The giant necklace revisited

Remember when I was thinking about handles for The Purse and I tried a worsted weight cotton version of OlgaJazzy's Cable Braided Necklace? I decided it wasn't the right handle for The Purse for several reasons, one of which was that I didn't really want to mix crochet and knitting on this particular project. Which got me thinking if this braided cable technique would work at all in crochet. One thing that works so well in the knitted version is that stockinette stitch naturally rolls up. Crochet doesn't do that, so I had some doubts. Finally I decided to just bite the bullet and try it out.

I think the final product has more of a rustic look than the original elegant braid, but I think it definitely has uses.

I was afraid using all single crochets would make the fabric too firm and perhaps not "braid" well, but I was also afraid that double crochets would be a little too floopy (it's a technical term) and irregular. So I went the Goldilocks route and used all half double crochet. I'm now thinking I'd like to try a swatch in single crochet after all.

Here's the other side, btw:

Here's what I did (US crochet terms):

Strip (make 2):
Chain 11.
Row 1: Hdc in third chain from hook and in each ch across (9 hdc).
Row 2: Ch 2 (does not count as first hdc), turn. Hdc in each st (9 hdc).
Rows 3-8: Repeat row 2.
Row 9: Ch2, turn. Hdc in first four st, ch 1, skip next st, hdc in last four st.
Row 10: Ch2, turn. Hdc in first four st, hdc in ch-1 space, hdc in last four st.
Row 11-13: Repeat row 2.
Repeat rows 9-13 as many times as needed for desired length*. End with row 13. Fasten off.

The assembly is just like OlgaJazzy's knitted version, but you do have to curl (or roll up) the strips before pulling them through the holes. It's a little more work to get everything to lay just right, but I think it works just fine.

*In my swatch, the strips were 17" each and the assembled braid was 15". To extrapolate that to any length your little heart desires, enter the wonderful world of ratios!! For example, if I want a 24" bag handle, I construct the following ratio:

15/17 = 24/x (or, 15 is to 17, as 24 is to ?)
Now, cross multiply (you do remember how to cross multiply, don't you?)
24*17/15 = 27.2
So I would make strips a little over 27" each to make a 24" strap.
Your mileage may vary, so always do your own swatch!

And that's all there is to it!

Except I still haven't finished The Purse. Although, I did start and have almost completed The Purse's Little Sister (all but the strap, or course! Bwahahaha! I have so many issues), which may make her appearance here first.

If I can ever stop making Bunny Nuggets, that is...
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