Finally, a Purse for Me!

Now that every other woman in my life had a cool crocheted purse it was finally time to make one for myself. In Easy Crocheted Accessories I found a pattern for a cotton purse with zig zag stitches that really appealed to me. I agonized over the colors to choose--and bought way more than I needed for the pattern--but finally settled on a rainbow. It took a bit of ripping but I finally got the hang of the pattern stitch and hooked away. When it came to making the back of the purse I decided to divide the biggest color block in half diagonally and spent a happy afternoon working out how to do it. Quickly finishing the back, I proudly showed my husband the 2 pieces--only to discover that the front, the pretty part, was 3 inches longer than the back. And of course it is crocheted from bottom to top and the top is shaped. Arrrgh! I was staring at it in frustration (while smoking, naturally) when Don said, "can't you just add rows to the bottom?" My first instinct was to say no, but the more I looked at it, the more it seemed possible. It was a solid color and straight single crochet, what harm would there be in trying it. I did, and it worked great. I crocheted a few rows, measured against the front and kept going until the 2 pieces matched. Whew. It didn't take long to sew the pieces together, sew the flaps over bamboo rings for handles, and line it with plain muslin. Plain linings for flashy things, flashy linings for plain things--a good rule of thumb. Now I carry my pretty purse with pride and there aren't any cigs in it.