Harlequin Bags - Introduction

Right after college when we were living in a ratty apartment in Durham, NC, my friend Rinku had a bag she brought back from India, made of purple and orange yarn. I had just learned how to crochet that year and recognized the stitches on the bags for what they were. I figured out how the craftsperson passed the alternating colors of yarn through the middle of each crochet stitch to make a diamond pattern. The stitches looked nearly as good on the inside as the outside plus the fabric was super thick and strong. Here's the first bag I made.


The colors were beautiful, in part because I used Provence mercerized cotton -- a fantastic yarn. There were many goofs, though. Like these conjoined-twin-diamonds:


Well, so what. I figured out how to count. Here's another one. I use this as a computer sleeve for my laptop as well as a purse:


Here's how it looks on the inside. No running threads:

And a close-up.

Because of the diamond pattern, I call this pattern family "harlequin bags."