This morning I woke up to sunshine and a lingering chill in the air from our recent touch of winter.

But once the dog had been walked and breakfast eaten, I got out the small, partially completed purse I am making that was inspired by a Taco Bell Crunchwrap Supreme bag and which I will need once spring has arrived and I am no longer wearing coats that hold all of my dog walking gear for the aforementioned walk.

Yesterday I had added 7 decorative dots to the surface of the bag-to-be; today I added three more:

With the decorative (and to my mind most important) elements done, I turned my attention to putting it all together. I decided that rather than simply joining the sides, I would crochet a modest gusset and then join the sides. After experimenting with two competing gusset designs, I finally settled on one:

Using a reverse single crochet, I trimmed top edge of the purse with Red Heart Super Saver coffee, and then had to face the question of what to do for a strap.

I knew I wanted something fairly long; I also knew I wanted something cordlike. After a search of the internet using the search terms “crochet,” “cord,” and “pattern,” I found this i-cord like pattern from Suzie’s Stuff.

Using her directions, I was able to quickly make a durable cord of a fairly generous length which I then attached to the center of the gusset on either side of the bag:

This bag is destined to be one of those things which despite it’s modest nature improves my life greatly. With a dedicated bag to carry my dog walking supplies (house key, cell phone, bags to pick up waste, treats to reinforce good behavior) I know that there will be days I wonder how I ever got along without it.