Today was my self-imposed kick-off for the 2013 State Fair Season, and I awoke to the reality that it was not going to be possible for me to do the project for the state fair that I had originally planned.

So, while I walked my dog this morning, I started running through a mental list of potenial replacement projects, and by the time Clooney and I had made our way back home, I had an inkling of an idea of what I would do.

First on the list was to do everything I could to make progress on the taco purse. I had completed all of the pieces — which included crocheting the straps three times in an effort to achieve “strap perfection” — but had not yet settled on an order of assembly.

The the body of the bag was finished:

as was a crocheted reinforcement piece for the bottom of the bag (which still needs to be secured):

Then, I cut out a lining, folded the edge over, and basted it. As is evident from the photo, it still needs to be sewn to the body of the purse:

Once that is done, I will be able to attach the zippered top (and sides) of the taco purse to the body of the bag:

From there, I will just need to thread the straps of the purse through the holes made for just that purpose:

and then secure the ends of the handles, one to another.

With all of the pieces of the taco purse made and the order in which the pieces would be assembled determined, I decided it was time to take hook to yarn and face my state fair demons.

Armed with a hook and an assortment of yarns suitable for crochet cookies, I got to work on Cookieghan 2.0.

I started with a large, frosted sugar cookie that is based on the same cookie from last summer’s cookieghan. While the cookie appears very similar to one of the cookies in the cookieghan it is different in that it is made with a larger hook, and it is not done in the amigurumi with a crocheted front and back to the cookie:

Pleased with the way the larger cookie had turned out, I then set to work on a series of smaller cookies to encircle it:

I still have no idea if my proposed joining method will work, but over the next week, I should have plenty of time to get the details sorted out.