You can never own too many bags 😂.👜🎒

This one came with the Scheepjes yarn pack for the blanket crochet along, it's just a tote but big and strong with one inside pocket. Could be used for anything.

This shows the pink Artbin tote alongside the one I bought from eBay which was the exact same design as the ones everyone was buying back then but only around £12.

I think I paid about £15 for the Artbin one, and it was the one I bought first. At them time they were being advertised and raved about and mine came from the USA. It is lightweight and the one I grabbed to go to the A&E (emergency dept) every time I had to take my husband. It has a carry handle on the top, and a shoulder strap that can be attached in two different ways - or it could until one of the plastic D rings broke early on. I should try and find a replacement.

This tote comes in other colours and is widely available in the UK now. It is just one compartment inside, with a pocket on the front. It's lightweight and can hold quite a lot, but yarns do get tangled.

  It also comes with a detachable pencil case sized bag, this can be very annoying when full of hooks as it bangs against you or the bag and rattles as you walk.

It has two slots in the top with rounded ends for yarn to go through without opening it, unfortunately the yarn jumps out through the slots often as you crochet, things can fall out when it's carried sideways, and dogs can take yarn out through the slots as can children (so you could be sat next to kids somewhere and never know they have taken your yarn). It also has no ridgidity so flops when not so full.

This organiser has 6 compartments of clear pvc, divided by clear pvc which is not sealed at the bottom, so things could move possibly. three of the compartments have zipped openings at the front so you could shove more yarn in, or untangle jammed yarn I guess but not for all the compartments. It has a clear pocket either side, a shoulder strap but no carry handles apart from that, and there is a storage compartment behind the yarn compartments. The problem with this design is that if you are working on a project and it is attached to the yarn there is no way of putting it in the storage compartment without cutting the yarn and taking it out of the holes. I knew this was an issue when I bought it, but wanted to organise my Persian Tiles blanket yarn, that blanket is still unfinished by the way.

The lid has 6 holes to feed the yarn through to work. The lid doesn't fix down in any way and is rigid, as you work if you don't rewind your yarn into cakes or have centre pull yarn the yarn will jump out of the organiser, there is nothing to stop it, the lid just pops up. Also the clear pvc can build up static or a sort of stickyness and stop the yarns moving so freely.

A bag and box line up. Despite owning two lovely yarn bowls and these totes I am working out of the pvc storage bag at the very back which was in a pack of two for £2.99 from B&M lol, mainly to keep the dog away from the yarn!

I thought I would take some photos of the new bag with the iPad to make them easy to add to blogger - Nah! iPad photos not an option to add so I had to retake them.

It is by Teamoy and I got it on Amazon, no discounts or freebies for me but I keep hoping! These come in black or grey dots, and I kept adding to the basket, thinking about it then finding they were sold out again. I kept missing them. Then I could have had a black one, which strangely cost more. This one cost £27.99 and I had a voucher to use, the black one was £32 at one point but I waited until this one came back into stock and grabbed it right away!

It has pockets all round, front and back spotty pockets zipped, and each side one clear pocket and one spotty.

The top is clear, and has a clear zipped long pocket one side that can hold knitting needles or Tunisian crochet hooks, or just more crochet hooks.

It has two carry handles and a shoulder strap with attactive matching padded bit.

The front pocket contains more pockets and loops for crochet hooks or tools. The side pockets are large enough to take a magazine.

The yarn compartments are material, and each one is totally seperate, no gaps at the bottom of the dividers. The clear lid on this half zips closed and has 6 grommits to feed the yarn though, it also has little velcro straps on the edge to keep the yarn in place.

One of the best features is the storage compartment next to the yarn, behind the yarn if you like, is large and has it's own seperately opening clear lid, the one with the needles compartment. This is fixed by two poppers. I might add a bit of velcro to the centre which is not fixed at the moment, but it kind of overlaps so might not work, as there is a velcro strip already for the yarn loop holders a small bit with loops would be all that I need to add. This bag is so well designed and addresses all the problems that the other two have, the only issue will be the weight of this. It's fairly heavy with my pure wool blanket CAL in it, and I haven't added all the crochet hooks and tools. It would be great to take on holiday with everything you need in one place.

While I was looking for previous photos of the bags I found the previous photo I blogged of me wearing the cardigan and I though I would show them together so you can see the difference.

  

I was thinking of frogging it back then.

The belt thing not quite working lol.

I can see a difference and it fits better now but I've still got a way to go on my Slimming World journey.

Hooking catch up post.

This is the bag I made on the Mystery Craft Along Veronica Meets Spring at Melody's Makings. You could also make it into a cushion. I still need to line it.

This is a second one I started, not got any further, very bright colours.

I stopped everything in the middle of the Dancing in the Sea blanket and made a quick jumbo cardigan with super chunky Sirdar Indie yarn. It only took a few evenings and is like wearing a hug!

The following are all photos of the Dancing in the Sea blanket using, Scheepjeswol Marino Soft yarn, in progress.

Joining.

Blocking.....

....new blocking tool!

Ta Da..... blanket finished!

I love the border, simple as it is.

New Necchi sewing machine, 300 stitches including alphabets.

Work in progress on the Peacock Tail crochet along, by Tatsiana at Lille Bjorn crochet.

Bag finished apart from attaching the strap and lining it.

Back of the bag.

Gloria the ghost was a kit with Simply Crochet, and I didn't think she looked quite as she should. I've now seen that there is a correction on the SC correction page!

Simply Crochet Subscribers Crochet Along blanket, the first two squares.

They are slightly different sizes even after blocking!

Mystery revealed!

I haven't blogged for ages, and I nearly didn't tonight because I have been in bed trying to sleep off a migraine!

As well as the Dancing in the Sea blanket I have been taking part in a Mystery Craft Along at Melody's Makings. The final reveal told us that we can make our mandalas into either a bag or a pillow (cushion), and I chose to make a bag - the only thing is it would work perfectly in my living room as a cushion! I think I might have to make some more, they are quite addictive.
I began making the bright one in the first photo which is made in Marriners DK, and it seemed to have the same tension as the Rico Creative Cotton Aran used on the purple version, which didn't make sense but now I have completed one mandala it is about 1" (2.5cm) smaller, so not sure if it is big enough for a bag or if I need to add more rounds.

Here is the bag with handle shown with the fabric I purchased to line it.

I had the perfect button for the bag, bought at a show last year! Just need the toggle now and to do the lining. I was thinking of trying to do something to the strap to make it be able to be shorter or longer as required, I'm still thinking about that.

The mandalas were quite complex, stitch markers, stitch counters, writing out the pattern, much frogging, and yet they are still quite addictive!

Here are some more of the Scheepjes CAL Sea blanket squares coming along.

I like this openwork bobble pattern.

Crossed trebles were fun.

Waffles anyone?

This square has sort of defeated me,

 although I got the stitch after watching the video and frogging what I had done which was just slightly different. But the edges were going to be a nightmare to border, but then the whole thing shrank so small! I would have to go up a size or two in hook size to get the size. People say it will stretch out a lot when blocked, but I feel this pattern will naturally try and shrink back again!

 I might substitute it with this version, which is using one of the stitches and just a back loop, it seems to be behaving. If not there are a few alternatives being tossed around the closed group that I might use. The lines have a meaning to the designer of this square, and the stitch was Marinke's favourite apparently so it is a shame that it doesn't work so well in a square.

I think Kenny was redecorating with my coasters! I found this a week after he had been visiting!

Hot cocao (without milk) and next to it my new nutmeg grater which is very good! I will join in at T for Tuesday at Elizabeth and Bleubeard's place, later than I hoped to, and I didn't get round to comment last time and I apologise for that.

Sooty and I have been walking every evening, I hope he will forgive me for not going tonight, and here is a really pretty calf who wanted to see him - from a distance!

When we walk it is fast and I feel that I am pounding out my anger and sadness as my hubby gets sicker. 

The last few weeks have been so tough, we heard that the cancer was worse and had spread to the brain on the same day we heard that hubby was suitable to go for a drug trial in Oxford if he wanted to continue fighting.

Yes he wants to fight, he wants to live! So we were told he would have to have a special radiotherapy, which we now know is called Gamma Knife, to destroy the brain tumour.

Then we went to Oxford, by then hubby had been told he can no longer drive, and our friend's car broke down at the hospital. At least we got there, and came back by taxi that the AA sent (£153 on the clock when we got out so glad we weren't paying).

We were told that the brain tumour had to be dealt with before the drug trial can begin, and hubby can't get any sicker than he is.  We were also told that the MRI scan he had to have might show up extra tumours and if there were too many they wouldn't be treated and that would be the end of the trial too.

Then there was the MRI scan, then a phone call the following week to say there was only one tumour and we had a call from Bristol asking us to go in the next day. We saw the consultant and he agreed to do the procedure last Thursday. It seemed to go very well, and we were on tenterhooks expecting to get the next phone call to go back to Oxford this week, but when it came the appointment is not for two weeks. I don't know if that is to let hubby get over the procedure but two weeks is such a long time for him to wait in his condition.

The Marriners I am using for bag two.

See how much smaller it is, at least 2.5cm

Hush - look what the postie brought me! It's a self striping lace weight yarn, I didn't have any and I keep seeing lovely lace weight patterns! I will add it to the yarn mountain!

Talking of yarn mountain, I decided I should make my super chunky cardigan from Simply Crochet which will be so quick to make and will use up one of the three variations of yarn I bought to make it.

I hope to do this as well as the CALs, and I need to finish my Persian Tiles blanket and get on with Frida's Flowers!

I know - it's Summer right now and has been really hot and sunny this week, but it needs to be done. Besides it is very cool evenings! I have a lovely Summery sweater I want to make too but this should be a lot quicker to make in Super Chunky Sirdar Indie yarn. It has to be Knit Pro hooks, I only have a size 12 and 10mm in Knit Pro.