4/9/10- I’ve been using the bag for a while now and it’s held up well and I get LOTS of compliments on it. People want to buy it. Easy care with this yarn- just stick it in a mesh bag and throw it in with the permanent press stuff. I find that slows pilling on acrylic stuff.

1/31/10- Ok, so I just lined it. Crazy!

8/15/09- I’m gonna go ahead and call this one done. The strap is on and bordered. All I need to do is weave in ends and add lining. I know I’m not REEEALLY done, but it is a usable bag AND I keep thinking of new things to do with the bag lining. I may never finish. I’ll post pics a little later.

8/14/09- Valleys all filled in and borders done. I stitched the bottom in rounds with colors like the ones in the bag. I stitched plastic canvas to the bottom of the bag in order to make sure that it has some structure. I also measured out the lining, which is an old cotton sweater. It matches perfectly. I will add pockets. I’m not sure if I’ll break out the sewing machine, but who knows? Fun bag!

8/13/09 - I finished joining all the motifs and started filling in valleys. I joined the long strips of motifs with single crochet join. The bag’s a little puckery and I think that’s because I used a smaller hook for the joins. I’m not too worried about it, though. It will definitely stretch. I am thinking of lining it with the fabric from an old cotton sweater. I think it will be perfect. :)

8/12/09 Mods for making Hexagon motifs.

1) I’m not binding off & joining new color with slip stitch. Instead, I am inserting new yarn into old color loop, and pulling tight. Then chaining one with new color, clipping a short tail of old color, and crocheting over both tails to secure color change.

2) After chaining one on non-increase rows, I’m not crocheting in same as join. I’m skipping over join and crocheting into the next one.

3) When closing hexagon in increase rows, I am inserting hook underneath join stitch, drawing up loop, and then inserting into join loop and slip stitching.

4) If any extra stitches creep in, I am simply crocheting two together to keep it shapely. :)

For some reason, I find this easier than binding off and joining. My hexagons are not coming out perfectly, but I am enjoying it, and there are no ends to weave in!

8/12/09 - I’m at 16 motifs now. I really like my color choices. I have been able to more or less perfect the making of the hexagon so the color changes don’t look too wonky. I’ve made a few mods to the directions, which I’ll post later.

8/10/09 - Seems like an easy pattern. I’ve already made six motifs. I’m loving how the colors look together. It’s a great way to use stash. :) So far, so good.