Catching Up...

So where did we last leave off?  July, I believe.  What has happened since that time?  Quite a bit actually.


Crocheting a Vacation Souvenir

For the remainder of the month of July I took the kids out west to spend time at my father's farm in Missouri.  We were there for three weeks.  In that time I discovered every.yarn.shop in Springfield had sadly closed its doors.  Yarn lovers in the area had two choices (that I knew of): Hobby Lobby and Walmart.  As a non-supporter of Walmart, I decided to check out the local Hobby Lobby.  They actually have two!! locations in Springfield.  Admittedly I was jealous because back home the nearest one to me is a 45+ minute drive away. 


I wanted a project "exclusive to Missouri" -- kinda like a souvineer project.  After roaming the store for (from my kids perspective) forever, I was saddened to find that they really didn't offer much in books for crochet.  Or knit.  But I did find the latest issue of Interweave Crochet magazine, and while flipping through the pages I found the pictures of Vashti Braha's "Electra Wrap" to be inspiring.  I went to the yarn department and found a skein of Paton's "Lace" mohair/acrylic/wool yarn that self stripes.  I also treated myself to a new crochet hook by Yarnology (a line exclusive to the Hobby Lobby franchise).



Mini~Dee modeling my finished Electra Wrap

I didn't finish the project until just a few weeks ago when I decided to enter it into the Eastern States Exposition for judging.  The main reason was because I had misplaced the magazine when I was unpacking. Oy!  Although I did not follow Vashti's pattern *exactly*, I did fall in love with the loftiness of the finished project.  Will I make another?  Yes.  And maybe next time I'll follow her pattern to get the softer edging look rather than the straight edging I went with.


Electra Wrap is awarded a
Blue Ribbon at The Big E

And how did my project fair at The Big E?  Quite well, actually.  First, because someone else entered a knitted project using the same yarn, in the same colorway, it gave a great representation of what one could do with the yarn in crochet.  And second, it seems the judges liked it too.  They gave it a Blue Ribbon. 

What else happened while in Missouri?  You'll need to come back tomorrow to find out.  :)