Yesterday, after my morning had been eaten by errands and I was finally wending my way home, I experienced the inexorable pull of a Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft store. Situated conveniently across the street from a Dunkin’ Donuts, I found myself trapped between doughnuts and craft supplies.

I went with the craft supplies.

Once inside, I discovered that all crochet and knitting books were 30% off, so I quickly gathered a pile of books to sort through, and while I found several that were tempting, I put them all back. However, on my way out, a copy of the March edition of the magazine Inside Crochet beckoned.

On the cover, it proclaims itself to be “the UK’s only monthly crochet magazine.” I had heard about this publication, but had never seen a copy. After looking over the offerings in the issue that was out on the stand, I decided that it was worth both the cost of $10.00 as well as any potential shelf space it might take up.

While the interview with crochet designer Tara Murray is the article that pushed me past my tipping point in terms of purchasing the magazine, had I gotten to pages 96 and 97 which feature pictures of and a pattern for Linda Lunn’s Art Deco inspired project, “Leigh fascinator,” I would have purchase it for this project alone. (You can see more of Ms. Lunn’s work here.)

This unique hair comb decoration is not only eye-catching, but makes use of simple, but effective stitch arrangements to create a design that is both lovely and whimsical. And while the term fascinator has fallen almost completely out of use since the 1970s, I would not be surprised if this project doesn’t bring the word back into fashion.

While the example shown in the magazine was made with Cascade 220, I, as usual, dove into my Red Heart Super Saver stash and came up with these three colors:

I then got out my 3.5 mm hook and set to work. In short order, I had finished two flowers:

and not long after that, I had finished two peacock feathers:

The original project calls for making a comb cover and attaching the flowers and feathers to that, but I am more inclined to attach them to a headband.

Either way, I will have decorative hairpiece that invites a lot of fascinating conversation about crochet.