I had no plans to go to Coachella this coming April, and now that it has been moved to October, I still have no plans to go, but all the same, I find myself in a high desert festival frame of mind. At the same time, I also have a desperate need for a new bag. I decided that a crochet-achella purse was probably just what I needed–both to use as a crochet bag and to transport myself to another frame of mind.

The past two days have been filled with appointments to keep and errands to run, but by mid-afternoon today, all of them were done, and as I contemplated what the perfect square might be, I decided that this one had a lot to offer:

I first made this square for a piece I call “The Afghan that Eluded Me,” and this was one of the squares that has continued to call to me over the years.

The only problem was that the square as it was worked was just a bit too large for my current crochet vision, so using my C-2 square pattern with a couple of modifications, I got to work.

I was a little late getting started, so instead of documenting each found I worked straight through to the end.

Using a smaller hook and eliminating one of the interior rounds and decreasing the number of chains in the corner, I came up with this:

While it was completely serviceable, I was not enamored of the way the pink drew the eye away from the center, creating what was for me, a visual imbalance.

So I got out a different pink, and after a color consult with a trusted advisor:

I reworked the pink corner and got a result that was, to my mind, more visually cohesive:

There are still a few ends to weave in, and I need to decide on a final round treatment and then make nine more squares, but this rendition of the square has got me looking forward to what lies ahead while get myself in a crochet-achella state of mind, one stitch at a time.