Making the most of what I got...

We wrote about how to recognize the signs of burnout, what types of people and workplaces/situations are more prone to burnout, and ways to mitigate burnout during the early stages here:

The “Pillar-biter” (Dutch: pilaarbijter), 1509–1517 — a rare late-Gothic satire carved on the lower choir/rood screen of St. Bavo Church in Haarlem.

…and the vet was like, “You know the thing with geriatric cats is—” and I was like, “What do you mean, geriatric?! It’s a little baby, look at her!" Kumail Nanjiani: Night Thoughts (2025)

The worsted weight I'm using is thinner than the original yarn, but the measurements are coming out just fine. It leaves a little space between stitches on the bottom part. I expected this as the original bag is 100% cotton and likely made from dish cotton/kitchen cotton (aka Lily Sugar and Cream or similar). That would make the stitches press together a bit more on the 4.5 mm hook.

AND HOUR THREE:

We are officially going into less than $10 an hour in labor if you're selling it for $30. Shocking no one.

Literally on the next to last row of the open stitch rows. If i were ONLY stitching and not able to also do something else, I could have knocked out the entire rest of the body of the bag in this hour, but I get to tweak my pace as I see fit. Which I assure you the people making these for sub-par wages in 12-hour work day stretches* don't get to do.

Okay, the body of the bag is finished and I'm nearly done with the straps. I suspect the straps are attached using machine sewing, so I am going to call the time to make this bag at 5 hours. What's left is about 15 minutes at most, and as I've said, if I was only stitching and not also watching something, I'd have worked this up a bit faster.

So, $30 for a crocheted bag that takes 5 hours. The workers creating these bags won't be considering cost of materials, since they will be provided, so it's $6 an hour for just labor.

BUT. We all know Target isn't paying $6 an hour for labor because they ARE concerned about cost of materials and the cost of shipping to stores.

ALSO BUT. I seriously doubt the crocheters working on the bags that will show up in Target are getting paid an hourly wage. It's common in Chinese factories (and other factories) for handworkers to get paid per piece rather than with a set wage. Which means the workers are probably under a quota system to make X number of bags in a single day or week in order to get the highest pay they can. And no doubt if they miss quota, they not only don't get their full pay but get punished by having a percentage of their paid wages taken as well.

Look, I know most of us reading this aren't shocked by any of this or surprised. But also, Target is not only harming workers but doing so with a pretty little stamp from a so-called ally to handworkers through the Nest certification. And they only got THAT after two years ago when people pointed out 35 bucks for a granny square vest was labor exploitation, and then last year, they tried the "Oh, it's machine crocheted" bullshit on items made in chain stitch on knitting machines, thus making the garments very easily destructible. So, now they're getting a bullshit cert to try and cover their asses again because they'd rather keep exploiting people's skilled work than actually try to do a tiny bit better.

Anyway. Here's a rough of the pattern. I'm going to make another bag with some Red Heart Super Soft because I don't have dish cotton, but that should give me an idea of what I might need to edit for a final pattern. When it's done, it'll go up for pay what you will on my ko-fi.

P.S. Fuck that hashtag

What you need:

4.5 mm hook

Worsted weight yarn (approximately 300 yards) - dish cotton will get you the best dupe, as the original bag is 100% cotton

stitch markers to mark increases

Instructions:

Note: I chose to join and turn at the end of each round. A join and chain without turning (spiral rounds) may get a closer result to the original.

The first round is worked around both sides of the chain.

Ch 65. DC in third chain from hook. DC in each chain to the final chain. 3 DC in last chain. Place stitch marker in second of 3 DC cluster. DC across to the first DC. 2 DC in same place as first DC. Place stitch marker in second of 2 DC cluster. Join. Turn.

Ch 3. Work even for 2 rounds, completing rounds with a join and turning work.

Round 4: Ch 3. 2 DC in first stitch. DC to the stitch before marked stitch. 2 DC in that stitch. 1 DC in marked stitch. 2 DC in following stitch. Work to other end. 2 DC in last stitch before the join. Join. Turn.

Round 5: Ch 3. Repeat increase row. Join. Turn.

Work even for 7 rounds.

Round 13: Ch 4. Skip next DC. (DC, ch 1) in following stitch. Repeat () around. On final stitch, DC, ch 1 and join. Turn.

Round 14: Ch 4. (DC, ch 1) in next DC. (DC, ch 1) around, working all DCs into top of previous round DCs. Join. Turn.

Repeat last round 18 times.

Trim: Ch 3. DC in each DC and chain space around. Join. Turn. Repeat round once. Fasten off.

Straps (Make 2):

Note: Straps can be made however long you want. This is just my best guess accounting for possible stretch during use.

Ch 101. DC in the third chain from hook and each chain across.

Turn. Chain 1. Slip stitch in each DC across. Slip stitch twice in side of first DC, then slip stitch across bottom of DCs. Slip stitch twice in side of final DC and join to first Slip stitch. Fasten off.

I've been inspired by Rookwood and some of the other art tile makers in my part of the world, and have been experimenting making my own handmade art tiles.

After almost a month, i am finally getting some test results.