I decided to celebrate the coming of summer by making a market bag to take with me to the farmer's market. I used a crochet pattern from Lion Brand Yarns; however, I just learned to crochet, so I went "off pattern" unintentionally, and sort of figured it out as I went along. The result is exactly what I wanted. Big, roomy and colorful. Can't wait to get to the Green City Market and try it out. Their pattern suggested recycled cotton yarn, which they don't sell in my area and I didn't feel like ordering it and waiting around for it to arrive by mail. So, I went with Lion Cotton-Ease, which is a cotton/acrylic blend. I know--you cringe at the thought of acrylic-- but it will last longer and wash with less shrinkage than 100% cotton.

I've also made a grocery bag from pink cotton ticking fabric that I get comments on every time I use it. It's a very simple, basic, boxy bag with very strong handles made of cotton strapping. I believe it took all of an hour and a half to make, and I've had it forever.

The environmental side:

We've all heard about the use of plastic bags and how damaging they are to the environment.

Just as a reminder, here are some stats, according to http://www.reusablebags.com/facts.php?id=4

"Introduced just over 25 years ago, the ugly truth about our plastic bag addiction is that society's consumption rate is now estimated at well over 500,000,000,000 (that's 500 billion) plastic bags annually, or almost 1 million per minute.

"According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually. An estimated 12 million barrels of oil is required to make that many plastic bags.

[Kate's note: that is fully 20% of ALL plastic bags used in a year! And Americans are only 5% of the world's population.]

"Four out of five grocery bags in the US are now plastic.

"Plastic bags cause over 100,000 sea turtle and other marine animal deaths every year when animals mistake them for food."

[Kate's note: And don't forget how many of those bags wind up in the giant garbage patches in our oceans!]

There are some things, however, that plastic bags are good for. I will not hesitate to use a plastic bag to transport raw poultry or meat. I'll stick a dense plastic bag in my purse if I'm shopping on a rainy day.