Muggins Plays Guitar

Muggins is a music lover. This we know. She runs into the room and sits next to me when I play piano. She is offended by loud sounds that are not music-like. She has discriminating taste.

Little did we know that she has taught herself how to play guitar. Yvette and I were standing in the kitchen when we first heard the notes ring out. We looked at each other for a minute, and then Yvette grabbed the camera. Here she is in her debut performance.

Simple vertical striped purse pattern

I started making this bag because I wanted something medium-sized. It seems like a lot of crocheted bags are tiny and a lot of them are huge, and I wanted something in between. Most crocheted bags have horizontal stripes--I decided to switch it up on this one and make the stripes vertical. This pattern is easy and quick. The yarn I used seems really sturdy, and I really like the ratio of black to the other colors.

DIMENSIONS:
9"h x 11"w x 2.5" d

MATERIALS:
~370 yards of aran yarn (I used 4 balls of Filatura Di Crosa 127 print.)
G hook

FRONT:
chain 34
row 1: turn, skip 1st st, sc in each st across (32 sc)
row 2: chain 1 (turning chain), hdc in each sc across (32 hdc)
rows 3-33: chain 1 , hdc in each hdc across (32 hdc)
row 34: chain 1, sc in each hdc across (32 hdc)

BACK AND FLAP:
chain 67
row 1: turn, skip 1st st, sc in each st across (65 sc)
row 2: chain 1 (turning chain), hdc in each sc across (65 hdc)
rows 3-33: chain 1 , hdc in each hdc across (65 hdc)
row 34: chain 1, sc in each hdc across (65 hdc)




BOTTOM, SIDES AND STRAP:
(At this length, the top of the bag falls at about my waist when the purse is loaded up. If you want a longer strap, increase the length of the chain.)
Chain 184
Rows 1-3: turn, skip 1st st, sc in each st across (182 sc)
Rows 4-7: chain 1, hdc in each st across (182 hdc)
Rows 8-10: chain 1, sc in each st across (182 sc)


ASSEMBLY
You have three pieces. The long piece will go all the way around the bag, forming the bottom, sides and strap. You just need to attach the front, then attach the back (leave the flap hanging), then attach the two ends of the strap together (making a loop). Here's how:

Align one end of the strap with one of the top corners of the front of the bag and sc down, around the bottom, and up the other side. Then count up 34 stitches from the bottom of the back of the bag, align with strap, and sc as for front (pinning might make this step easier!). Sc ends of strap together on the inside of the bag. Weave in ends. Spray block.

the beginning...

I'm starting this blog to have a place to post crochet patterns. I started on a purse a couple of nights ago, and I want to keep track of what I'm doing.

I was on a trip to Cambria, CA with a friend during spring break. We went to a coffee shop to read books, and I couldn't sit still. I walked to the yarn store around the corner and, after browsing for quite a while, I decided to make a purse. Here is the yarn I chose:
I started crocheting it that night using mostly half-double crochet. As of now, I have the front and most of the back finished.

Here's the front:












and part of the back/flap:














The stripes are going to be vertical. I'll post the whole pattern when I'm done!