My crochet bag frustrations

Hello! Last week I found these gorgeous bags on Pinterest and immediately decided to hook my own bag consisting of a crochet outer, linen inner and leather straps. Don't you just love these bags?!

Cotton/Canvas/Leather Bag

Cotton Crochet Shopping Bag

Hand Crochet Linen Bag

On searching the internet for inspiration, Google led me to the most beautiful filet crochet design. In short: I made a complete mess of the design and decided to leave it for another day, another yarn.  That day will come soon though, I love this pattern!

I then hooked up three samples of the pretty Juliet Motif by Amanda Perkins but quickly realised when I joined the motifs that her designs are most suited to soft, drapey natural yarn.  A single motif in the raw cotton looks very pretty; when joined the lovely snowflake-like corners simply disappear and the effect of the motif is lost. Another idea  c a n n e d ! !  

Searching yet again, I came across the Acrobatic Stitch published by New Stitch a Day. Hmmm apart from the fact that it hooks up a crescent moon pattern in stead of the expected square, please note that the video tutorial does not correspond with the written instructions. These are two different patterns and it was the video tutorial that resulted in the crescent moon. Aaaaaaaargh!

H e l l   N o ! ! !   All I wanted to do was to settle on the couch and enjoy a bit of rhythmic hooky time, but I found myself trawling the Net once again.  I finally found THE pattern. You will find 10 photos on this link, I used the pattern as per photo nr. 4, the sample was hooked in what appears to be green paper.

The Bag!

I now need to buy linen and leather before I can assemble the bag. I cannot wait!  The piece of crochet for the bag measures 100 cm x 45 cm before folded in half.  It is a great size and since I love wearing clothes in the below styles and colours, I think my bag will look quite stylish, what do you think?

Cheers!

cxxxxx