It's a flat knot shaped like a bag

When I let my mom know I was knitting she immediately put in requests/demands for many things. Things that will take me years to complete. She actually said "I would like 10 or so knitted grocery bags."

10. Bags. I have knitted two bags, both to be felted, and both took me about three months to make.

I began the cotton knitted bag from Knitty and got about five nights into it and realized it would take me about 6 solid weeks of work. The pattern is tough, the stitch isn't easy to do, especially with cotton, and I just knew I didn't want to put the kind of time into a cotton bag that this pattern called for.

I then decided to succumb to the crochet, because it is fast (relatively) and allegedly easy. I have only done one crochet project, a chain stitch trellis scarf I haven't finished the flowers for yet. I only had to decipher one term in that pattern, though. So I did some online research, got a few bag patterns that would work for groceries, sat down and completely didn't understand the first line of the pattern. I didn't have internet access and didn't bother looking anything up, I just tried to figure it out based on a couple of cursory crochet explanations in one of my pattern books.

Needless to say, I am free forming a bag based on some chain stitches with a double crochet (much help from this site which has video explanations, the photos and illustrations in books did not help me) loop around where the bottom meets the sides. Currently it is big enough that it would make an awesome/ridiculous garden hat for one of my drag characters.

Brian has given me endless shit about this, so, it remains the position of the Totally Knitting Universe that Crochet is an Inferior Fiber Art (TM). But mom will have a belated birthday gift with installment one of ten crochet grocery bags. (I really want to try to make an onion grocery bag next.) She thinks she's getting an afghan she has to piece together herself. In the bag I will put some goodies, like the several dishclothes I've knitted her (another request), which include the states of New Jersey, California and Texas. As well I will put a travel coffee mug with a picture of her favorite cat in it.

Anyway. I am not a fan of the crochet as a form to make something pretty or marvelous, except in rare instances. But for ease of use and quickness, it makes a good side project with the hateful Anny Blatt maus jumper thing I'm knitting. (See below entry.)

Also, this girl makes awesome crochet monsters which are the rare instance when crochet is cute.