Crochet washcloths and County Fair Grand Champion

This past week, I've been focusing on some crochet projects with hopes to add a little more variety to my MIL's fall craft sales.  The washcloths have been piling up nicely, seeing the temperatures and humidity have been slowly rising these past few days.

Monday morning, I visited a local Bookstore/Yarn shop, looking for some "Made in the USA" cotton yarn.  JACKPOT!  This Cestari "Old Dominion Collection" yarn caught my eye; the price was reasonable at $8.99/100g hank.  Only two hanks were purchased..... and by the end of the day, both had been crocheted up into some 8" and 10" washcloths.  Therefore, on Tuesday, after eye appointments in the afternoon, I stopped back in to the shop in order to pick up a couple more colors ;)

I primarily used a simple hdc shell stitch pattern [Ravelry link] for most of the washcloths.  But by day four, it was getting old, so I went back to my simple sc/dc alternate pattern.

While searching, this Simple Soap Saver pattern [Ravelry link] also intrigued me, so I gave it a quick whirl.

  

A few other washcloths using Knit Pick's Dishie yarn were also stitched up.

Sometime along the way, the currants and gooseberries were picked and jammed up.

And the past couple of days have been consumed a bit with the County Fair.  Exciting news for Cassie and our Steve -- they earned Grand Champion Cock (Rooster)!  She's tickled pink!

Berquist Beauty - top done; crocheted dishcloths

Berquist Beauty - 105" x 105"

My sister and BIL's quilt had been resting on the sidelines downstairs, awaiting the final four seam lines to put the top center together.  Between Bonnie's QuiltCam Monday night, and another half hour tonight, the final 3.5" brown borders were attached.   It has joined the pile of LARGE quilts resting on the carpeted basement area, awaiting fabric selections for backings.  I truly feel I'm going to search out some wide backing (108" and/or 116/120") for the two king-sized quilt tops that have been finished recently.  {{Celtic Soltice, in addition to Berquist Beauty}}

Tomorrow, Linda and I are road tripping to a town 30-or-so miles to the west.  Sadly, a quilt shop is closing its doors, and we're going to head there to check out what's included in the 40-75% sales.   We're going to enjoy the day regardless if we come away with any great deals or not.  School is right around the corner (she teaches in the 3-6 wing of our district's school building), and we've never road tripped together before.  I'm sure the day away will be enjoyed by both of us, and we'll do our best to leave the school-related chatter to a minimum ;)

Last Friday, my parents made a detour for a short visit with us before traveling on to their weekend getaway at a neighbor's cabin 'up north.'  As grandparents often do, they had purchased some school supplies/shoes/clothes for the girls that needed to be delivered.  (And yes!  My sister was involved with that shopping spree as well.  The family truly helps out with our girls so much!!!)

I'm not exactly sure how one of my crocheted dishcloths ended up as the topic of conversation, but Mom hinted about wanting some for Christmas.  I sent her on her way with a couple that I had in my linen drawer;  I'm not a bit fan of the cotton yarn dishcloths; at least the YARNS that I've tried so far -- maybe she'll end up liking them more than me.  There really IS a difference in yarns, and I haven't found a yarn I like yet for dishcloths.  

With another ball of Sugar 'n Cream left in my stash, I made up another cloth with a new pattern (Granny Dishcloth).  I LIKE this pattern!!!  Now to just find the right yarn.