Scarlet purse with abaca fiber

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The scarlet purse crocheted with yarn and abaca twine.

The scarlet purse crocheted with yarn and abaca twine.

This purse is my first experiment with the use of abaca fiber (a banana-type of plant fiber) with yarn (Familia Crochet and Knitting Acrylic Yarn). Earlier I have made a doily using abaca twine and, although it was a bit tough to work with, the material is strong and holds well after washing. I notice that abaca actually becomes a bit softer after washing (it is quite stiff while wet).

The top of the purse is folded over to close it.

The top of the purse is folded over to close it.

The purse holds coins, bills and other small things rather well with the top section folded over. I decided not to use any strings, buttons or other means of enclosure for the work.

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Variations on the Princess Louise crocheted bag no. 275

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Princess Louise Crocheted Bag.

Princess Louise Crocheted Bag.

The first project I completed using a book from The Antique Pattern Library (APL) was the Princess Louise Crocheted Bag no. 275. The pattern is from Corticelli Lessons in Crochet Book I (also a few new designs for knitting), published by the Corticelli Silk Mills, Florence Massachusets, 1916. The bag called for the “Princess” Pearl Crochet Cotton threads made by the Corticelli Silk Mills. The same company also produced CMC Cardonnet and Corticelli Silk.

Here is a closer look at thread labels: Belding Coritcelli Richardson and the Corticelli cat.

An even larger and older thread company is DMC (History of the company Dollfus Mieg & Cie). And it turns out that it was DMC that published the book “The Complete Encyclopedia of Needlework” by Austrian Theresa von Dillmont in 1886. The book was translated into 17 languages and published in more than two million copies.
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