Chunky Tote

So I bought some Super Chunky yarn with the intentions of making a scarf that I had seen.  Turns out I have way too many scarves already and some really cool patterns that I still want to make, so there was no need for this average scarf.  This left me with four skeins of a variegated super chunky yarn that I absolutely love, but couldn't find a suitable project!

I had recently pinned a pattern for this Chunky Granny Square Crochet Tote from the Michael's website.  The pattern calls for five skeins of the Loops & Threads Chunky yarn in Heather Gray.  According to Ravelry, one skein is 27 yards and 150 grams.  The yarn I already had was Isaac Mizrahi CRAFT Lexington Yarn in Union Square, which can only be found at Michael's, of course.  Ravelry states that these yarns come in 69 yard skeins at 140 grams.  I'm hoping that this doesn't cause issues since it's much lighter than the Loops & Threads.  In preparation for running out of yarn I also pulled some stash super bulky yarns from other completed projects.  I have two barely used skeins of Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick.  One in Fisherman and the other in Starlight.  They're so close in color save for the metallic gold strand in the Starlight.  I plan on incorporating the Thick & Quick into rounds of the Granny Square so that they're just an accent and my pretty Union Square yarn will be the main focus.

There was one thing stoping me from beginning this project! I needed a JUMBO HOOK!  OMG!  The biggest hook I had was a P hook, and this Jumbo Hook is size Q!!! 15.75mm!!!  Jeez!  So I stopped at Michael's on the way home from work and picked one up with a 40% off coupon. :)

With my new humungous hook and what is turning out to be more than enough yarn, I started my tote.  I've worked in the round before, but never actually made myself a Granny Square.  This pattern has three circular rounds, then the fourth puts in corners, and the fifth squares it off more solidly.  I used my Union Square Mizrahi yarn for rounds 1, 2, 4, and 5, and my Fisherman Thick & Quick for round 3.  I repeated the same for the other side.

Now, for attaching and adding handles...I see what they did, but I wanted something more like a cross-body and since my tote is not quite as large as theirs (probably because of the different yarn I used) I decided to crochet some sides around all three joins and then continue to make the strap.  The decision was then, which direction should I work?  Did I want to make a super thin strip that I could make longer if needed or do I chain some random amount like 90, see how long it is, make adjustments, then hope for the best...?  I feel like working back and forth by 2 or 3 single crochet's will produce the right look.  I looked at other messenger bags on Ravelry to find the look I wanted.

I forgot to take some other pictures throughout the project. Oops.

Con #1: I can see where I changed colors in the white circle.  Rookie mistake that could have been done correctly had I more experience.

Con #2: When making the strap, I knew I needed to have 57 rows (or something like that in order to reach around all three sides of the bag.  I put a stitch marker in, then went to town adding more rows until I thought the strap would be long enough.  I connected all three sides on the insides of my bag, then connected my strap.  Well, since it was made with that insane Jumbo Hook the strap stretched out and my bag was down to my knees!  I simply attached it at a shorter length so that it wouldn't be so long.  Knowing this now, I would have used a smaller hook, like a P or N so that the stitches were tighter along the strap.

Pro:  I now have a cute hippie bag to take when we go Disc Golfing!  It's perfect to carry a few disks and a water bottle!