At the end of October I surveyed my yarn annex and guest/crochetroom and decided that I needed to get serious about finishing at least a few of the myriad unfinished objects that populate my fiber empire.

To that end, I got caught up on a swap I where I had fallen behind, finished a rug intended for my oldest son’s October birthday, and I then turned my attention to a fat bag I had been working on.

Working in consultation with a friend of mine, we determined that this bag:

was the perfect surprise for someone in need of a perfect surprise.

To that end, I bought two skeins of Cascade 220 in a deep purple, got out my 4.5mm Etimo hook, and on July 25 of this year, I set to work on the project.

While I encountered a glitch or two along the way to completing the body of the bag, it was when I had to line it that things came to a screeching halt. I had my state fair afghan to work on, and it provided the perfect excuse to set aside the bag for another day.

Looking back, there is no reason this bag should have taken 4 months to finish as it is the kind of project you could get done in two afternoons if you knew what you were doing, and five afternoons if you did not. Because I have what can only be described as severe avoidance issues when it comes to sewing, it took me a bit longer.

However, having publicly dedicated the month of November to finishing projects, I moved this right on up the list.

My first step was to translate the directions. Using Google translate and bopping from one window where the text had been captured as an image (meaning I could not simply highlight and copy) to another window where I typed in the Portuguese text, this:

Franzir nesta posiçao , de uma ponta até outra, como indicado

Fazer o mesmo na parte de baixo

fazer 52 pontos baixos ao longo da extremidade indicada no desenho acima
fazer pontos baixos pulando um ponto baixo da base resultando um 26 pontos baixos no final

a partir da 3a carr fazer carreiras com 26 pontos baixos até o comprimento desejado para a colocaçao da alça

became this:

Pucker in this position, from one end to another, as indicated

Do the same at the bottom

Lows 52 to do along the edge shown in the drawing up
Lows jumping to a low of 26 basis points resulting in a low-end

from the third row to make carr Lows 26 to the desired length for placement of the strap

Perhaps it goes without saying, but even translated, these directions left me a bit at sea. To that end, I scoured ravelry for the notes of others who had made this same bag and found this blog which elucidated the directions for me.

In short order, I finished the bag:

Tomorrow when the day begins anew, I will again concentrate my efforts on finishing another project, but for the moment, I will enjoy the fact that today, I have one fewer unfinished objects.