Twist Christmas Gift Bag

There is an older video for a Peppermint twist hat at Mikey's youtube site. It's made to be a baby's hat but I don't have too many of those around to crochet for. Mikey mentions in the intro about it possibly being a Candy dish and the more I watched the more I thought I could make cookies and give them in it.

As the piece progressed I thought to add a simple drawstring and make it more of a gift bag. My project used Red Heart worsted 4 ply yarn and  J hook. I did not use a starting chain but a foundation chain which is basically the chain and 1st row of sc in one. Variegated yarn looks better when done this way you don't have the mismatched edge. If you want to use this method there are plenty of tutorials out there just search 'foundation crochet' 

                                    

My foundation was 35 st and I had 37 rows, following Mikey's pattern. I also left off the very last row of the brim although you could use it and make your chain drawstring pull from the inside so as not to mess up the look of the edging.

The gold, drawstring, is just a chain. I lost count somewhere after 120 but I'd say it's likely 150 ch's long, threaded through every forth space made by the 2sc in the end rows. You could make that row 2 dc's to make it a larger gap but I didn't see the need and the ruffle hides most of it. There ends up being a loop on either side and I pulled them up and looped them in a lose knot. The ends of the chain are just woven together. This pattern would look cute any time of the year done in different colors. make a purse for every outfit. Christmas colored or not I know this one will be well used even after the holiday.