestry crochet stitch going 'round and 'round using a graph at that site I mentioned in my previous post below. The Jessica Tromp site.





The rope drawstring is attached to the bottom so when you cinch it closed and pick it up, the weight of the bag keeps the bag closed.

I used the leftover yarn I had from the Autism Awareness Puzzle Piece scarf (which I donated to Theresa in Kentucky.)
She said she would raffle off the scarf to raise money for her son's special education school, (Binet School in Jefferson County Kentucky). Hope that went well. Haven't heard anything yet.

Think Spring

I bought a crocheted purse at Goodwill for super-cheap so I could make a copy of it.
It's made from a thick white cotton, (like Lily's Sugar 'n Cream). (The right side white purse).
It feels like a homemade purse. No tags on it, no lining in it.
(Click on to enlarge photo)





So I used three different greens of cotton yarn as well.
There are two long ties, one on each side, to tie the purse together for closure.





Here I stuffed some things in it so it would stand up and I could photo it that way.
I also attached a peyote "Spring" pin that I made last year from a kit.
It was fun to do the beading but you really have to be very patient to do that type of work.





And here I stuck in the photo my Hello Kitty purse I made to teach at Michael's last year. (Or was it the year before now? I can't remember.) No one signed up for the class, (as usual). Instead I had some teens ask me if they could buy the purse.

You know the saying, "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime."

Well, it's like that with me and crochet.
All I wanted to do was teach crochet. Show them how to make it and they could make a million of them at home all by themselves.

Yet, in this crazy, commercial, instant gratification world we live in; I guess it's much easier to just go out and buy whatever you want rather than get the satisfaction of making things on your own. It's so sad, really.

ANYWAY, I got the pattern for the Hello Kitty purse here...
Jessica Tromp
It is the most awesome site and you can never post the link on any forums because of copyright laws. (Some of her patterns are copyrighted cartoon characters etc.) It's a shame because her site is jam-packed with useful information for many types of crafts including crochet, knitting, needlework, yarns, measurement conversions, gosh too much to mention.

So, anyway, I'm "thinking spring" this week.