As a mom, I'm usually the holder-of-the-stuff. My kids (and my husband) are always handing me things when we're out to "put in my purse". So I like having a large, slouchy bag that everyone can throw their things in and out of, and that is soft and comfortable to carry around.
I've made a lot of different market bag patterns over the years. They were either too small to hold everything, or the holes were too big and stuff would fall out, or the strap wasn't comfortable on my shoulder or made it too hard to get into the bag. I finally came up with my own pattern and it is perfect. This bag is made from sturdy mercerized cotton (Lion Brand 24/7) and folds up compactly for storage. When in use it stretches to hold a lot of stuff -- you can even fit beach towels in here. The strap is comfortable and it looks super cute. I love carrying this to the beach/pool, and recently took it on our vacation to Hawaii. My kids also take these to camps and sleepovers.
I fell in love with the jute tote bags that I kept seeing all over Pinterest, but I hate crocheting with jute because it is so rough on my hands. I wanted to make a cotton version that looked like jute but was soft. I tried using the same mercerized cotton mentioned above, but it had too much stretch for a tote bag. I tried holding two strands held together to make it more sturdy, but that was too heavy.
Then Lion Brand came out with a DK weight version of their 24/7 cotton and that solved all of my problems. I made this bag using two strands of it held together, which gives it the sturdiness it needs without being too heavy. They don't make this yarn in the hay bale color, but the cacao color comes pretty close to looking like jute. I've also made it in black/caviar which turned out really nice.
Another good yarn for this bag is Bernat Softee Cotton, but sadly they don't make it in brown. The other colors look really nice though, and this yarn is a bit thicker/spongier.
If you'd like to buy a finished bag, I have several available in my Etsy shop in all different colors.
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