Colorful Bag Pattern #22

Materials: Clark's O.N.T. or J. & P. Coats Mercerized Crochet, Size 30, 2 balls of color 55 Navy Blue, 1 ball 9 Yellow, 1 ball 126 Spanish Red. 1 zipper (8-inch). Navy Blue silk ribbon for lining, 7 inches wide, 17 inches long. Milward's steel crochet hook No. 6.

Gauge: 12 sts to 1 inch. 8 rows to 1 inch.

Navy Section. With Navy, ch 94, half d c in 3rd ch from hook and in each ch across, ch 2, turn. Work even for 18 rows. Then work even on one edge, making decreases on the other edge as follows: At the end of row, skip 2nd st from end, and work last st, ch 2, turn. Skip the 1st st, thread over hook, draw a loop through next st, thread over hook, draw a loop through next st, thread over hook, and draw through all loops on hook (this makes a decrease). Continue to work, decreasing 1 st at end, and 2 at beginning of each row on the uneven edge until there are 43 sts across, ending row at even edge. Next row: Increase 1 st at end of row, and 2 sts at beginning of following row, always working the same side even, until there are 92 sts across. Work even for 18 rows. Break off.

Red and Yellow Sections. With Red, ch 3, 2 half d c in 2nd ch, ch 2, turn. 2nd row: 1 half d c in 1st st, 2 half d c in last, ch 2, turn. 3rd row: 2 half d c in each of first 2 sts, half d c across, ch 2, turn. Work one edge even, and on the other edge make 1 increase at end of row, and 2 at beginning, until there are 18 half d c across, ending at the decreasing edge. Ch 2, turn, increase 2 sts as usual, then 1 half d c in each of next 2 half d c, ch 2, turn. Continue working one edge even and making increases on the same edge as before until there are 18 half d c across. Work 1 row even, then decrease 1 half d c at end and 2 at beginning on same edge that the increases were made, with 1 edge even, until there are 5 half d c, which end on even side. Make ch of 16 sts, turn skip 2 ch, and work half d c across. Continue usual decreases until half d c is left. Break off. Join Yellow at beginning of this piece, and work in half d c along edge where increases were made (about 41 half d c to center of row that was worked even before making decreases). Work 3 half d c in center of the row, then work 41 half d c along edge where decreases were made, ch 2, turn. From now on increase 1 st at beginning and end of every row, and make 3 half d c in center st of 3 half d c of row below, working in all 3 rows of Yellow, 4 rows of Red, then 5 rows of Yellow. Break off.

Yellow Corner Rectangle. With Yellow, ch 16, and make 19 rows (14 half d c to a row) over this ch. Sew rectangle on 3 sides to the Red piece, then sew the colored corner to the Navy piece, where it fits, and sew side seams.

Handle. With 2 strands of Navy, work 1 rnd of sl st on top of bag, from right side. Then make a ch of 100, and fasten to opposite side, working back over the ch with 3 rows of s c.

Lining. Make lining to fit bag, and sew zipper into bag first, then sew lining to zipper.