B Strings

The string bag is finished and it's like a monster from a B-movie. It could kick those skinny eco-fashionista bags from Exit 151 to Tokyo Bay. You should hear it roar. It easily swallowed an entire sweater's worth of yarn. (Er, when it comes to yarn, I'm not wholly immune to the power of the label.)



The bag was crocheted and knit from Aunt Lydia's Double Strand crochet cotton (two intertwined No. 10 threads, equivalent to No. 3 thread) in colorway 0443 Victory Red/Mexicana. One 300-yd (274 m) ball was exactly enough. I'm pleased with the results and want to make more, although the handle may need re-thinking. A single handle needs to be long enough so that it does not hinder stuffing the bag, whereas double handles can be short or long as desired. Hm.



That's an 18-inch volleyball, a 16-inch softball, a glove, two regulation Frisbees, and s'mores fixings poised to be bagged. The chocolate started melting, so I moved it out of the sun, but everything did fit.

For those who asked for a pattern, sorry, the bag is a chimera whose parts are already published – the base is from Meta Thompson's crocheted bag in Spin-Off Summer 2006, the sides are a mod of Judy's Turkish Stitch String Bag, and the handle is a mod of Erin's The String Bag. I like the drawstring and toggle on Amy Singer's Everlasting Bagstopper and may add them, too. There are even more patterns at Erin's String It Along KAL.

Meanwhile, the string beans are finally starting to come in – a trickle at first, soon a flood. This year I planted green and yellow varieties (the haricots jaunes are actually various shades of pale lime green). The mere notion of yellow green beans disturbs my neighbor mightily. Happily, the plants don't care about the gardening police.



My downstream Sockapalooza pal's socks are ready to jump in the mail – all will be revealed next week. Now that the TdF KAL and Sockapalooza are in the bag, I'm going to volunteer to knit socks for a 'loozer whose pal bails. Just keeping up that B string.