what if you did stuff that was more lace-y instead of tightly knit? a few things that spring to mind are a wrap/skirt to go over you bathing suit on your way to the beach, a lightweight cardigan (it's always windy when you live near the ocean!), and a mesh bag to carry stuff to the beach. (i have a pattern for a crochet bag, but not a knit one. i'll email it to you if you like.)

can you tell i love the beach?! (i live in florida.   )

back when my husband was still my boyfriend, he lived in the dorms at ga tech and had this problem. everyone there got this blue tacky (as in sticky, not that it was in poor taste) stuff that was the consistency of clay or play-doh to put things up on their walls. obviously, you wouldn't be able to hang shelves with it, but some lightweight posters and stuff like that shouldn't be a problem.

when i had my first apartment and was also worried about not painting walls, i had this neat idea to get a a big sheet of paper (like for bulletin boards) and doing a mural. a trompe l'oeil like looking out a window into a garden or something would be really cool. sadly, i have zero drawing and painting skills, so i never did it. but i still think it was a cool idea! and it would be so lightweight you could put it up with masking tape without damaging the walls.

thanks, everyone, for the ideas thus far. i haven't gotten around to changing the bag yet because i, as usual, have a zillion other projects going on at the same time. this one is something that i finished a while ago, found i wasn't pleased, and forgot about... until i found this board that is!

bibe, to do the lining, i just made a separate pouch from scrap fabric that matched the measurements of the crocheted piece. i put the zipper in while it was still separate. then i just dropped it in to the crocheted purse and sewed by hand around the top. (the zipper was open so i could work from inside the lining, and i just went in and out with the needle where the crochet stitch is open - at the same place you would put the crochet hook if you were stitching another row.) the sides and bottom of the lining are not attached to the crocheted bag at all. but that doesn't pose a problem for me. nothing terribly fancy - i hope you weren't expecting a method that would enable you to hide all your stitches!

hi all,

i'm new here, but have been enjoying browsing through everyone's creative ideas!

i'm hoping someone will have a suggestion to fix a problem i have with a crochet purse/messenger bag i've made. i lined the bag part and put in a zipper. the problem is, i didn't line the strap part, nor did i make it shorter than needed in order to account for the yarn stretching. so now the strap is too long. i can't pull the stitches out without unraveling the whole purse because i crocheted the strap and purse all as one piece.

anyone have any ideas for how i can shorten the strap? (and please don't say tie a knot at the shoulder, 80s style, because i think that's a style that should remain firmly in the 80s!)

thanks!