I've found it!

After a month or more of slogging past my craft room, sighing, feeling like I'd lost something akin to my left arm (not my right arm, mind you, but still... my left arm would be a pretty big thing to lose), I'm happy to report that I think I've located my motivation again!  Motivation for a number of things, but since this post is about crafting, I'll keep it on topic.

Now...   I don't think I've gone to sleep lately thinking of color combinations and what new project I want to make (which I used to do), but I'm back in the groove of wanting yarn flowing between my fingers.  It feels natural again.   I don't mean to exaggerate, but honestly...  I don't think, since I've picked up crocheting again over the last 10 years or so, and learned to knit, have I felt so close to just stopping altogether.  I considered what it would feel like to just give all my yarn away, and I actually imagined it might feel good.  I was sure I wouldn't regret it if I did.  Thinking those thoughts would pass, though, I didn't do anything rash, but having the experience was a new one for me (regarding yarn).  And while the slog part wasn't pleasant, the feeling I could give it all away and not regret it was refreshing.  Relieving, even...

Anyway...  that's a glimpse into my recent, let's call it, COVID-brain episode.  I'm feeling motivated to "needle craft" again.  So let's talk about that.  😊

Sometime in the not too distant past, when Marsha (Lefty Crafter) was making a gift of white dishcloths for someone, I was inspired to consider a mammoth skein of white kitchen cotton I had lingering in a drawer and thought how much I'd like cloths made of it.  I really like large (like 10 inches or larger) washcloths for my face and body, so some months back I set out to knit my way through that skein and see how many large cloths I could get out it.  But interest waned. And, actually, I forgot about it.  I finally uncovered it, and picked that project back up this week, and by yesterday I had finished a total of nine cloths (having finished about half of those some months earlier).

It's not a particularly flashy project, but it's another WIP finished and another skein gone from my stash!

And then there were these:

This week I also finished the tedious task of weaving in ends of  12 or so already crocheted Maybelle Flower squares that had been lingering for... I don't know...  at least a couple of years.  Now that I've gotten my hands back on it, I think I'm going to try to move this project along by doing some version of Join As You Go.  

At the moment, I'm thinking of joining squares vertically into strips until I have a blanket-width's worth of strips joined together, then finish the project by joining the squares horizontally.  A big project, that will likely take me many months yet to finish, but I think seeing it grow will be more inspiring to me than just watching the squares accumulate - knowing that some day I'm going to have to join them. 

And that's all she wrote!

Spring is in the air...

You know... I wasn't going to post anything today because I've been feeling puny all week.  Struck with a bad cold (again), I've been under the weather. Completely unproductive.  The week was a total wash.  Or so it seemed.  As the weekend approached I didn't feel like I had anything to write about or any pictures to share.

But then this afternoon I started to feel a little better.  The sun is shining and it's warming up a bit and I'm suddenly inspired to give a little peek  at something I've been working on for the last couple of months:

I've been making and building a stash of colorful, flowery 5-inch squares that will hopefully make it into a large colorful, flower-filled blanket someday.  I know it doesn't look like much for a couple months of work, but it's a project that's going on in the background, something mindless to pick up when nothing else suits.

Some of you may recognize the flower motif in the center as the Maybelle flower from the Maybelle Flower Square.  Well, the evolution of the squares above is a story I'll tell another time (along with the pattern I've come up with that will include credits where credits are due - which is nearly everywhere else than with me), but for now it will have to suffice to thank my friend Sandra (Sam) for pointing the pretty Maybelle Flower Square out to me.   I love the pretty, simple design - and now 18 squares into the total of 80 plus I'll need to finish a largish blanket, I'm happy to say I haven't even come close to tiring of it yet.

Here in central Indiana, with temperatures in the 50's today, and with the sun shining through wispy clouds, it is the very essence of spring time.  And spring it will be here in two more days! The magnolia blossoms that popped out too early on the tree in the front yard appear doomed from last week's snow and freezing temperatures.  But I'm now thinking of the tulips that will soon be blooming along the back of the house, and the day lilies that will shortly follow them, along with potted flowers I can't get planted soon enough.  Aaahhh!   Beautiful flowers will soon replace a tired, if mild, winter here.

Yes, spring is coming!  In nature and in our spirits.  While I don't observe Lent in a traditional sense, I am aware of this season of spiritual reflection and anticipation and I am thankful for a faith that parallels the promises of spring and new life it brings forth.  Whether or not we share any commonalities in our beliefs about spiritual things, we get to witness the same new life bursting forth each spring, and revel in the gift of hope that spring brings with it as we leave the days of winter behind.  And that gift of hope is glorious!

I do realize some of you are anticipating autumn right now and some others of you have wonderful climates nearly year round, but for those of us in that vast middle place across the globe, where the seasons are pronounced and often unpredictable, spring days are a real tonic for the spirit.  And spirits are lifted in anticipation of it.

Wherever you live, I hope the coming week is a good one for you.