More doilies...

Today we woke up to a brand new winter wonderland.  And the birds were excited by it all day.

~~~~~

Putting away blanket-weight yarn for a bit, I pulled out some crochet cotton for two new doilies - from the book, 99 Little Doilies...

Somehow, it escaped me that I had made #44 before, but interestingly, made in this peach ivory color, a new name emerged:

Crinoline

And because (I think) I'm working on a collection of little doilies made in the above Ivory Peach color, and a dark brown/gray color called Hawk, I quickly produced #54 below.

Photographed on a lighter background, I might have come up with a different name, but on this gray cloth, this doily is giving me garden/soil vibes.  

Meet Cherozem

Cherozem (the doily) reminds me of the dark prairie soils in north west Indiana where Greg and I first lived (and planted our first garden).  Greg was a soil scientist (who mapped the soils in that part of the state in the early '80's), and he tells me the name used for the soils there is Mollisols. It's rich and dark, and great for growing things.  Cherozem is a word used for this soil in Russia and Ukraine, and maybe Canada?  I think Cherozem is a prettier name than Mollisols, so Cherozem it is.  The emphasis is on the first syllable in case you want to try to pronounce it.  

And that's it for today's YOP post.  If you're at all interested in YOPping, or just being part of a world-wide network of fiber crafters, you can check out the group on Ravelry by clicking the Year Of Projects graphic below.  If you're not already a member of Ravelry, you'll have to create a free account to get any further than the home page.

Look at all those cardinals!  I counted 14 males.  There are probably that many females in the trees and on the feeders.

Dahlia #2...

 I have finally finished my flowery-colored Dahlia Blanket!

I think I remember expressing intentions of finishing this by the end of 2024, then January of 2025.  For some reason, though, l temporarily lost interest. But in the last week, my crojo returned as mysteriously as it had disappeared, and I have finally finished this blanket of many (supposed) Dahlia colors.

Even though my interest waned for a little while, overall it was a pleasure to crochet.  And I am also very glad to be moving on.  

Using a variety of worsted weight yarns, mostly from my stash, I approximated a lot of the colors the designer (Lucy at Attic 24) used.  Lucy tends to make her colorful creations in Stylecraft DK weight yarn that comes in a huge range of colors.  Where I didn't have similar colors in my stash, I worked in colors I thought would play with what I did have.

I finished the border according to the pattern, but finished the last round with a crab (or reverse single crochet) stitch.

I really like this neatly rolled edge as a fun border on a blanket of playful colors.

And that, dear reader, is all I've got for this YOP update.  

It looks like we've got several storm systems crossing the U.S. this week and next weekend - with snow and ice for a lot of people, and maybe tornadoes for some.  I knew it was too much to hope that our recent warm weather last week meant winter was wrapping up.  I hope you all stay warm and dry!

Early February thoughts...

It's February, and I already feel the year slipping away.   

Okay...  maybe it's a little early to start lamenting the year going by too fast, but I do often feel a sense of desperation for how time seems to disappear faster each year.  Does anyone else out there reading this relate?

Something I've been doing for a few years now is recording life in journals/planners of a sort - something I create as I go. I tend to peter out by summer (which is a great disappointment when I look back at my journals), but each year I stick with it a little longer.  Fortunately, I record stuff on my phone's calendar, so at least I can look back for the dates that important-to-me things happened.  Being more of an optimist than not, every January I start a journal like this, and hope it will have staying power.  One of these years, maybe...

Before starting to fill my February calendar, I thought I'd take a moment to enjoy a clean calendar page.  Clean slates, fresh starts, opportunities are what I see above.  I tend to have little set in stone when turning over a new calendar page, but it doesn't take long before the days fill up and all those opportunities either start being realized, or they fade into the airy cloud of good intentions.

While we've turned chilly again, and snow is in the forecast, it was unseasonably warm the first three days of February.  Sunday was in the 50's and Monday was 68°F!  In the sunroom on Groundhog Day, I enjoyed how glorious were the colors I was crocheting with, as I sat like a cat bathed in sunlight, basking in its warmth. 

While true spring is a month and a half away on the calendar, and probably longer than that in temperatures, it was spring in my heart for a few days.  All stresses melted away, as thoughts of what I might plant in the garden tickled my imagination.

While the month started out very nicely here, and in spite of crooning over how great the warmth felt, I am not ready for the busyness of spring.  I have more cocooning to do.  More cooking of hearty meals.  More getting things in order, and house cleaning before we start traipsing in dirt and dust from outside all over again.

And breaking into all these pleasant things is the knowledge that there are many still suffering from hurricane damage in the southeast, and fire damage in California, and all kinds of pestilence and harms around the globe.  I sometimes struggle when life is going well for me, knowing it is hard for others.  Do you this too?  It seems a form of survivor's guilt.  Not productive except that it prompts me to pray and help when and how I can.  

How is it in your corner of the world?  Are you filled with the hope of coming spring, or struggling through the dreary cold of winter?  Or somewhere in between?  Every February I seem to find myself somewhere in between - this year glad for merely chilly temps instead of the bitter cold we had a few weeks ago; not wanting spring to come too early, but also eager to see things growing again.

As long as the earth endures, 

seedtime and harvest, 

cold and heat, 

summer and winter, 

day and night will never cease.

Genesis 8:22 (NASB)