Scrap bag

I finished most of the work on the crochet bag I started yesterday, and while it did not turn out as I envisioned, I am nearly done with it and plan to use what I learned from this endeavor to make a small purse that more closely resembles that bag of my original vision.

True to my original vision, I used two strands of yarn to form the body of the bag. In some places, I used two strands of the same color, and in others, I used one strand of a solid color and one strand of yarn formed by tying small scraps of yarn, one to the other, using a granny knot.

Crocheting with these upcycled yarn scraps, created definite sides of the fabric formed. Here is how the inside of the body of the bag looked shortly after I finished crocheting it:

crochetbug, crochet bag, crochet purse, crochet tote, scrap yarn crochet, crocheting
The interior of the bag before the ends were pulled to the outside of the bag

While I love the riot of colors, I decided that I would pull the ends to the exterior side of the bag, so the color riot would be more readily visible. After an hour or more, I finally had all of the ends moved to the exterior side of the bag leaving the interior of the bag bereft of ends:

crochetbug, crochet bag, crochet purse, crochet tote, scrap yarn crochet, crocheting
The interior of the bag after the ends were pulled to the outside of the bag

Meanwhile, the colorful stitch definition seen here before I pulled all the ends to the exterior:

crochetbug, crochet bag, crochet purse, crochet tote, scrap yarn crochet, crocheting
The exterior of the bag before the ends were pulled to the outside of the bag


disappeared and was replaced with this vibrant, almost electric porcupine effect:

crochetbug, crochet bag, crochet purse, crochet tote, scrap yarn crochet, crocheting
The exterior of the bag after the ends were pulled to the outside of the bag and with the handle attached

There are two things I would do differently even if I were to make this bag exactly as I did the first time. One, I would use shorter yarn scraps, and tie the knots with longer ends so that there would be more yarn ends giving the exterior a bushier look. Two, I would pull the ends to the exterior after finishing each round.

As for my original vision, I’ll have to try to make that bag again another day.

One thought on “Scrap bag

  1. This looks such fun! And what a thrifty way to use up scraps of yarn. i think you should call it your “porcupine bag”! Will be interested to see mark 2 of this with the modifications you plan to include on the next version. The white makes a great neutral base for the bright sunrise-coloured “porcupine” spikes. Black or a neutral taupe I guess would work very well too. Spikes in turquoise, electric blues and purples would look amazing on black… The possibilities that open up here…!

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