Notes on the Bucket Bag

    After publishing the pattern, I realized you should know about the mistakes too. The pattern is fine, it's all about yarn choice. I found some pretty variegated wool in my stash, and wanted to make a bucket bag with it. I had a lot, so I doubled it up and used 2 strands at once. It makes for a thicker, more heavy duty bag.



    I crocheted the bottom, and made it bigger than the one in the pattern photo. That one turned out kind of small. Here's what the bottom looks like on the finished bag:

    After picking up the stitches around the circle, I quickly realized why a variegated yarn isn't good for the bottom of the bag..... Here's what the rest of the bag looks like:

    The colors on the crocheted bottom are in blocks, due to the way double crochet works. Then the stripes on the body of the bag are from knitting in the round. I was dismayed, but I still love this bag! As you can see, I ran out of the variegated wool before the bag was tall enough, so I finished it with a denim wool, from the same company. I believe it was Patons Classic. This bag remains one of my favorite project bags, even with the weird color splotched bottom.


    So, dear readers, my advice to you is if you choose to make this bag, save your variegated wool yarn for the body, and use a solid color for the bottom!  And remember, you can make the base as big as you want, and the body as long as you want!


    In all actuality, the bag in the pattern photo is kind of small for my taste. I've made all the other ones bigger. And this bag would make a cool purse, just get a magnet or some other kind of clasp and use it to connect the long sides together.

 

Bicraftual Bucket Bag Pattern

BICRAFTUAL BUCKET BAG

Kim Scheffler
BicraftualRavingsOnLife.blogspot.com


This bag starts with a crocheted circle which forms the bottom of the bag, then the stitches are picked up and knit in the round for the body. Then it's felted.

Tools needed:

U.S. Size K - 6.5 mm crochet hook
U.S. size 11 - 8 mm circular knitting needle, 24 or 29 inches long.

2 skeins color 1 wool
1 skein color 2 wool  (due to variants in felting, both colors should be the same brand, Patons or Lion Brand would be best for this project)
Of course, if you make a bigger bag, you'll need more yarn.

BAG BOTTOM:

To start - ch 4, sl st in beg ch to form a ring.
Rnd 1: Ch 2 (counts as first dc here and throughout), work 11 dc into ring, join with sl st in top of beg ch — 12 sts.
Rnd 2: Ch 2, dc in same st, 2 dc in each st around, join with sl st in top of beg ch — 24 sts.
Rnd 3: Ch 2, 2 dc in next st, * dc in next st, 2 dc in next st; rep from * around, join with sl st in top of beg ch — 36 sts.
Rnd 4: Ch 2, dc in next st, 2 dc in next st, * dc in next 2 sts, 2 dc in next st; rep from * around, join with sl st in top of beg ch — 48 sts.
Rnd 5: Ch 2, dc in next 2 sts, 2 dc in next st, * dc in next 3 sts, 2 dc in next st; rep from * around, join with sl st to top of beg ch — 60 sts.

After the first few rounds, you can pull the yarn end from the ch 4 tight to close the circle, or you can use the Magic Loop method to start.

Keep going as established until Rnd 11 is done, and you have 132 stitches around.


BAG BODY:

At the end of last crochet round, use color 2 to join to 1st stitch, cutting 1st yarn and knotting 2 yarns together.

Slip loop from crochet hook onto knitting needle, and pick up a stitch through the top of each double crochet stitch around the circle. Place stitch marker after last picked up stitch.

Knitting in the round, K 1 round with color 2. Switch back to color 1, and continue knitting in the round until bag body is approx. 14 inches, or more, tall. Put a stripe of color 2 in wherever you like. You can make it as wide as you want, even make more than one stripe. You can play with colorwork here too, if desired.

BEGIN HANDLES:

When you come to the stitch marker, slip it, then K13, BO 40, K26, BO 40, Knit 26. Take the 26 stitches that aren't attached to working yarn and put on stitch holder. You will now work back and forth to create handle. You can remove the stitch marker while knitting the last 26 stitches.

Row 1, and all odd rows, Purl all stitches.
Row 2 and all even rows, K2, K2tog, K across to last 4 stitches, K2tog, K2.

Repeat until there are 12 working stitches left. Knit in stockinette until approx. 18 inches long.

Note: Do not slip first stitch here, after felting it cups, and isn't flat. Learn from my mistakes.

Cut yarn, put these stitches on a stitch holder. Take other stitches off of holder, and work the same as 1st side, but only making it 5 inches long.

Now it's time to join the two together. If you know how to do the Kitchener stitch, have at it. I don't know how, so I did a three needle bind off, with the ridge on the underside of the handle.

Tah-Dah! You're all done with the hard part. Now, you just have to felt it. I use my washing machine, very hot water, cold rinse, with three tennis balls in for extra agitation. Some people tell you to let it air dry on its own, but I am not the most patient of persons. I throw it in my dryer, on high heat, along with the tennis balls. It will probably take more than one cycle. Although I recently discovered that throwing a dry towel in the dryer with the wet felted item totally speeds up the drying time!

When it's dry, you can use a sweater shaver to clean up the fuzz. I usually prefer to do this. I just like the way it looks, more finished, not so fuzzy.

A surprising thing happened...

   Last night, at some random point in the evening, I became aware that I heard counting... "24, 25, 26..." Then I realized it was my own voice! Gradually the cloud lifted and I could see that I was in the middle of the cast on for the purse that has been calling to me so seductively. 


   My subconscious knitter had made me get up, get the yarn out of my stash, find the right size needle, and start casting on the stitches I needed to begin making the purse. I was completely shocked. Never-the-less, I kept going and worked on the purse base last night, then finished it this morning. Clearly, the subconscious knitter has gotten her way. It seems she is very strong willed.


    After finishing the base for the medium sized bag, I picked up the stitches along the other three sides of the base, and knit one time around. This whole time, I had been muttering to myself that it's not big enough. That one time around verified my thoughts. After this thing in it's current state was felted, it would be way too small. It looked to me like the base was already the size it was supposed to be after felting. I also felt that the needle was too small.


   So.... I frogged it. I then searched through my needle collection, and realized that I didn't have the bigger size 13 circular needle that I desired. I remembered that I have some straight needles in an old knitting bag, so I looked in there and lo and behold, I found two short size 13 needles. The don't match, one is plastic and the other is metal. But that doesn't matter at this point. They are usable. I didn't find any long needles. So the short ones are what I went with.


    I cast on the stitches for the bigger purses base at Bonny's house. They barely fit on the short needle, because the pattern calls for two strands of yarn. Either way, I'm using them until I can get to a craft store and purchase circular needle of at least 32 inches in length. I just can't work on it too much. Hopefully tomorrow I can get to a store and make the purchase. I'm hoping to find more wool, as they didn't have enough when I made the original purchase.


    Hubs just read this and is shaking his head... now I'm not sure it's gonna happen..... Oh well. I will keep you all updated!   

I Think I Got It.....

    I don't want to jinx myself (too late!), but, I think I got it. The sweater pattern, that is. I managed to create a little chart for myself that indicates how many rows of each kind of increase there are to be done, and I just tick off with a pencil when each is done.


    I bet that sounds simple to you, but for me it was monumental. That I could figure it out at all is amazing to me. As my good knitting friend said, "You must really want that sweater very badly!" She says that's how she got most of her knitting skills, by wanting something badly enough to learn the new skill. I'm sure I drove her nuts last night at Karate, as well as this morning at Stitch n Bitch, by how excited I was. And I still am!


    I am now confident enough to forgo the whole "make one of cheap acrylic first" thing, and go right for the good wool. Unless I've annoyed the Knitting Goddess with my boastfulness. Which is entirely possible.


    I'm going to continue to knit the yoke of the sweater for practice, just to make absolutely certain. I am not going to take photos of the practice yoke. It would entail me pinning it to the carpet, because it's all rolled up. BUT it is awesome, and you can easily make out where the V-neck is, as well as the sleeves. Who kows - if I can find enough of the practice yarn, I may very well continue on it, just to see what it looks like. There must be someone in my life that it would fit. I made it a smaller size than the one I would make for myself.


    And YES, Sara, I am still working on the Gamer Gloves! One is almost ready for a progress fitting.


   I know, I know, I screwed myself with this post. Now I will have pissed off the Knitting Goddess for sure, and she will punish me for my boastfulness. But I GOT IT!!


   

  

WTF?

    There I was, knitting away, at the end of the first of three skeins of Paton's wool. All the same colorway, I might add. I attach the new skein, and start knitting again. After a few rounds, I notice something. 10 points to the first one to comment on the photo:

   Yup, that's right. The 1st skein had tan in it, bottom of photo, and the 2nd doesn't, top of photo. It has gray. I actually like the 2nd one better. I checked the 3rd, and it has tan in it again. I didn't even notice when I bought them. They all looked the same to me.


    So this bag is gonna have a strange looking stripe in the middle. Oh well. The colorway was Wedgewood. I couldn't find a dye lot on any of them. If I was making a sweater, I'd be really pissed. But it's just a felted bag, so it'll just add some interest.

I'm So Very Tired Tonight

   Getting up at 5:30 a.m. sucks. That's why I'm so tired tonight. I wouldn't take a nap either, if I did then I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight. I was so tired, I can't even tell you how many times I almost fell asleep in my chair.


   I did go out today, to Michaels. I didn't get to go yesterday, my bestest buddy canceled on me. I wasn't too upset, really, I was so sore, I could hardly walk. It worked out for the best. So I went today, and used a 25% off coupon, for entire purchase! I got three balls of wool yarn for $10. Not too bad.


    Since I was in the plaza, I went to the Stop n Shop down there. Our new one that opened just this past Friday is very nice, but I'll wait for the furor to die down. I don't like shopping in a huge crowd, or having to wait for a parking space. O do need to go exploring the new one, I need to find where they put the bottle return machines. I have some bags piling up that need to be returned.


     I am so tired, I had to put my knitting up. I can't keep my eyes open. Very soon I will go to bed, as I have another early day tomorrow. But tomorrow, Hubs won't be getting up too, so I can sleep until 5:45. Woo hoo!


    I almost didn't post tonight, but I decided that since I already skipped a day recently, I can't skip another one without a Dr's note. I wouldn't want you guys to worry about me.  So here I am, and if I sound a bit out of it, I am. G'night!

Nothing to Report Yet

    Perhaps you noticed that I didn't post yesterday, I tried, I really did. There was just nothing to say. I'm not working on anything right now. My legs hurt and I'm a bit on the cranky side.


   However, there is a light at the end of the crafting blackness. After work today, I will be going to Michaels with my good friend Bonny. I fully intend to look seriously at some yarn. I might even start my son-in-law's long ago promised mitts. Well, if I can walk, that is. I have high hopes for that. who would eve think that I would find standing to be such torture and give me such pain? That's what three years of being unemployed can do if you aren't careful.


    I will say that the wool is already enticing me, it wants to be another bucket bag, this time a variegated one. The muse won't let me be, she tells me the wool wants to be a bigger bag also. I'll look at the wool yarn seriously.

Bucket Bag Progress Report

    Today, I have made more progress, I completed the stripe of color 2. I was originally thinking about a 4 inch width, but decided to stop when it felt right. It turns out, the stripe is 3.5 inches wide. Not too bad, estimate wise!


    I also measured how tall it is so far, just for reference sake, and it's 9 inches tall so far. I have yet to measure the diameter of the bottom circle, but I will at some point.

    So far, I'm liking this bag. I am a little concerned about the diameter of the bottom, worried that it's not large enough. It's the same number of rounds as the first bag I made, but it looks smaller. I will never know, since I didn't take any measurements of the first bag, pre-felting.


    At this point, I would like to say that if you wanted to make this bag smaller or larger, it will work. Since, if done correctly, every round will have a number of stitches divisible by 12, therefore also by 6. That's the math I used to divide it, when I decided how to do the handle.


    I have considered reducing the number of stitches in the last round or two before the handle step, as the original bag is kind of wide and a bit floppy at the top. My consultants have both agreed that they like it that way, so I will soldier on with the original plan. But you could K9, K2tog all the way around the top, and still have a number of stitches divisible by 6.


    OK, I think I'm done second guessing myself for today. If anyone has any questions or comments, please feel free to post them here. I've tried to take photos of the original bag, but it's black, and isn't cooperating. All photos haven't come out well enough to be posted here. It just looks like a black blob. Phooey.

In Which I Start a New Project

    During the hurricane, it again occurred to me that I wasn't working on any particular project. All I was doing was listening to the TV while playing mahjong on my laptop. I decided that I needed to be making something, so I went stash diving. I found some pretty Malabrigo I had forgotten all about, two balls of purple, colorway Uva, and several of colorway Plena. I will only need one of those.


    I thought I'd start another felted bucket bag, and those yarns will look nice together. This time I'll write it down, as I do it, so I can present the pattern for those who wish to use it. I start, as before, with a crocheted circle for the bottom.


   Also this time I shall take photos of the progress, as well as before felting measurements. I hope. We all know that measurements when felting are kind of flexible.


    I started on Sunday evening, I believe, and got the bottom of the bag done on Monday. Here's a photo of the bottom, not complete yet:

     I finished the bottom, then picked up the stitches with a circular knitting needle. I knew I wanted to do this one differently than the first one; I wanted a row or two of contrasting color at the start of the body, so I picked up with the 2nd color, and then knit a row. After switching back to color 1, this is how far I had gotten as of yesterday afternoon:

     I am planning a nice, wide stripe of color 2 further up the body. When I get there, I will take a photo or two, and make sure I update you all!

Crafting Update

    I just finished the crocheted/knitted bag-to-be-felted! Now to just throw it in the washing machine. To review, I crocheted a circle for the bottom, then picked up the stitches round the edge and knit in the round.


    When I determined it to be big enough, I then had to decide how to work the handle. I knew I wanted one handle, not two. Then I had to do some math. I counted the stitches around, knowing, because of the crocheted bottom, it would be divisible by 12. Here we go: I had 132 stitches, which makes 12 groups of 11. Too small. How about 6 groups of 22? That worked for me, so the next round, I cast off 44, knit 22, cast off 44, and knit 22.


    Then I put the first set of stitches on a holder, to be worked later, and began with the second set. I knew I wanted to evenly decrease the number of stitches, so I started by K3, then K2tog, then Knit across to the last 5, K2tog, K3. I did this every right side row, until I was satisfied with the number of stitches left. It seemed right at 12 stitches.


    Here are photos of the pre-felted bag, with the cable remote for size reference.

 

 

 

Hopefully I will remember to get post felting photos too!

 

Crafting Update and a Gallivant

    The baby blanket is finally done, and is right now in the washing machine. So I have nothing currently on hook or needles. I never got very far with Wingspan, or the Baby Surprise Jacket either. I frogged them both.


    Right now, I am just sitting here, enjoying my new recliner. Well, new to me, anyway. It sure beats the hell out of the folding lawn chair thing I had been using! It's not over stuffed, there is plenty of room for moving my arms as I knit or crochet, which I was concerned about.


     So now I get to think about what I want to make next. I've actually been thinking about making another crocheted and felted purse. I think I have enough wool in my stash. Actually, I remember that I started one, I crocheted a big circle, then picked up the stitches with a circular needle and knitted in the round. I should go find that one, and work on it some more...


    Earlier, I gallivanted out to the Hudson Valley Marketplace, on the Salt Point Tpk. I know the Awesome Store has a booth there, and with their store being closed on Sunday, that was my only choice. I needed more soup mixes. I used the last one in my pantry yesterday.  So now I'm restocked, and very happy.


     

Keeping Cool in the Heat

    Today is another scorcher, high to reach 93ish. Tomorrow will be worse, they say, high to be 94 to 99 degrees. It makes me really glad we have a pool.


    This year, we have been really slow getting the pool up and running. It's usually ready by July 4th, but with getting the Fishkill house ready to be lived in, the pool got neglected this year. Finally, today, it is swimable. And as usual, I was the first one in.


    Poor Hubs has been battling with the algae, this year it's been really horrible. Right up until yesterday, the pool was green. This morning, when I looked out the kitchen window, I saw right away that the pool was no longer green. So, we went down, tested it, adjusted the chemicals, and a little while later, we were in!


    I even got our floats and noodles out, and Hubs blew up our mattress float, and my lemon slice float. I had an orange slice too, but last year it went missing.


    This is what poor pool looked like, not even at it's worst:

    Now, it's a little green again, Hubs had to scrub some algae off the left wall. But we added more shock to the water,and chlorine tabs in the skimmer basket, so it should all be out very soon.


    It was so hot down there today, as soon as we came back in, we had ourselves a Klondike bar. Yummy yummy. Now we can relax in the air conditioning, and wait until the sun is off the pool. That's my favorite time to swim. Usually by 4:30 or 5 p.m. the pool is mostly in the shade.  AAAHHHH. This is how to keep cool in the heat!


    P.S. You should've seen  me knitting a wool shawl, in my bathing suit, by the pool!

In Which I Buy a New Drop Spindle

   My original drop spindle, a gift from a very good friend, is still missing in action. I was moved to go look on etsy for a new one. I looked and looked, page by page, and finally found one I loved. I am interested in a top whorl spindle, and it must have a notch for the yarn to be secured into.

   There are some really lovely examples out there. Lots of them I really liked, but I thought that they were just out of my price range. Some of them were square, which is cool because it won't roll away if dropped. Some were carved into snowflake-like shapes, which are really pretty, and have notches built, or carved, right into them.

  Some spindles have their whorls made of exotic things like glass, or stone, or even polymer clay! All of them were awesome. But the one that stole my heart is multi colored in sunset colors of red, orange and yellow, and also has sparkles on it. It even has not one but two notches in the whorl! And even better, it comes with a little bit of wool fiber to get started with.

   I am certainly not a proficient spinner, yet, but I am really looking forward to using this new spindle! I hope it comes in time to take it to the Spinning Guild meeting this month...  I promise, I will take photos of it when it comes!

Adventures in Spinning and Babysitting

   Yesterday:
   To be honest, I haven't really begun spinning yet. Tomorrow morning, I'm taking my drop spindle and fiber to Stitch n Bitch, and OFL (Our Fearless Leader) will give me a lesson in using it. I'm excited about it.
   I have yet to try my actual spinning wheel. Maybe at some point in the future I will get brave enough to ask for assistance and lessons, and get started. Woo hoo.

   Today I started my second babysitting job. My charge is one cute little girl! As opposed to the cute big girl I also babysit for. The little one was an absolute darling today. I just hope that at some point in the future, she doesn't start screaming as soon as I walk in the door, because that means that her mommy is leaving. I certainly hope we become fast friends before too long.
   And this takes some of the pressure off me, as I am now working part time. And Hubs is happy! So I babysit five days a week, two days for both kids, separately, and the other three for just the little one. And I am home in time to get Hubs up for work!  Another woo hoo!

   Today: 

    Stitch n Bitch went really well this morning, I spun on my spindle, and we both decided that I either need a new, heavier spindle, or I need to glue some pennies under the disc part to make it heavier. If it's heavier, it spins for a longer time. And we were very happy to see Bella today, as well! We miss her when she can't come to every meeting. I was so tickled to heat that she reds my blog, regularly! She even told me that she looks forward to it every day. I am just excited that I have at least one fan.

    My second day babysitting went really well, the little darling climbed up on my lap and promptly took a nap laying on my chest. Warmed my heart. On the negative side, I got to change my first poopie diaper in about 20 years. You look at the young ones with such nostalgia, until a poopie diaper comes along. Then you remember why you love that they grew up.

    I got home in time, Hubs was already up for work, and drinking his coffee. We got to hang out, and after he left for work, I got ready to go out. Again. For the third time today. This time, Kim and I were going to our first meeting of the Spinning Guild, in Red Hook. We were both nervous. She's been spinning for a while now, and she's actually very good at it.

   Still, it was intimidating. I mean, all these artsy types? That's what we imagined. Even though we knew at least some of the ladies and gentlemen who were there, from the much smaller spinning group that meets at the Clinton Library once a month. Everyone we knew greeted us warmly. That was nice. We wanted to join, but the membership lady disappeared shortly after the actual meeting portion was over. We didn't see her again until she had her coat on and was walking out the door to leave. Oh well, there's always next month. I also hope to take my camera next month and get some photos!

   So today, I left home at 9 a.m. and got home about 10:45. Left again at 11:15, and got home at 3:30 p.m. Left again at 6, and got home about 9:30. Tomorrow I plan on sleeping in, as late as I can!