With so many projects part-way done, the first order of crochet business was to finish something, and that something ended up being the rainbow Pleats Wrinkle Bag. To my delight and relief it kicked off a weekend of progress.
The first order of business was to secure the crochet strap to either side of the bag. Following along on the video, I carefully placed the strap as shown, and then made sure that it was safely secured and the ends thoroughly woven in.
With that done, it was time to move onto the drawstring. After more second guessing than is useful, I finally decided to follow the directions, and cut two lengths of black yarn.
Then carefully holding the pleats in place, I wove one length of the black yarn through in one direction, and then I wove the other length of black yarn through in the other direction.
I ended up with a bit of a tangle, so I started over, and the second time I got everything in order:

All that was left to do was pull the draw strings in either direction to close the purse and hold the pleats in place; it worked!

Without having to track down any additional hardware, I have a fully functional bag.
But the weekend was not yet over, so with one project done, I looked for another to finish. I didn’t have to look too far. Next to my desk, looking somewhat forlorn and annoyed, was the Mr. Headz skeleton with his partial crocheted arm and his mummy head.
I started by figuring out where I had left off, and then I got to work moving forward, and as far as the left arm goes, it went very well, but even after working a second time on the hand, it’s still not quite right:

Mr. Headz, however, is undeterred by the the detours and missteps I have made, and he seemed certain that this glower he gave me would be enough to whip me into shape and allow me to accomplish even more on what has turned out to be a weekend of progress.