Rainbow Bucket Yarn Bag

Here we gooooo...

one of the first things I realised about learning to crochet is how it completely plays around with my OCD, I mean, it REALLY plays round with my OCD. Skeins of yarn here and there, constantly flitting from 1 ball to another and having to keep carrying bits and bobs around, storing them in different baskets and generally being unorganised - enough to put you off. So, I had seen a pattern for a yarn bag that one of the blogs I HEART had written up as a tutorial and I decided once I felt a little more confident I would give it a go. For the moment I continued to carry my yarn and WIP's round in my pink co-op bag :)

2 weeks ago the time came and I felt ready. I printed the tutorial pattern off - you must check out this blog and all credit for the inspiration and 'ability' goes to this lady 'Lucy'... With credit to Attic24's pattern: http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/crochet-bag.html

I started whipping up circles, rainbow circles but opposed to Lucy's 14 round increase I continued to a 16 increase just to make the 'bucket' part of the bag slightly bigger. (or it was an error?) :)



I continued up the rounds, I think the Lucy bag has 24? Mine has 2 full rainbows and some other bits thrown in, I went colour crazy - it kept me happy during the constant rounds of Double Crochet (us terms) and SC (single crochet in UK terms). Mine possible has 40 rows up the sides but the frilly (shells) around the tops remain the same and I love the colorfulness this brings..

My straps are longer (I chained 140) and I made them wider too (possibly 12 rows of single crochet (us terms). I am quite tall so I appreciate the longer handles - these were the only part I found tedious and making them so tight to take any excess weight I found it quite frustrating pulling the yarn super tight but they are soooo worth it, they look great don't you think?

I made 4 identical pretty little flowers (again all credit to Lucy at Attic 24) and added 4 matching mini-buttons that I had acquired from my mother in laws stash - I knew they'd all come in very handy, they finish my little flowers off perfectly and I left the ends of the yarn long enough to thread them directly onto the bag and tied them as tight as I can on the inside and in double, triple and quadruple knots - they should last? (I hope).

So, I'd like to share with you, something fun, funky and yes maybe a little bit silly but none the less I HEART it. I am totally and am completely in love with how it's going to help out marrying my love for crochet and a huge Yarn stash with my OCD needs and worries too. Also, I am very much looking forward to my first crochet coffee meeting this week and showing it off, I wonder how many of the other ladies have something they love as much to carry their projects in? Actually I hope they all do, I'm sure in time (and after seeing mine), if they don't have something already - they will!

Looking down on the inside, it looks faaaaaab and its huuuuge!!!! Just need to fill it up now :)

Final Pic! Isn't it fabulous?!!

Buttons

On Sunday my mother in law invited us for lunch. Free roast dinner? mmm OK!

For a while now she has been fascinated in my love for crochet and always interested in what I'm hookin'up. I have started a little jumper for her puppy and I know how excited they are to see it finished :)

She introduced me to her life long button collection. Some she was gifted, she acquired, inherited and purchased. Some are pre-war and some more recent, some from her time living in Canada and some as local as the next village. Either way, what a collection!! Tubs and tubs of jewels (buttons).

I HEART buttons. I was like a child again, I colour coordinated them, packed them into different bags, and spent most of the day arranging them into different patterns and collages. I was a little school girl again. My husband and my children were astonished at my love for buttons and just how occupied I'd become with something so simple :) I could have stayed there aaaalllllll day!

 

Can you see some of the colours and jewelled buttons I chose? WOW! I have some really fun plans for some of these buttons, I will keep you updated throughout their new lives in my cute little button tin :)

The day was one of the most perfect for a while, the boys played spinners with some old - large Victorian buttons whilst I chose which buttons I would like for me to keep and bring home starting my OWN collection of buttons and then we walked with the dogs to burn off the monstrous dinner we had consumed.

The early evening sun was kind to us - what a perfect spring day!