Wheat stitch shopper...

Urgh! I've managed to get sidetracked again! I really hope we get to take the caravan away for a weekend soon, I'll pack the CAL blanket and nothing else so that it gets done. The joining method instructions have been released and in a few days time so will the border.

Though who could resist the challenge of this shopping tote pattern? Not me. It's like a good crossword, it keeps my brain ticking over. It was fairly straightforward once the set up rows were complete. Front post trebles are always a bit fiddly to start off in the round, especially when you need to increase by doing two fptr's into each fptr. M says he totally agrees! I'm not sure whether it was the colour of this project or the complexity that caught his eye. He seems naturally drawn to anything in the orange spectrum. I seem to be naturally repelled by orangey things. I must have tried to convince myself that this recycled cotton yarn was a rustic terracotta when I bought it. It is a bit of a duller tone in real life but even so I had planned to make it up and then throw it in the washing machine with an indigo machine dye. Once finished I remembered some bag handles I bought in a Rome market a couple of years ago. I think they go with the terracotta and might also be sturdier than the crochet straps given in the pattern.

I'll have to call it my 'fancy shopper' since it's a lot fancier than my usual taste. Heck, it's colourful, patterned but not too girly thank goodness! I think they call this 'wheat stitch' which is rather nice since we have millions of acres of it growing in Lincolnshire right now.

The free pattern is by Lily Sugar 'n' Cream.

http://www.yarnspirations.com/patterns/rich-textures-tote-1.html

I used a recycled cotton Aran weight yarn (I've forgotten the brand name) and it used 130g.