Thursday, December 17, 2009

Sunflower Shopping Bag


Sunflower Shopping Bag



This pattern is copyright April 2007 by Hilary Detmers.


Do not post it on your website, distribute it or sell it as your own work.


I used to live in Germany, where the Green Party for several years formed part of the governing coalition. This has had a significant impact on the country's recycling laws and attitudes. One example is clear to see when grocery shopping. Folks always keep their own reusable bags or crates in the car to be available for groceries and other shopping. While plastic grocery bags are available, you have to pay extra for each one you need. It can be tough for Americans new in the country to remember to bring their bags with them. The Sunflower Shopping Bag with its bright and cheery flower is a reminder to grab your bag when you go. The addition of a key ring hook makes it easy to hang on the back of the seat, in the trunk, or wherever you need it to be sure not to forget.




This is a good project to use up ends of crochet thread. I really wanted to use up some partial balls of white thread, rather than driving into the nearest city and purchasing the colors I wanted. What to do? So, I went to the kitchen to make a cup of tea and mull it over. AHA!! I raided the spice rack and pulled out my curry powder! Then I noticed that my husband hadn't finished up all of the coffee that morning. My second color! Dyeing with natural ingredients is a MUCH better alternative than driving 30 miles to buy more thread! And the entire residue goes in the compost, too. It's little decisions like this which add up to make a big difference over the long run.


Materials
Hunter Green Caron "Grandma's Best" #10 cotton crochet thread - 550 yards
White Aunt Lydia #10 crochet cotton - 180 yards divided and dyed as in "NOTES" below,
OR Yellow #10 Crochet Thread - 120 yards,
And Brown #10 Crochet Thread - 60 yards
US A-4 / 2.0 mm crochet hook, US 8 / 1.5 mm crochet hook
Yarn needle
1 Elastic Ponytail Holder
2 Stitch Markers
1 key ring hook - optional


Finished Size
The flower is 8" in diameter. The pouch, when filled is 4.5" in diameter and 2" thick. The bag, including handles, is about 20" deep, but will stretch significantly when filled.


Gauge  is unimportant for this project.


Notes
Dyeing the thread is OPTIONAL. You can use purchased green, brown and yellow threads.
How to dye white thread for the sunflower:

Materials
1 Coffee filter
2 TB Curry Powder or Turmeric for yellow
1/2 water
1/2 cup leftover coffee or 1 tsp instant coffee granules for brown
Measure the white thread into 2 hanks, one of 120 yards, and one of 60 yards.
Be careful not to splash any of the dye mixture on your clothing.
Place the curry powder or turmeric in the coffee filter, close the top tightly with a rubber band. Place in a 2-cup glass bowl with 1/2 cup water. Microwave on high till the water boils. Turn the spice bag over, leave to sit 10 minutes.


Place the coffee in a separate glass bowl.


Place the larger hank of cotton in the bowl with the curry powder, and the smaller hank in the bowl with the coffee. If solid color is desired, completely immerse the cotton, adding more water as necessary. If a variegated color is desired, submerge 1/2 to 3/4 of the cotton in the water. Microwave till boiling, leave to cool. If deeper color is desired, add more spice/coffee, as required.


Rinse hanks well, hang to dry. Wind into balls when completely dry.


Alternate brown dyeing method: Crochet the Pouch Front piece in white thread. Spray with warm water, sprinkle instant coffee over the damp cotton. Press the coffee into the cotton. Spray again and leave 20 minutes. Rinse well


Pattern



Pouch Back:
Row 1: With green thread and smaller hook, loosely work 70 sc over the ponytail holder. Making sure the stitches are not twisted, distribute evenly around the ponytail older and join with a slip stitch. Place a stitch marker. Do not join rows; work continuously moving the stitch marker at the completion of each row.


Row 2: work one sc in each stitch of the previous row. 70 stitches.


Row 3: Work 1 hdc. Work one dc in each remaining stitch around: 70 stitches.


Row 4: *Work 2 dc in next stitch (increase made), dc in each of the next 9 stitches, repeat around from *. 77 stitches


Row 5: *Work 2 dc in next stitch (increase made), dc in each of the next 10 stitches, repeat around from *. 84 stitches


Row 6: *Work 2 dc in next stitch (increase made), dc in each of the next 11 stitches, repeat around from *. 91 stitches


Row 7: *Work 2 dc in next stitch (increase made), dc in each of the next 12 stitches, repeat around from * to within 3 stitches of the end of the round. Work 1 hdc, 1 sc, 1slip stitch. Fasten off. Weave in ends. 98 stitches


Special Stitch Pattern
This pattern replicates the sunflower seed pattern on the Pouch Front with triple crochet bobbles in a ground of single crochet. There are no 'build-up' chains between the single crochet and the triple crochet stitches. This causes the triple crochets to 'squish down' and make small bobbles, giving the Pouch Front some texture.

Pouch Front:
Row 1: With brown thread and larger hook, ch 4 loosely. Join into a ring with a slip stitch. ch1, work 7 sc into the ring. Place a stitch marker. Do not join rows; work continuously moving the stitch marker at the completion of each row.


Row 2: Work 2 sc in each stitch of the previous row (7 increases made). 14 stitches.


Row 3: *Work one tr and one sc in the next stitch. (increase made) Work 1 sc in the next stitch. Repeat from * around to marker. 21 stitches


Row 4: Work 1 sc in the next stitch. *Work one tr and one sc in the next stitch. (increase made) (increase made) Work 1 sc in each of the next 2 stitches. Repeat from * around to marker. 28 stitches.


Row 5: Work 1 sc in each of the next 2 stitches. *Work one tr and one sc in the next stitch. (increase made) Work 1 sc in each of the next 3 stitches. Repeat from * around to marker. 35 stitches.


Row 6: Work 1 sc in each of the next 3 stitches. *Work one tr and one sc in the next stitch. (increase made) Work 1 sc, 1 tr, 2 sc over the next 4 stitches. Repeat from * around to marker. 42 stitches.


Row 7: Tr in first stitch, sc in next 3 stitches. *Work one tr and one sc in the next stitch. (increase made) Work 2 sc, 1 tr, 2 sc over the next 5 stitches. Repeat from * around to marker. 49 stitches.


Row 8: Sc, tr. Work 1sc in each of the next 3 stitches. *Work one tr and one sc in the next stitch. (increase made) Work 3 sc, 1 tr, 2 sc over the next 6 stitches. Repeat from * around to marker. 56 stitches.


Row 9: 2sc, tr. Work 1sc in each of the next 3 stitches. *Work one tr and one sc in the next stitch. (increase made) Work 1 sc, 1 tr, 2 sc, 1 tr, 2 sc over the next 7 stitches. Repeat from * around to marker. 63 stitches.


Row 10: Tr, 2sc, tr over the next 4 stitches. Work 1sc in each of the next 3 stitches. *Work one tr and one sc in the next stitch. (increase made) Work 2 sc, 1 tr, 2 sc, 1 tr, 2 sc over the next 8 stitches. Repeat from * around to marker. 70 stitches.


Row 11: Hdc in the next stitch. *Work 2 dc in the next stitch (increase made) Work 1 dc in each of the next 9 stitches. Repeat from * to the marker. 77 stitches


Row 12: *Work 2 dc in next stitch (increase made), dc in each of the next 10 stitches, repeat around from *. 84 stitches


Row 13: *Work 2 dc in next stitch (increase made), dc in each of the next 11 stitches, repeat around from *. 91 stitches


Row 14: *Work 2 dc in next stitch (increase made), dc in each of the next 12 stitches, repeat around from * to within 3 stitches of the end of the round. Work 1 hdc, 1 sc, 1slip stitch. Fasten off, weave in ends. 98 Stitches


If you need to dye the front panel brown, do so now. Rinse well and let dry thoroughly.

Large Petals:


Row 1: With yellow thread, and smaller hook, work a slip stitch around the post of the first dc in row 13 on the right side of the Pouch Front. Working on the surface of the pouch front, Ch1, work a sc around the post of each of the next 12 dc stitches. Ch2, turn. 13 stitches.


Row 2: Dc in each stitch across. Ch2, turn. 13 stitches.


Row 3: Dc2tog (decrease made) dc across the row to the last 2 stitches. Dc2tog (decrease made). Ch2, turn. 11 stitches.


Row 4: Dc2tog (decrease made) dc across the row to the last 2 stitches. Dc2tog (decrease made). Ch2, turn. 9 stitches


Row 5: Dc2tog (decrease made) dc across the row to the last 2 stitches. Dc2tog (decrease made). Ch2, turn. 7 stitches


Row 6: Dc2tog (decrease made) dc across the row to the last 2 stitches. Dc2tog (decrease made). Ch2, turn. 5 stitches


Row 7: Dc2tog (decrease made) dc across the row to the last 2 stitches. Dc2tog (decrease made). Ch2, turn. 3 stitches


Row 8: Yo, Insert hook in first stitch and pull a loop through; Insert hook in second stitch and pull a loop through; Insert hook in last stitch and pull a loop through. Yo and draw through all loops on hook. Finish off and weave in end.


Starting in the next DC, repeat rows 1-8 around for 6 more petals.


Small Petals:


Row 1: Attach thread around to post of any stitch in Row 12. *Ch 10. Work a slip stitch in the 2nd ch from hook. Working down the chain, sc2, dc3, tr 3. Skip 3 dc on the Pouch Front, slip stitch around the post of the next dc. Repeat from * around, deliberately making some of the chains looser, and some tighter, to alter the sizes of the petals slightly. Slip stitch in first stitch. 21 petals


Row 2: slip stitch down to the Row 11 on the Pouch Front and repeat Petal Row 1. Fasten off, weave in ends. 19 petals.





Bag:


Note: Bag is worked with 2 strands of thread held together from this point on, using the larger crochet hook.


Don't worry if the Pouch Front and Pouch Back are not the exact same diameter. This is not critical, as long as they both have 98 stitches in the final round.

Row 1: (Joining row) Hold the right sides facing each other, join the Pouch Front and Pouch Back together working through both thicknesses, and being careful not to catch the petals in your work. Attach the DOUBLED thread to any dc. Ch 1, sc in the same stitch. *Ch 5, skip the next dc, sc in the next dc. Repeat from *, ending with ch 3, dc in the first sc to form the last loop. 49 loops.


Row 2: ch1, sc in the loop just formed. Place a stitch marker in this sc. *Ch 5, sc in the next loop. Repeat from *, ending with ch 3, dc in the first sc to form the last loop. 49 loops.


Row 3: ch1, sc in the loop just formed. Move the stitch marker to this sc. *Ch 6, sc in the next loop. Repeat from *, ending with ch 3, trc in the first sc to form the last loop. 49 loops.


Rows 4-30: Repeat row 3.


Row 31: *2 sc into the next loop. Repeat from * to the first loop. Sc, join to first sc with a slip stitch. 98 stitches.


Row 32: Ch1, sc in the same stitch. Sc in each stitch around. 98 stitches.


Handles:


From the stitch marker, count around Row 32 49 stitches. Place the second stitch marker. Return to the working loop at the first stitch marker. Ch 50. Skip 24 stitches in Row 32, sc in each of the next 2 stitches. Ch 50. Sc in the stitch after the first handle chain. Sc in the next stitch. Ch 13. Holding the 2 long chains together, work 25 sc over both chains. Ch 13, sc in the next free stitch on row 32. Finish off, weave in ends.




Re-attach thread at second stitch marker, and work a second handle in the same manner.


Finishing Instructions


Tuck the shopping bag into the pouch. Attach key ring into one of the stitches that joins the Pouch Front to the Pouch Back.


Designer Bio


I've been crocheting left-handed for over 35 years. I also knit by hand and machine, sew, do needlepoint and embroidery and rug making. I'll take on just about anything involving fibers except tatting! When I'm not working with some kind of hook or needle, I'm likely to be found traveling somewhere in Europe, where I've lived the past several years.


Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works
This pattern is copyright April 2007 by Hilary Detmers. Do not post it on your website, distribute it or sell it as your own work.

1 comment: