Crocheted "market tote"

My friend Patti over at Color My World Crochet makes hats (and other things) and sells them on Etsy. She had made a hat with some yarn called "Smoothie" from the Deborah Norville Everyday Soft line.  The colors are very HOT for this Spring season; I see them in lots of clothing/accessory stores right now.  Here's the yarn:

 

I ordered some online from Herrschners and searched for a tote bag pattern.

 

Here's the pattern I fell in love with!  I got it from the Lion Brand website.

 

And here's my result.  While I do love it, my bag is a lot smaller than the one in the pattern picture!  Now I'm not a "pro" when it comes to crocheting, but the pattern called for cotton yarn and a size I hook.  I used the Deborah Norville yarn and a size J hook.  I followed the directions carefully and ended up with a cute, yet small, tote bag.  I really LOVE this yarn though- it's so soft and almost has a silky feel to it.

 

This picture gives perspective to the size of my bag.  Quite a big smaller, lol!  I have no idea what I did wrong.  And I have no idea what I will do with this bag.

The good thing is (there's always a bright side, right?) that I have enough of this yarn left to make something else.  I ordered 5 skeins!  I planned on making a matching sun hat for myself and using the tote for beach items when we go on vacation.  However, the bag really isn't big enough for that.

What I ended up doing is starting another bag.  Not using a pattern this time; just "winging" it on my own.  It's a completely different style than the one I made here.

So stay tuned!

Until then,

TOOTLES!