April 1979

​In April of 1979, Jimmy Carter was president,   Music Box Dancer was playing on my grandmothers radio and Heart of Glass on mine.    Workbasket Magazine had a spring knit pullover over on the cover and four crochet patterns inside: an elegant bedspread, a popcorn stitch purse, an elegant bedspread, and a teen's delight - a fringed vest.   

​I gave my followers a choice between the vest and the purse.  The Popcorn Stitch purse was the winner!
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About the pattern:
This is a simple 8 x 13 inch rectangle of popcorn stitches broken up by double crochet stitches.  The rectangle is folded in half and sewn up the sides.  A zipper is attached to the crochet fabric and a lining is sewn inside. 

About the materials:
The pattern called for 4 balls of Speed-Knit-Cro-Sheen which is a size 3 crochet thread.  I had two Aunt Lydia’s Fashion Thread size 3 – one in black and one in white plus a Speed-Knit Cro Sheen in watermelon.   I wanted to do this with what I had so I cut one double crochet out of the popcorn making them 4 dc popcorn stitches to try to get by with three balls.
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How it went:
The crochet part of this went very fast.  It’s a simple stitch pattern that’s easy to memorize.  I started with the watermelon color but it was so stiff that I frogged it after a row and switched to the newer Aunt Lydia’s in black.   I got through about 6 inches of the 13 and realized one skein wasn’t enough to do the whole thing but it would get me halfway there.   Two balls would be plenty with enough left over for the tassel.  

A nine inch zipper fit perfectly in the opening and once I had the sides sewn up it was pretty easy to sew the zipper into the opening.
Next:  Lining and tassel