I need a vacation.

Heck, I'd take a "staycation" at this point given the price of gas these days. hahahaha. Ok I really just wanted to use the word staycation there. We've been kind of laughing about it all week since I keep hearing it bandied about all over the place. Staycation is becoming the new "metrosexual" in the sense that once that word got penned boy howdy did everyone really REALLY like using it. How can I honestly take anyone seriously who uses that word?

But it's nice that I'm starting off with a not-on-point ramble, isn't it? In my defence I do feel that I would really like to have a vacation. (no duh) But it looks like I will have to wait another month.

I'm also starting to think that I need a summer vay-cay away from my knitting. I'm giving myself an F on this project. F as in Fail or Frogged. F as in, WTF is my problem lately?

Sure, it looks innocent enough:



The sun was shining (for about 5 minutes), the flowers were blooming, my tomato plants were blossoming...

(image deleted)

Yup, the sun came out in what feels like about three weeks of non-stop rain. So I sat down to enjoy it.



And things immediately clouded over on my already water-logged, filthy balcony. Word to the wise --no matter how kitschy-cute you think green astro-turf might be (coupled with plastic tulips--perfection you say?) remember this: YOU will be the only dork out there VACUUMING your balcony in the summertime(IF it ever dries out that is).

Yes, that is the price I pay for indulging my silly whims.

The first problem I had with this tote? I ran out of yarn. But no biggie, I was knitting from stash anyway...plus I was only about an inch off on what was left of the handle so it didn't matter much. Naturally after the fact I found an additional TWO balls of said yarn --enough to make another bag altogether. (At that point I was apparently still contemplating that probability.)

Now I knit the large version of this pattern, and knew the yarn would stretch. But problem number two here is that I didn't contemplate just how much it would stretch depending on what I put in it. If I was filling it with yarn I could probably carry a lot in it. Filling it with it's intended use of market fruits and veggies? Not so great...a few peppers, oranges and bananas and the thing was practically dragging on the ground.

The world's loooooongest bag--plenty of room in it to spare, but it would have been pointless to put anything else in it.



(boy I did a good job cropping those, didn't I?)

And my third F grade? F as in what the EFFFFFF?

I had a couple of spots that looked like this:

(image deleted)

I think one of them was actually a dropped stitch that I never noticed until a) the bag was completely done and b) the stitch had dropped all the way to the bottom. The weave is so loose that trying to pick it back up all the way to the top just became a frustrating, tangled mess. And then there were a couple of other weird stitch spots that just seemed to be irreparably "stretched out" and things would be falling right through.

So, verdict: I will knit it again, but in the smaller size. My issues definitely weren't with the pattern so much as they were with my own ineptitude. I will likely knit with the US 17's instead of the #19's on round two as well. I think my errors did come down to my impatience with using those and wanting to be DONE. The 19's were just a little too clunky for my hands to make this an enjoyable knit.

Failure at an easy project like this really drives home the message that I need.to learn.how.to.CROCHET.

the deets:
pattern: Emerald String bag from Worsted Knitt
yarn: Patons Grace 100% cotton in "night" (2 balls)
needles: US #5 and US #19 (3.75mm and 15mm)