by Fräulein @ FrauleinM@aol.com

I purchased those Knifty Knitter rings when they were first popular. I got one for making blankets as a gift. After looking at it, I had thought it would also be easy to make knitted bags. I had made dozens of tubes with the knitter rings. So making a larger tube would be no problem.

And I say tubes, because I have yet to make anything like a sweater or even a decent pair of socks with those knitting rings. Everything is a tube.

I had decided I was going to “upcycle” Target bags into a Target bag. This was before they even offered their own “upcycled” bags and before the word “upcycle” became a buzzword. It was going to be similar to cheap string bags. But this would be cool, and able to hold much more. I would be oh so trendy carrying my groceries and what not in this bag.

I figured I would make the “yarn” the exact width of the little dots on the bags. They were an excellent guidleine for cutting.

I also had some red plastic discs that were going to be the handles. The size of these discs were perfect for the size of bag. It was going to kitschy and cute. The sides of the bag were going to be supported by the large red targets.

It started out fine. But by the bottom fourth I realized that while the dots were perfect as a cutting guideline, it made the yarn bulky. I had trouble keeping the tension the same throughout the project.  It started to look like some bizarre doormat or  those stadium seat cushions  you would make in girl scouts, out of two vinyl placemats.  I also briefly removed it from the loom to see what could fit into the bag and how it would hold up to a gallon of milk. Only a large milk jug would fit into the bag. The tension was to tight and did not allow much flexibility or expansion. So it is basically a milk jug cozy.

The bag’s death knell came a year later when I was at Target, standing in the checkout and saw their recycled bags.