In my effort to get my work space into shape and both clear the bed and an easy to navigate path in the dual use space that serves as both crochet empire and guest room, I have resumed work in earnest on a project I both began and abandoned in September of 2012.

Inspired by Tootsie Rolls and LifeSavers, the color scheme consists of six vibrant colors that span the rainbow and a dark brown the color of coffee without cream or milk separating one color from the next.

I love the way the dark brown sets off the rainbow colors, but my middle-aged eyes are not as enamored of the challenge that crocheting with dark colors presents.

While I did my best not to make any mistakes — counting my stitches as I went round by round — occasionally, I would have a question and need to go back to make sure that things were as I had counted them, and while at one point I had to frog one round, for the most part it went well, and today, shortly after lunch, I got this particular WIP into shape and finished crocheting the edges and handles of the bag which currently measures 31″ across.

Here is a photo with a tape measure to give some sense of the scale:

and here it is in its crochet glory and no sense of the size:

After documenting one view of the bag, I then turned it ninety degrees, and took this photo which better shows how I expect the project will look when finished:

At this point, there are still ends to be woven in and trimmed, whipstitches to be made, handles to be formed, dyes to be set, a closure to be devised, and then a bag to be felted, but after four years in limbo, this bag is finally nearing the end of its crochet journey and preparing for another adventure that will take it no one yet knows where.