... and then I found the Lucy Bag - my second completed project

After attempting the string bag in this post, I felt a little discouraged by the final size, and decided I needed to return to Google to find other patterns and ideas. And then I found Attic24. As I mentioned in this post, Lucy's blog was a wonderful surprise and showed me a side of crochet I hadn't know existed: crochet that was full of colour, of rainbows, of soft yarns, and ... my favourite patterns of hers were free of granny squares! (As you may have read in my blog below, I was trying to avoid what I saw as "old style" crochet such as granny squares!)
Anyway, this beautiful bag by Lucy (above) fitted my criteria: a nice, big bag, colourful, bright, not a granny square in sight. And a free, step-by-step, photo-by-photo pattern. How could I go wrong? I couldn't - and I didn't - I was able to follow her instructions to the letter and only a month after learning the basic stitches, was able to make this bag! All by myself - with Lucy guiding me all the way! :-)

My apologies for these next few photos. They were taken with my mobile phone but they are the only ones I have of these stages:

First I managed the circle...

I was a little unsure about joining at the end of each round, but I decided to be brave and just try it; it worked out in the end...

Then I stopped the increases and it magically started creating the sides...

It started to look "bag-ish":

And then the straps. I was worried they'd be too short so of course they ended up way too long! Oh well, I sewed them on further down the bag to try and fix that problem.

Then I tried the flowers Lucy suggested: another free, step-by-step tutorial, so patiently explained so that even a beginner like me could work it out...

And then, finally, it was all put together!
Thank you, Lucy, thank you! Lucy's clear explanation and excellent photos really did tutor, guide, and mentor to me and I am so very grateful - and happy! - because I now can do so much with my hook and yarn. :-)

So here are the details:

Pattern: Crochet Bag on Attic24, aka the "Lucy Bag" :-)
Pattern source: Crochet Bag Pattern on Attic24
Yarn: Carnival Soft 8ply (DK weight?) acrylic - 80g balls
Hook: 4mm
Dimensions: bigger than I expected - about 36cm diameter across the base and 36cm up the sides- but it's big and floppy so it looks a lot bigger than that when it's stuffed with yarn! :-)
Date commenced: October, 2009
Date completed: actual bag - November, 2009; straps and flowers - December, 2009
My reflection: A great pattern for beginners and the tutorial makes it fool-proof. I'd like to try this again one day in a cotton and see if that keeps it more compact - less baggy and floppy. But it serves its purpose beautifully and it was a very pleasurable experience making it. If you're looking for a bag to try - this one is great!

I use this bag for all the shades of yarn I'm using for another project - and it's another Lucy pattern, of course! Her patterns/tutorials are the perfect place for a beginner to start when trying to teach oneself using internet links. :-)

So more about that WIP next time.

I hope you find these details helpful if you've been looking into doing this project. Please feel free to leave questions or comments below - I love hearing from you. :-)

Hope you are all having a happy, wonderful, rainbow-coloured day.
Until next time,
Caz :)