Going Green ~ Hot Off the Hook

With the warmer weather finally arriving, it means an opportunity to "go green" by hanging out the laundry -- and saving some "green" too by not needing to run the dryer for hours on end.

My problem was the bag I kept my clothes pins in ... a gallon sized ziploc baggie.  Don't get me wrong, the plastic baggie did the job, but it couldn't hold up to long-term use -- nor multiple hands at one time (I'll explain that one later on).

So I went shopping for a clothes pin bag, you know, the kind made of cloth.  Problem was I discovered that nearly every store in the area is sold out;  clothes lines are on the scarce list too.  This is because many people are re-embracing hanging clothes out in the sunshine to reduce electrical bills AND to help save the earth.  As I returned home I decided to use yarn from my stash and create my own. 

How I designed my bag: 
Having decided to use fibers from my stash, I learned I did not have enough cotton, such as Sugar'nCream pictured on the left here.  So I looked around some more and decided to mix Caron's "One Pound" in creme, with a yellow and blue thick & thin cotton thread (no label available).  I decided upon these two fibers because:
A. Most bugs would rather dine on wool not acrylic
B. The cotton thread would help prevent stretching, and
C. The acrylic & cotton blend would dry rather quickly should the bag be accidentally left out during a rain storm. 
D.  It would be easy to hose off/wash should a bird decide to "poo" on it ...

Armed with the crochet hook I made last year at the National CGOA Conference (I really do need to measure it one of these days), I started with a few rows of single crochets, and then worked around using very tall linked stitches.  (Linked stitches are similar in technique to Tunisian.)  The reason I used the linked stitches was because I could shape as I worked around AND because there'd be little chance of a clothes pin falling out.

I attached the bag to a plastic clothes hanger using the "padded crochet" stitch, added some long stitches to close up the bag a bit and wha-la!  It was ready for it's maiden voyage.  I loaded it up with some 100 clothes pins with plenty of room for more! 

So, not only is it attractive (in my eyes), it will do the job intended.  Whoo hoo!  Oh, and that need for larger opening I mentioned earlier -- it's good for multiple hands.  Yes, we've made a sport of it with the kids, Mini~Dee & Dee Jr., to be involved in going green too.

How about you?  How have you made your life easier & greener with something you've crocheted?
Tags: crochet, laundry, green, clothes pin bag