Little Monkeys Market Bag

Lately, unemployed and tending the parental units, I've picked up crocheting again. I originally learned from one of those little books they used to sell at the checkout lane in grocery stores for 29 cents. Wow, did I just date myself or what? I wish they would sell more craft books (of course the price would be significantly increased!) in the checkout lane. It might inspire more creativity in folks. Anywho, I've been on a kick making bags and thought I'd post a few. This first one is my first take on Little Monkey's Market Tote.

This skein was made with Bernat's Fresh Lilac and a rogue ball of silver/grey I found around the house. It's a good "yarn buster" and very handy. So handy I decided to make another. The first one holds a large bag of Dorito chips and that's about it. Momma loves her Dorito chip casserole, so that's fine. I did shorten the handles by about half the length of Little Monkey's pattern. The Dorito chips hang in the pantry without getting crushed, which is great.

I found the bag so handy, I tried a second version, making it a good bit larger than the first market bag I made by doubling the number of stitches around the bottom.  I kept the handles at around 3/4 the pattern length. Mom recommended a drawstring to make it more versatile, so I made the top with a row of dc, ch, sk st for the drawstring (just continuing that around the top of the bag. I then crocheted a row of hdc (3 per each ch1 space) to strengthen the drawstring area. The photo doesn't show a drawstring because I never actually made one. It's too handy without it.

 I just changed colors at random,  with the bottom in black, mid-section in pink, a horizontal stripe of black, another chunk of pink, the top in black  handles in black and the drawstring itself in pink hdc.

I made the bag out of a ball of orphan black yarn and a Red Heart Pretty in Pink I have no idea why I bought. I'm not generally fond of pink, but readily admit most "hot" or neon colors are real favorites whatever their hue.