useless project :(

[whispercalm]

Just wanted to vent a minute. I am pretty new to crochet and found this really simple pattern to make a bag to hang up to put your plastic grocery bags in for storage. It has a hole in the bottom to pull them out from. It is cute and simple.

So I am sitting on the couch happily crocheting away totally pleased that I am actually following a pattern without difficulties. My boyfriend asks me what I am making. I told him and then showed him the picture. He laughs!!!

Says we'll see if it works!!! Now he wasn't reflecting on my skills, which he knows are limited right now, but on whether the bag would actually WORK. He says it won't because there is nothing to pull the next plastic bag out of the bottom since the bags are not hooked together. He says how is it going to work do you have to reach inside to pull it out? and laughs some more.

 

Well, to be perfectly honest, he is right. Other then storing them in it, it really won't pull another bag out of the bottom like it is suppose to. But I hadn't thought of that. It just looked cool and easy and I was so enjoying making it!!!! Now it just doesn't seem as fun. I am making something useless an stupid.

He is usually very supportive. His reaction surprised me. I made a simple clutch purse and he was proud of that. I guess it is functional though, this project isn't.

[cluless]

Dont despair. Go buy an extra long afghan crochet hook and crochet a long cord for it and attach it to the bag. When you want a plastic bag just go fishing with the hook.

[Redheart]

It doesn't sound useless to me! Have you actually loaded and tried to use it yet?

I have a fabric holder hanging on a doorknob and I confess to pulling the bags out the top because it's easier that way.

Don't give up yet.

[Dextersmom]

I'm not sure what the pattern you are talking about looks like; but even if it is just a place to store the bags, I still think that is a good idea. I mean where do you keep them now right? I'm sure the storage container you are making is much prettier and more practical than just stuffing them in the bottom of a cabinet (what I used to do with mine!) And besides, you're improving your crocheting skills and that's always a good thing!!

[RusticOkie]

My grandmother made us some out of these out of kitchen towels (I'm assuming we're talking about the same thing) and I love them. No the bags don't automatically feed through. But you can just pull them out and they keep the bags neat and organized which is the main idea anyway. Keep going with it, I think you'll like it more than you are thinking right now.

[stitchgirl]

There is nothing useless about it. I don't have a crocheted one, but I do have a fabric one and the trick to getting out the plastic bag from the bottom is just to make sure that you have them stuffed in there. If it's full, believe me, you'll have no trouble getting one from the bottom - they will be bulged out from there a bit.

[Gardener]

I agree, not useless at all. I have a fabric one, and as long as it is full of bags, they are easy to get out...although I pull mine out the top, since it seems easier.

[MsSuzKelly]

Yeah what Stitchgirl said...I was thinking the exact same thing. If it's stuffed - you should have no problem (stuffed with bags)

[Empress Busy Bee]

Yeah they're not pop up wipes or a box of tissues. Doesn't matter if you make it (sew, knit, crochet) or buy it, they just aren't made for automatic feed. It's reach in and pull out. Simple and not useless.

[robbieAK]

I agree with everyone else. If the bag holder is anything like the fabric one I made for myself (long tube with handle on top to hang), then it will work just fine. In fact, I had given mine away when I made a big move and then was so frustraited trying to work with out it that I made another one. I don't know how big a hole yours has on the bottom, but mine is just slightly pulled together making it very easy to pull them out. The two things I love about it the most are that my bags are very condensed in one place instead of flying around (yes, my organizational skills are truely pathetic sometimes), and that I usually only get one bag at a time when I pull them out. Oh and FYI, I keep a lot of bags (mine's probably holding somewhere between 50-60 bags right now) so mine is huge.

[DesertCrocheter]

Why not assign boyfriend the job of taking out the garbage, and replacing with plastic bag which he has to find, then organizing the bags so he can find one, etc. Then he'll realize the beauty of 1) keeping the plastic bags all in one place and 2) stop winging.

 

Seriously. I made one of these for a swap and thought it was darling and useful. If I had a closet in my kitchen where I could hang one, I would make myself one in a heartbeat. (Whoever heard of kitchen without a closet/pantry? Whoever made my house in 1950.)

 

Congratulations on a fun project, congratulations on teaching yourself to read patterns, and don't forget to post a photo of your bag when it's done. And feel totally smug when BF's female relatives all ask you to make them one.

 

Patty

[oliveoil]

Yeah they're not pop up wipes or a box of tissues. Doesn't matter if you make it (sew, knit, crochet) or buy it, they just aren't made for automatic feed. It's reach in and pull out. Simple and not useless.

My sentiments exactly!!

[Lady_of_Roses]

Yeah they're not pop up wipes or a box of tissues. Doesn't matter if you make it (sew, knit, crochet) or buy it, they just aren't made for automatic feed. It's reach in and pull out. Simple and not useless.

 

This is my take on it. And yes, I have one in fabric.

[yarnjeannie]

Don't consider it a useless item. I think it's a great thing to have and it's not necessary to have these bags feed "automatically". It's a place to keep them organized, and be proud of yourself for teaching yourself to read a pattern. The first pattern I ever taught myself to read was to make a strawberry-shaped potholder. I am still very proud that I deciphered that! And learning to read patterns will allow you to make lots of great projects in the future.

[whispercalm]

Thanks everyone! I feel much better about this project. I am learning to read a pattern and am doing it successfully! I think the bag is cute and it will definitely be better than having those plastic grocery bags all over the utility closet. Boyfriend refuses to throw them away because he uses them to take his lunch to work in.

[crazycrochet]

Why not assign boyfriend the job of taking out the garbage, and replacing with plastic bag which he has to find, then organizing the bags so he can find one, etc. Then he'll realize the beauty of 1) keeping the plastic bags all in one place and 2) stop winging.

 

Seriously. I made one of these for a swap and thought it was darling and useful. If I had a closet in my kitchen where I could hang one, I would make myself one in a heartbeat. (Whoever heard of kitchen without a closet/pantry? Whoever made my house in 1950.)

 

Congratulations on a fun project, congratulations on teaching yourself to read patterns, and don't forget to post a photo of your bag when it's done. And feel totally smug when BF's female relatives all ask you to make them one.

 

Patty

 

Patty gave you some really good advise, especially the first sentance. I have a bag holder that someone made me out of plastic canvas. My son used to love to stuff the bags in it. As everyone else said it it not a pop up, youjust reach in and get one.

[angelsmith52]

I agree with what everyone else is saying. My cloth one doesn't automatically pop out a new bag either but I still use it!!!

[morehotcoffee]

In my most humble opinion, his response was a man thing. In his defense, he is conditioned to think mechanical and in his opioion it didn't function properly. I think when he sees the practical side, he will agree that what you made is quite functional.

 

In your defense, still being my humble opinion, you shouldn't let other peoples opinion interfer with your achievements and artful pleasures.

[whispercalm]

Hmmm. thanks for another perspective, Denise. The male mind sure works on a whole different plane, that's for sure!

[CrisKad]

I have a crochet bag holder and when its full, they pretty much come out of the bottom with no problem.

[DancingStitches]

I have one too! I wouldn't want to be without it in the kitchen.

[Amethyst Unycorn]

The one I crocheted, a simple tube, is stuffed full of plastic bags all the time it seems. I can pull from the bottom or the top. If you stuff enough plastic bags in there, it does work. Not an automatic feed, but close.

 

Automatic feeds in tissues are not all they're cracked up to be. Just have an open tissue box laying on an end table and a determined kitty. She can empty that box in no time at all!

[Elle]

If the only things we had around us in life were things that were nothing but functional, what a boring world this would be. It's the little, non-functional, just-for-fun things that make life interesting, and a cute little decorative crocheted bag to hold plastic bags fits that bill nicely. Little whimsies brighten up the day, so go on and make something TOTALLY non-functional, even if the only purpose it serves is to make you smile when you look at it because it's so darn cute that you just can't help yourself. That's what creativity is all about!

[123mama]

I have one and I crocheted a dress top and used a doll head and arms. And it is hanging on the wall right in my kitchen. Hubby uses the bags more than I do.

 

sondra

[pat54]

Well, I crocheted quite a few of them for Christmas last year and everyone loved them. I made them to match their kitchen colors. I have one that everyone in my house uses and no one seems to have any problem getting the bags out. We stuff them in the top and pull them out the bottom and it works quite well. Keeps them all neat and tidy.

Please never feel bad crocheting something that you think is useless. I have crochet a lot things that had no specific use and they were fun things to make and I enjoyed them. They had a use in my learning a new pattern or color combo or whatever, so they are not useless.

So keep on crocheting.