FO: Chinatown String Bag and Baked Goods Galore

Pattern: Such a heavily modified version of The String Bag that I don't think I can say it is the same pattern at all- but definitely inspired. Needles: 3.5 mm and 8 mm circulars Yarn: stash cotton/ramie blend, about 400 yards Modifications: Oh, where to begin. First off, I changed the lace/netting pattern of the body of the bag to the pattern from the Montego Bay scarf. This meant I could happily do a repeat of k2tog, yo round and round and round. I switched to the 3.5 mm and bound off the sides of the bags, and then knitted the handles one at a time, one on each side. The handles are 8 stitches wide, and just plain old stockinette.But how they attached, that's where I wanted things to be flexible. Enter the buttons, one of which is sewn on the inside of the bag at the base of each handle:Since I put in a button hole at the end of each handle, there are two ways to arrange the handles for easier carrying. Doubled up:Or grocery bag style: I can't tell you how pleased I was that the handles worked out. I was a pretty happy bunny about those handles! Notes: I had no idea that the lace would be that stretchy: Which has it's good points and bad points. Good: This thing could hold a full grown cow, it has that much stretch going on. Bad: Who wants to carry the weight of a cow on their shoulder? Not me. Or G, for that matter. Since G ends up carrying all the groceries we get in Chinatown, he mentioned that it could be improved upon by making the lace section shorter, and having the option of a shoulder strap so that it could be worn diagonally across the body.Better to make the trek with a cow's weight worth of veggies. Since it is undyed cotton/ramie blend, I'm going to throw it in the tumble dryer and see if it shrinks up a bit. If that doesn't fix it, I'll probably tack down part of the lace to shorten it a bit. Even though it turned out bigger than expected, I really am pleased. It is my idea of the perfect reusable grocery bag. As it was a long weekend here, I decided it was the perfect time to do a bunch of baking, and invite some friends over to partake in all the goodies.My List of 101 Things included doing a bunch of baking I hadn't done before, like making cinnamon rolls from scratch: These were so popular that once I pulled them out of the oven and put the cream cheese icing on them, they went so fast that I didn't have time to get a picture of a full plate: Thanks to Teresa for the wonderful recipe! Also in keeping with the list- My goal is to try five different cake recipes that I've never made before. Juicy Knits sent me a recipe for a delicious flourless chocolate cake, and Phoe sent me a recipe for an amazing ginger cake. (Sorry for the wonky lighting, not sure what happened there). They were absolutely amazing. People loved the brownie-like texture of the flourless chocolate cake, and were equally enamoured and impressed with the satisfying spicy/sweet ginger cake. So thank you for the recipes! I know I'll be making all three of these again in the future.