Note to my readers: This first appeared on April 18, 2011, under the title “I finish the rose garden tote redux.”

This morning, I woke up determined to finish the rose garden tote I had made using this pattern and Red Heart Super Saver yarn.

When I last blogged about this project, I had completed all of the pieces, but had yet to attach them:

(There is a slide show that chronicles how I laid the pieces here.)

Armed with my Clover chibi and the wondrous bent-tipped yarn needles contained therein, I set to work attaching staps, leaves, roses, and curliques. Here is how it looked when I was done:

While I was attaching the pieces to the bag, I decided that this would be the perfect vehicle for toting the cookie project that will not let me rest, and I took the materials I have collected so far to see how they would fit:

I then put the bag in a window seat that gets some afternoon sun:

and got a detail shot of the rose design, made with worsted weight acrylic yarn and a 3.5 mm hook:

When I began this project, I was most uncertain as to how the roses would translate from the felted to the unfelted version. I think the unfelted roses are a joy, and I am thrilled with how the bag came out; I will certainly try it again.

I think for my next unfelted iteration, however, I will either substitute a half-double crochet stitch for most of the double crochet stitches, or I will use an H or I hook, two strands of yarn, and reduce the number of stitches in the initial chain while preserving the proportions of the bag.

In the meantime, I have some cookies that need my attention.