Coming up with post titles is the most tedious part.

It's confession day today at Blog City.  I love hippie looking bags.  When I was a teenager I had too much love for all things hippie, stick-it-to-the-manism, tie died shirts, flowey patterned skirts, and a hippie bag.

I'd bought it at a yard sale, it was woven, or maybe crocheted, out of jute or something thick like that.  It was a big bucket shaped bag with coral stripes and leather handles.  I absolutely loved it.  It had that Mary Poppins fits anything quality necessary in a big bucket bag, and I wish I still owned it right now.  I'd forgotten about my hippie bag until I saw a character on The Golden Girls carrying the same bag in blue colors.  So with my love for giant hippie bags reignited, I went browsing around on Ravelry and found this. It's a bucket, it's big, and I can use what I've got lying around.

So I go digging around in my stash and pull up all the worsted weight extras I've got.  The pattern calls for fingering doubled, so I figured that would work.  Also, it's a granny square, so I can really make it whatever size I want.  And, since I cast on last Sunday and finished it Friday, that makes it the fasted project I think I've ever finished. (Rav link)

  

I cut the table full of drinking and lobster refuse out of the picture.  While it's not generally a great idea to drink too much and then try to take pictures of yourself and a pocketbook, I couldn't get the colors right with any of the in progress indoors pictures.  But I'm super happy with it.  It's got my favorite types of color, it's striped, and the straps will take a lot of weight, which is important for the way I abuse bags.  

I made some modifications about the straps, because I think all bags, especially big bags, need shoulder straps.  I don't understand how people can put their precious time and effort into a bag and then slap one of those cheap handles on it.  Especially those awful imitation bamboo circular ones.  I've only done it when I've been too lazy and stupid to know better.  

I also added magnetic snaps, because a big bag like this ought to stay closed when you put it down. 

Maybe after I touch up some of the indoor lighting pictures I'll post a simple tutorial on how to modify this bag to give it my terrific more normal straps.

OH YEAH, the other great thing about this bag.  The yarn was all leftovers from other projects or one balls I didn't have any discernible use for, the lining was leftover from another ancient project, and the snaps I bought when somebody was discontinuing them five or six years ago, so the total 2010 cost to me was 5 dollars for the trim I made the straps out of.  Not too shabby, right?