bag lady

I'm not much of shopper these days. I wouldn't say that I'm real trendy, so I have been toting around the same big bag since I bought it three years ago. It was made in Turkey and has a beautiful, hand sewn pattern on it. Of course the curse with having a big bag is I can never find anything. Once something is put into the abyss, it's gone. I thought that I would make myself a smaller bag, one that would hopefully minimize my bag lady tendencies.
For Christmas last year, one of my friends gave me the awesome gift of a one year subscription to Crochet! Magazine. A couple months ago there was a bag pattern called the "Firecracker Bag." It features blue, red and yellow yarn with a gold clasp and wooden handles. I wasn't a big fan of the colors, but I thought that I could use up some yarn that I'd had for a while. (Side note: Using up scrap yarn is great, but just make sure you have enough of it to make your project. Yeah, with most yarn you can go to the store and by more, but then you have more of the yarn you were trying to use up. Also, if it's older yarn, there's a good chance that you won't find a match.)
Something that happened with my bag is I had to turn it funny because my nice stitches ended up on the inside, so my stripes go the wrong way according to the pattern. Another thing, is that I had to make the flap narrower to accommodate the wooden handles I used. I didn't have a ring and clasp, so I made a button hole in the flap and sewed on a button.

Ok, enough of me pointing out my mistakes. Here was my result:

Firecracker Bag from Crochet! Magazine

My half and half Firecracker bag

My Mom found the wooden handles for 99 cents and I stained them to match.

The pattern calls for many color changes which are easy to do because you carry all three colors throughout the bag and drop the yarn you don't use.  When I ran out of brown, I just kept going with the golden rod and pink.

I had never done the decorative chain stitch before and I loved it! It's really easy to do. It's like you're drawing on your work. You can spell out or draw any shapes with the stitch.  I think it makes a nice accent on this bag.  

I am thinking about lining this bag. I've never done that before. A friend said that it's pretty easy, so I may give it a try. I don't think this bag will stretch much, but having it lined would help keep its shape.
Happy crafting and keep being creative!