Whew!

I finished Yvette's bag in the nick of time! Last night, around 9, I finished tying off the second drawstring. Good thing... the shower's at 1 p.m. today!

I love this pattern, and I've made several bags for brides through the years. The pattern is by Jacqueline Young and can be found in Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Crochet. I've always followed the pattern exactly in the past, but this time I decided to make my own Kumihimo braid for the drawstrings. There are some disadvantages and advantages to going this route. I had to make several sample braids before determining which thread to use. I really wanted to use rayon floss, but I couldn't seem to get an even tension. No one would have noticed but me, but I wanted it to be as near perfect as I could get it. I wound up using the same size 20 Cebelia that I used for the bag. I needed two 18" pieces of cording, and each one took me a full day to make. There are 12 beaded tassel loops on each side of the bag, making it much heavier than what I've made in the past. I didn't have time to determine if there was a way to make fewer tassel loops to make the bag lighter, but I like the look, so I guess it really doesn't matter! As for advantages, I was able to attach the beaded tassels much more securely than with the method given in the pattern. Hmmm... I guess that's the only advantage I can think of right now!


The hanky is linen. I knew I wouldn't have time to tat an edging out of finer thread, so I used size 20 Cebelia. I think it works with the linen hanky, because the fabric is not as light weight as the cotton hanky blanks I have. Besides, I like the look of "heavy" lace... it looks very Irish to me, and I am part Irish!

I've received many wonderful goodies in the mail in the past week or so. I can't wait to share them with you, but I need to wrap presents, get cleaned up, and drive to the shower, so I guess I'll have to do that later.