Tag: Granny Square Tote Bag

Granny Square Tote Bag – Red Heart All In One Granny Square Yarn

Most crocheters / knitters would agree that the worst part of any project is weaving in the ends. If you are unfamiliar with what that means, it’s basically weaving the ends of the yarn into your finished project. This is especially the worst when you create something with multiple yarn colors, like granny squares!

So, I was excited when I saw that Red Heart created a yarn that would minimize ends with granny squares with their new Red Heart All in One Granny Square Yarn. The yarn also takes the guesswork out of selecting colors for the granny squares, although I wasn’t all that thrilled with the color selections. I did find one that I liked, I just had to get my eyes used to crocheting with black yarn. There is a funny saying that goes “If someone makes you something out of yarn, they like you. If they make it out of black yarn, they love you.” Not sure who said it, but there is a lot of truth in it. My mom used to crochet, and she would avoid dark colors (if possible) when working on a project. Working with darker colors requires ample lighting to reduce the strain on your eyes as you work so you don’t miss any stitches. Which can slow your progress down as well. For me personally I can crochet much quicker (and with less mistakes) when working with lighter colors.

Now, while most patterns for granny squares are the same with just a few tweaks here and there, I opted to follow the pattern that came with the yarn as opposed to the one I normally use just to be sure that my granny squares would work up “properly.” Well, right off the bat I realized that it wasn’t going to be as easy as it seemed. I was constantly frogging (ripping out the yarn) and adjusting my tension to get the colors to line up for the different rounds of the square. There was always a round or two that was off which meant I would have to start the round again. I decided to read the reviews for the yarn on their website to see if there were any tricks or suggestions and what I found was a bunch of negative reviews. I was determined though. Ultimately, I ended up with 15 granny squares that required a lot of patience!

So, what to do with the 15 squares? For a moment I thought of buying a few more skeins of the yarn to make a throw, but I quickly tossed that idea out. I really didn’t feel like working with the yarn again to make more granny squares after all the trouble it was to create the initial 15. I decided on a tote bag instead. I had recently finished another granny square tote bag so why not make another. One thing though, I was going to need more granny squares. I needed a total of 19 granny squares for the basic design I was thinking of. So, I ended up crocheting 7 granny squares in black yarn – straining my eyes once more.

As I mentioned this tote bag was my second granny square bag. After crocheting and stitching together the squares for the first one I decided to add a liner to the bag to give it more structure and to prevent it from stretching when carrying anything in it. This was a daunting task. While I own a sewing machine, I had no clue how to use it for the longest time. I tried once and it was a complete failure. So, to add the liner to the bag I did it completely by hand. Overall, it didn’t come out too bad, but it’s definitely not stitched into the bag completely straight.

Well, for this new bag I learned how to use my sewing machine. My local library had a “class” where you could bring in your machine and an instructor would show you how to use it. Woo-Hoo! Well, almost! My first attempt at stitching the liner into the new bag was a fail! I practiced with scraps of fabric but then when I got to working on the bag it just wasn’t working out. I sewed the liner in, but it was atrocious! Not one to give up though, I watched a few YouTube videos (which I probably should have done in the first place) to get some tips and decided to rip the liner out of the bag and try again. And my second attempt was much better. I did end up stitching the liner into the bag by hand, but it was much neater this time.

I also ended up making this cute pouch with 2 remaining squares. I even added a zipper to the top!

So, would I use this yarn again? Probably not to make granny squares that’s for sure. While the yarn does cut down on the amount of ends to weave in, I am not all that inspired by the color choices. And I find that lining the colors up for each round is too time consuming and requires me to crochet with a much looser tension than I am accustomed to which I didn’t like. I ended up the squares that were limp and loose.

A Blanket, a Tote Bag and Some Pumpkins

As I mentioned in my last post, I haven’t been doing much baking – although now that the temps & humidity are dropping I am hoping to get back into it – but one thing I have been doing is a decent amount of crocheting.

I’ve been working on a granny square tote bag. Out of nowhere these bags started popping up on my Instagram feed and I figured since I knew how to make a granny square why not try one. Well, it’s taken me a bit longer than I thought it would. First, I was trying to come up with different color variations so no two squares would be the same. I gave up on that plan quickly and then decided to settle on a few variations and work with those to create a pattern for the bag. I made a slight mistake while stitching them together but decided it was okay… It’s a prototype. LOL!  Then it was time to work the border and make handles… Not sure what happened but I didn’t like how it was coming out, so I ended up frogging the whole border and the handles to start over. I am at that point now. 

I recently finished a baby blanket in a ripple stitch pattern. While I normally like to use white as the accent/separator color the person requesting this blanket asked that I use green instead. While I initially had my doubts about how it would look, I ended up really liking the variation.

I also finished a few pumpkins to add to my Etsy shop. I made these pumpkins using the bobble stitch. It’s a fun stitch that gave the pumpkins a nice 3D texture. Some might say that they are reminiscent of a pumpkin with warts, but just in a more uniform pattern. Either way, they are cute! It was the first time I used the stitch and while it’s a super easy stitch that results in a nice design it is one that requires a lot of yarn. It’s a yarn eater! The reason is because the stitch consists of multiple double crochets that are grouped together in the same stitch. Not sure I would ever make something larger than these pumpkins using the stitch.

They are available on my Etsy shop now.  

I also have other pumpkins available that were made with a simpler stitch but are just as equally cute.

One great thing about these pumpkins is that they will last all season year after year!

And that’s about it when it comes to my yarn projects. I have some ideas for a few other things I would like to make but I haven’t gotten to them yet. Hopefully soon!