Crochet shopping bag

I love to recycle and to change things from their regular form into something fun and useful.  I was really torn over what I was gonna do with my sharn.  I had the idea to make a floor rug, but the main colors my son wears are red, blue, and white.  I really didn't want a bicentennial rug.

Since I shop at Aldi's, a market bag is a much better and more useful object for me. Whoo-hoo! Look at me! I am going green.  I love Aldi's.  They have wicked cheap prices. I have only two problems with them.  One, I have to bring my own shopping bags. I am always forgeting them. The other problem is I am alway forgetting my quarter for the shopping buggy.  I just realized, (dawn of awareness) it isn't Aldi's, it is me! I am forgetful. Ugh! I hate revelations.  Back to my shopping bag.

So, now, I have written the pattern for my bag. Unfortunately, it isn't user friendly, yet.  It desperately needs some fine tuning.  Hopefully, I will post it in a day or two. I have just had another 'dawn of awareness'. I stink at pattern writing. I'm sure there isn't a person it the world that can read and understand my bag pattern!

Sharn tutorial

This is my 16 year old son. As most 16 year olds go, he eats, sleeps, grows, and then eats and sleeps. Needless to say, I end up with a lot of cast off clothing.  It seems. the main choice of attire for most teens consist of jeans, t-shirts, and sneakers.  Which brings me to my latest project, 'sharn'.  Yes, I really did mean 'sharn'.

This is my sharn.  Pretty cool, huh?   Sharn is a cross between the words yarn and T-shirt. Since T-sharn sounds really stupid, I shortened it to sharn. I know, I know, sharn shounds shtupid, too. To make sharn, I took an old worn T-shirt that did not have seams down the side. The best ones to use is the type that is made in one piece, like a tube, with sleeves sewn in.

So, I take the t-shirt, lay it flat and cut off the bottom seam.    

Then I cut it into strips about ¼” or ½” wide, depending on my preference so that it is a circle. The sharn is going to be doubled when used, so it needs to be cut ½ the thickness that is needed.  

This is what the strips look like.  Notice that I cut them straight across so they are in loops.  This is very important for the next steps.

I stretch the sharn circles so that the sides roll together. This makes it easier to use and to crochet with.

I attach the two circular pieces together using the Girth Hitch.  Below, I have added a link that shows how to do the girth hitch.


http://www.animatedknots.com/girth/index.phpCateg=rescue&LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com

I then roll it all up like a big ball of yarn. Spots and stains really don't matter, because they aren't noticeable once the strip is rolled into a cord. I also cut right through any decal or design on the shirt. Make sure the pockets are removed as they will cause too much thickness when the strip is stretched.

This is what is left after I make my sharn. It is then cut up into squares and used as dusting rags for me and shop rags for Hubby.  Every part of the shirt is used. Only the smallest scraps are thrown away.  I throw away the neck band and the hem bottom that I cut off. That is just because I haven't figured out a use for them yet.