Berry Good Berry Bag Crochet Pattern

Fall is here! I love fall. Maybe that makes me "basic," but I don't care! I love pumpkin spice lattes, and pretty leaves, and candles, and crisp air, and all kinds of shenanigans. You know what else is a fall staple, especially in the Pacific Northwest? Berries. Berries grow all over the darn place out here; they happen to be invasive. Invasive or not, it's so fun to pick berries on the side of the road and eat them raw, turn them into pies, or even put them in a cocktail. You can pick your own berry with my new pattern, the Berry Good Berry Bag. It is available on Ravelry and Craftsy.

This sweet bag pattern is highly customizable. The sample is a raspberry, but you can easily create a blackberry, salmon berry, or blue raspberry with a simple color change. You could even make it into a bunch of grapes by using purple! You can also make it bigger or smaller by changing the weight of the yarn, changing the hook size, or adding more repeats.

Unlike many lined bags, this bag is worked in one piece. How convenient!

This pattern is for intermediate crocheters. The techniques used include crocheting in the round, working in front/back loop only, cluster stitches, detailed repeats, and some minor shaping.

Rainy Sunday Knitters Go to Tolt

A few weekends ago my fiber group, the Rainy Sunday Knitters, took a little trip to celebrate one of our members. Lindley (in the blue shawl that she made for her wedding) just recently got married, so we all went to brunch and to Tolt Yarn and Wool to celebrate. It was a little bit of a drive, but it was worth it. Tolt is known for its inspiring displays of yarn and friendly attendants. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Pictures of items are mine, and pictures of people were taken by my friend, Toni. Thanks for a great day out, friends. Best wishes, Lindley!

Review: Manos del Uruguay Alegria Grande Yarn

Today, I'll be reviewing Manos del Uruguay Alegria Grande yarn. Disclaimer: I received this complimentary yarn in exchange for a review. I am not being paid to write this review and everything shared here is my real opinion. Thanks go out to Fairmount Fibers for providing this lovely yarn for me to play with.

Despite having both my personal and professional lives being very busy, I am getting into the groove with my crochet business again. As such, I need to be very picky about how I spend my time. I have some big, exciting projects that I am working on. That said, when I got the opportunity to review another yarn from Manos del Uruguay (I previously reviewed Franca), I accepted right away. What a wonderful yarn company! They care about the people who make their yarn and the yarn itself is wonderful to work with.

As soon as I received my skein of Alegria Grande, I knew I would not be disappointed. There were many colors to choose from, but I selected Orquidea because it reminded me of a spring garden. The hank of yarn was so soft and squishy! Wanna know something silly? I ended up winding it up by hand instead of using my winder, simply because I wanted to play with the squishy goodness.

Having only one skein, I decided to dive into my crochet One Skein Wonders book to find a suitable project. I settled on the Boutique Weave Scarf because I wanted to show off the colors in the yarn. I ended up making some alterations to the pattern. First, I included more repeats of the mesh base. Second, I added a decorative border to either end instead of fringe. Last, I whipped up a little cinch with the remainder of my yarn ball so that the scarf could be worn once around the neck more comfortably.

I enjoyed every moment I spent working with this yarn. It is soft, doesn't snag, and has just the right amount of stitch definition. I will absolutely be working with this yarn again in the future. Don't just take my word for it; take a look at the finished product and decide for yourself.

Once again, I wholeheartedly recommend this delightful yarn.