I had a trip to Cape Cod planned this month, and in a great coincidence, a week before the trip, the #FishGirlFallMAL was announced. This combination of fishy location and fishy makealong apparently kicked me into high fish-making gear... I made not one, not two, but four fish-shaped bags in the past few weeks!
The fishy make-a-long is inspired by fish and fisherman-core... cozy knits, playful colorwork, textured fisherman sweaters, fishy motifs, etc. This project really fit the bill.
These three bags are made using the Two of Wands Catch of the Day Purse crochet pattern.
It's a super simple drawstring purse, shaped like a fish, of course. It has a shell-stitch pattern for the body and top fin, single crochet for the head, ribbing for the tail. A button eye finishes it off.
The pattern has instructions for two sizes; this is the larger of the two. The bags are super simple to crochet and come together really quickly. There's a video tutorial that was helpful, too.
I used the yarn the pattern was designed for: Lion Brand Rewind. It's a poly/viscose blend bulky-weight tape yarn with a velvety finish. I chose the blue-green colorway Capri Breeze.
While very soft and easy to work with because it doesn’t split, I find the texture of the yarn to be a little weird. I think this pattern would be fun in something more structured, like a raffia yarn, maybe?
I added another element to the bag: a lining from scraps from my stash. I roughly traced the bottom half of the fish and hand-sewed it into the bag where the head meets the body. I used a cute mother of pearl button from my stash for the eye.
I used the opportunity to take photos in scenic coastal spots on our Cape Cod trip, and also to pose with the bags like a man posing with a fish:
