Today started very early and seemed to go on and on without end until finally the sun set on what turned out to be a very, very long Monday.

There were more things than usual to be coordinated, and I managed to get them done, but each one seemed to be by the skin of my teeth, so it was with much relief when I finally sat down and started working on a bag I began last Thursday.

I had been inspired by this photo of Lu Lingzi, one of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing:

The bag seemed to embody an element of joy that had been stolen by last Monday’s events, and while I have not yet completed the bag or done it justice, I did make some headway.

First, I removed four rows of the half double stitches:

so that when I folded the crochet fabric in half to join the side seams, the result was a shape whose proportions I found more pleasing:

Once I had the side seams joined (using a single crochet through both loops of both sides being joined) I worked on adding a bit of height and narrowing the mouth of the bag-to-be:

By the time I had gotten that done, it was nearly 3:30, and my son and I needed to head out the door to get to his trumpet lesson on time. While we were there I managed to amuse myself by working on the elements of a strap for the purse (which involves an idea I am not altogether certain will work) and making a yellow tetrimino “O” for the second panel of the Tetrisghan:

Tomorrow will, no doubt, have it’s challenges, but I should have a bit more time to just sit and watch the world go by.