Boogaloo Bag Count: 77

Bag the Bag Part 2: the Electric Boogaloo is as tall as it’s gonna get. Although it’s not exactly the same height as the reusable grocery bag I was measuring it against, it’s close enough. and looks nice the way it is.

Very respectable looking.

I’m using translucent bags for the handles. I had hoped that since they were a bit see through, the handles would be too, and none of the weird prettiness of Bag the Bag Part 2: the Electric Boogaloo would be covered up. It doesn’t look like that will be the case at the moment, but that could change when I stretch it out to fasten it to the side of the bag.

Making the handles is really tedious. With Bag the Bag, I was in a weird place materials-wise, in that I was scrounging bags that happened to be white with blue writing and kind of using them wherever I could. So the Bag, in that stage, was never very pretty to look at. I am resolved, with Bag the Bag Part 2: the Electric Boogaloo, to start one handle and finish it completely before moving on to the next. I might even fasten down one side before starting to crochet the handles on the other side. Trailing plarn all over the place made the original Bag the Bag so hard to keep track of once I started working on the handles, even when I was finished with both sides of one handle and was working on fastening them down. I am going to keep Bag the Bag Part 2: the Electric Boogaloo as simple and non-crazy as possible.

The handle so far, using 6 bags. It's the length of 2 2/3 butter knives.
I really should buy a yardstick or a ruler or something.

This is, of course, the point in the project when I let my mind wander and allow it to start thinking about other projects. I think about how long it’s been since I worked with yarn. I think about when the last time was that I used something other than a single crochet. This daydreaming phase is inevitable in a Bag the Bag project, because the handles are such a chore. They’re not as fun to make as the bag part because it’s hard to gauge your progress, and when you’re finished crocheting them you have to fasten them to the bag, which is the crocheting equivalent of needlework, and takes several days. The nice thing about that is when you’re finished with the fastening phase, you’re done, and you feel like you’ve worked really hard (because you have). It would be nice, though, if when I was finished with one of these things I was able to do a victory lap or something, or if someone asked if they could throw me a triumphal parade.

This is the Arco dei Gavi in Verona.
Just imagine it covered in yarn, and me riding through it
on a yarn covered chariot, while adoring masses cheer
and throw balls of yarn like ticker tape.
Photo by Jo Scaligero

Boogaloo Bag Count: 77 (Body: 71; Handles: 6)