Sunday 27 July 2008

Crochet video tape bag


I'm currently working on a black crochet handbag. It's half made out of video tape, salvaged from a tape that my video player chewed up last weekend, and half made out of some black 3 ply wool (used double) salvaged from an aborted 1940s bobble hat project.

The pattern is based on a bag from the rather disappointing book Crochet Bags! by Candi Jensen. I dislike the over-enthusiastic exclamation mark used in the book title. Is it supposed to suggest an element of surprise? You've found a book called Crochet Bags and -- golly -- you'll never guess what's inside -- patterns for crochet bags. Or is it, as I prefer to think, Candi Jensen barking out an order? Crochet Bags! Yes, Ms Jensen. Right away, Ms Jensen.

In the book, this bag looks grimly hippy-ish, crocheted in rather horrible brown, pink and white cotton yarn.

The video tape crochet looks surprisingly sophisticated. In the dim light of my basement, rather like jet beading. This probably doesn't come across on the photo -- that's the joy of taking pictures of an item made out of two kinds of black. I need to make 12 of these squares and then decide on what to do for the handle.