Surpreese revealed

Oh look! The surpreese was this adorable bag made from plastic grocery bags! I saw a girl at work with one (a student), and I promised to make a co-worker one for her birthday next April. Then I got motivated and thought, "I won't be here then. Heck, why not now?" And the Bag O' Bags was created. I gave it to her a few days ago and have already seen bag usage from her. It's very pleasing to see someone enjoy your gifts.

Here is the bag being "useful" by holding recycled yarn.

And of course, a fashionable photo of me holding the bag getting the few minutes of love out of the Bag O Bags before it was no longer mine. I plan on making another soon for myself with non-white plastic bags (tan and blue are the most common non-white bags in So. Cal., so I'll be limited to those). If I wasn't wearing my stylish white shirt, the bag would have shown up a little better, I know, but look at that beautiful shirt and the way it matches the green turtle sarong. This does not just happen by itself people!

My grandmother, the crafty crocheter that she is, has taken on the burden of translating my work into "crochet speak" for those who read that language. For the pattern, click on read more!

Bag O Bags Pattern

• Size K crochet hook or larger (would need to chain less in beginning with larger hook)

• 25-30+ #2 or #4 plastic bags ( I prefer #2 bags from the grocery store... in California you have to recycle them at the store, so if you go to the store you can just pull a bunch out of the recycle bin and high tail it back to your car)

Before you can start, you need to cut some bags, either just one andcrochet a bit and cut more, or cut several at once. To cut them, youneed to first trim off the bottom seam, then make a 1 1/2 " vertical slit. From the top of that slit, start cutting horizontally aroundthe bag, making sure to spiral up (instead of cutting off a short bottom strip). When you get to the top, cut off the handles and any strange flaps. Once you have some bags cut, you can actually crochet.

Bag:
• Ch.20,d.c. in fourth ch. and in each st. across, ch.3 turn
• Row 2: d.c. in each st. across, ch.3 turn.
• Repeat Row 2 until piece measures 4"
• Rnd. 1 ch.3, d.c. in each st. all around making 2 dc in each corner, sl. st in beginning chain
• Rnd.2 Ch3 repeat rnd. 1 untill piece measures the length of your choice or 14".

Handles:
• Ch.6, d.c. in fourth ch. adn in each st. across, ch. 1 turn
• Row 2: d.c. in each st. across, ch. 1 turn.
• Repeat until chain is desired length (approx. 3 grocery bags)
• Repeat for second handle.
• Attatch handles 3 inches from each edge, one handle on each side.

Wear with pride!