After making the first draft pattern for The Calico Bag, I am now making another Calico Bag to troubleshoot the pattern. If you’re interested in this as a Crochet-Along (CAL), feel free to join in.

Materials

I used acrylic yarn for this project. Some locally manufactured yarns tend to have uneven thickness, especially the Familia brand. So I just try to adjust by changing the tension of the stitches or changing hook sizes.

The Turning Chain
After writing the pattern, one of the first things I noticed was that I didn’t write about the turning chain.

In actual crochet work, I needed a turning chain in order to move on to the next row of stitches.

What is a turning chain?

According to Edie Eckman’s “The Crochet Answer Book”, a turning chain is the little chain worked at the beginning of a row to bring the hook up to the level of the stitches to be formed on the next row.

In single crochet, the turning chain is a single chain stitch. You make 1 ch at the end of the row and then you turn the work. Then you insert the hook into the last sc of the previous row.

Where to insert the hook

With The Calico Bag, I consistently insert the hook into the front loop of the stitch.

Whether you insert the hook into the front loop, back loop or both loops of a stitch makes quite a difference in terms of the appearance of the fabric. Inserting the hook in one loop rather than two loops also makes a softer fabric.

Counting stitches in single color

If you are like me – hopeless at counting stitches – then this simple counting system might help. This applies to rnds 1-8 of the bag’s front section which is done only in one color, white (and where I have the most trouble counting!), as well as to any row with long blocks of the same color.

While working, I get distracted very easily and I lose count. So I count stitches only in multiples. for example, when making a row of 45 stitches, I count in multiples of 5. Counting 5 stitches is short enough not lose count when distracted and I can put down my work after the fifth count if I need to attend to something, and just get back to counting from 1 when I pick up again.

Changing Colors

In the pattern, I wrote that each color be worked in a single length of yarn unless the color changes were only 1-2 stitches apart along a single row. In the latter case, you can carry the unused yarn along the wrong side of the bag so it hangs there but not too tight or too loose. If you want the wrong side of the bag to be clean, you can catch and work around the unused yarns when you work the next row.

To change color within the same row, work the sc until you have two loops on the hook (as shown in the photo above). Pick up the new color with a tail of about 6 inches. YO with the new color and pull through both loops on the hook. Continue with the new color.

In the photo shown above, there is only one stitch in ginger and the next color is white. Since the distance between the colors is very short, it is not necessary to work each color in separate strands of yarn. Below is the back of the work after making 11 rounds.

As shown above, the yarn can be carried loosely at the back of the work. If the loose strand is just 3-4 stitches long, you can stitch over it in the next round. If it is much longer, and if there are two strands overlapping (this can be bulky when worked over in the next round), you can just use a new length of yarn for each color, the loose ends of which can later on be woven in.

Below is the front of the bag, the complete 26 rounds, showing the color changes. The completed piece measures approximately 9 inches x 5 1/2 inches.

The wrong side of the bag is shown below (gives an idea for a furry version of the Calico Bag!). In places where the distance between color changes is wide (say 3 or more stitches), I use a single length of yarn. Otherwise, I carry the unused thread on the wrong side of the work. It looks rather messy but the ends of the yarn are yet to be woven in for a cleaner look.

Here, work on the back of the bag begins. The blocks of color on this part of the bag are larger and is thus actually easier to crochet since there are less complex color changes.

Below is the back of the bag showing the wrong side.

I try to work as cleanly as possible with the wrong side of the bag, at the same time, taking care that the right side of the bag is not jeopardized. For example, working over the loose yarn tend to make the rows bulky and worse, some of the color show through the stitches. I try to avoid this as much as possible.

NEXT UPDATE: The handle, assembly and other new addtions.