Aussie Shoulder Bag

I rather like the design I came up with for the body, with the decorative braid and subtle ridged texture. I think it would make a cute little yarn bag for projects on the go.

Finished Size: 12 inches wide x 10 inches high

Skill Level: Intermediate.

Materials:

• 2 skeins (244 yd) Lion Brand® Lion Suede or 5/bulky weight yarn in Main Color (MC)
• 1 skein (144 yd) Lion Brand® Lion Suede or 5/bulky weight yarn in Contrasting Color (CC)
• Size H-8 (5.0 mm) crochet hook
• Stitch markers
• Yarn needle
• 2 purse handles
• Purse snap

Special Stitch: Reverse Single Crochet (sc). Worked as regular single crochet, except the hook is inserted into the next stitch to the right of the current stitch instead of the next stitch to the left. This creates a “corded” look.

Panels – make 2.

Worked sideways.With MC, ch 36.

Row 1 (RS). Sc in 2nd ch from hook and ea ch across.  35 sc. *The first stitch in this row is on the top edge of the panel, while the last stitch is on the bottom edge.

Row 2 (WS).  Ch 1; turn. 2 sc in flo of 1st sc, 1 sc in flo of next sc and ea sc across to last sc, 2 sc in flo of last sc.  37 sc.

Row 3. Ch 1; turn. 2 sc in flo of 1st sc, 1 sc in flo of next sc and ea sc across.  38 sc.

Rows 4 & 5. Rep rows 2 and 3.  41 sc.

Row 6. Ch 1; turn. Sc in flo of ea sc across to last sc; 2 sc in flo of last sc.  42 sc.

Row 7. Ch 1; turn. Sc in flo of ea sc across.

Row 8. Ch 1; turn. Sc in flo of ea sc across to last 2 sc; dec 1 sc in flo of last 2 sc.  41 sc.

Row 9. Ch 1; turn. Dec 1 sc in flo of first 2 sc, 1 sc in flo of next sc and ea sc across.  40 sc.

Rows 10-15. Rep rows 8 and 9 three times.  34 sc.

Row 16. Rep row 8.  33 sc.

Row 17. Ch 1; turn. Sc in flo of 1st sc; place stitch marker. Sc in flo of next sc and each sc across.

Rows 18-22. Ch 1; turn. Sc in flo of ea sc across.

Row 23. Rep row 17.

Rows 24-29. Ch 1; turn. Sc in flo of ea sc across.

Row 30. Ch 1; turn. Sc in flo of ea sc across; place stitch marker.

Rows 31-35. Ch 1; turn. Sc in flo of ea sc across.

Row 36. Rep row 30.

Row 37. Ch 1; turn. Sc in flo of ea sc across.

Row 38. Ch 1; turn. Sc in flo of ea sc across to last sc; 2 sc in flo of last sc.  34 sc.

Row 39. Ch 1; turn. 2 sc in flo of 1st sc, 1 sc in flo of next sc and ea sc across.  35 sc.

Rows 40-45. Rep rows 38 and 39 three times.  41 sc.

Row 46. Rep row 38.  42 sc.

Row 47. Ch 1; turn. Sc in flo of ea sc across.

Row 48. Ch 1; turn. Sc in flo of ea sc across to last 2 sc; dec 1 sc in flo of last 2 sc.  41 sc.

Row 49. Ch 1; turn. Dec 1 sc in flo of first 2 sc, 1 sc in flo of next sc and ea sc across.  40 sc.

Row 50. Ch 1; turn. Dec 1 sc in flo of first 2 sc, 1 sc in flo of next sc and ea sc across to last 2 sc, dec 1 sc in flo of last 2 sc.  38 sc.

Row 51. Rep row 49.  37 sc.

Row 52. Rep row 50; finish off.  35 sc.

Decorative Braid – make 2.

Worked from bottom to top.With MC, ch 5.

Row 1 (RS). Sc in 2nd ch from hook and ea ch across.  4 sc.

Row 2 (WS). Ch 1; turn. Sc in first 2 sc, ch 8, sc in last 2 sc. Keep chains to right side of work.

Row 3. Rep row 1.

Rows 4-31. Rep rows 2 and 3.

Row 32. Ch 1; turn. Sc in ea sc across.  Do not finish off.

To work braid, pull ch-8 loop from row 4 through ch-8 loop from row 2. Then pull ch-8 loop from row 6 through ch-8 loop from row 4. Continue working in this fashion, pulling each ch-8 loop through the ch-8 loop from the previous row, until all ch-8 loops are braided together.

Row 33. Ch 1; turn. Sc in first sc, (1 sc in next sc and ch-8 loop from previous row together) twice, sc in last sc. Finish off.

Purse Assembly

To make pleats, fold the top edge of one of the panels so that the first two stitch markers placed are aligned; whip stitch pleat into place across the top edge. Repeat with the second two stitch markers placed, and with second panel.

Attach one half of the purse snap to the top center of one of the panels, with the snap facing the wrong side of the panel. Whip stitch decorative braid onto the center of the right side of the panel, making sure the braid covers the back of the snap at the top edge. Repeat with second panel.

With wrong sides facing, whip stitch the two panels together down the first side, across the bottom, and up the second side.

Edging

With MC, join with sl st at side seam.

Rnd 1. Ch 1; do not turn. Sc evenly around. Join with sl st in first sc.

Rnd 2. Change to CC. Ch 1; do not turn. Work 1 reverse sc in blo of ea sc around. At each of the four peaks, work (1 reverse sc, ch 3, 1 reverse sc) in same stitch for purse handles. Finish off. Weave in all ends.

Slip handles into ch-3 loops of last rnd of edging.

Abbreviations

• blo (back loops only)
• CC (contrasting color)
• ch (chain)
• dec (decrease)
• ea (each)
• flo (front loops only)
• MC (main color)
• mm (millimeter)
• rep (repeat)
• rnd (round)
• RS (right side)
• sc (single crochet)
• sl st (slip stitch)
• WS (wrong side)
• yd (yard)