:Yarn Love :

Before anything else, thank you all for the feedback and insight you gave me on last week’s YOP post. I really appreciate the time you took to respond and engage in conversation about the situation. I finished the hat and was able to leave it as a surprise when I went into work last Wednesday. The recipient sent me a message — he was very surprised and found the gesture kind and the hat lovely. Said he would wear it in good health, given our relationship, I can’t ask for anything more.

I should have been showing you the second hat in my Hatopolooza series, but I got distracted with these sweet little things. I don’t really do Valentine’s Day but with everything 2020 was and its extension into 2021, I figured I should celebrate every thing and every day as much as I can. I spent Friday night cranking out these pretties to decorate around my home for Valentine’s day and the rest of February.

They were quick and easy to whip up and I did 13 of them in about 2 hours or so of mindful crocheting — taking my time, no rush.

Pattern: Magic Heart
Yarn: different bits and bobs from other projects
The white heart is different from the others in that I used some unspun Tunis fiber, pre-drafted it a bit then crocheted a heart from it. After that, I slightly felted it so some areas are felted while in others the crochet stitches can still be seen.

And on that note, I leave you gentle readers with the first verse of Emily Bronte’s “Love and Friendship” poem on this international day of love.

Love is like the wild rose-briar,
Friendship like the holly-tree—
The holly is dark when the rose-briar blooms
But which will bloom most constantly? — Emily Bronte

Cheers to you today my crafty friends. May love fill your day today and every other day.

This is a quick post today because I’m commuting to the city for work then racing back to get home before noon so I can run payroll — I need to pay myself … right?!!!! LOL!

Crafting:

My crochet throw/blanket is in timeout for now. It didn’t do anything wrong but I’m on a hat knitting binge right now. Three members of my executive team and a senior director really had my back in 2020 when I needed some extra support. I thought of buying them gifts but decided that some handmade love would be so much better. Don’t say I didn’t warn you, it’ll be hats, hats and more hats for the next couple of weeks because I gave myself until February 23rd to get them done so I can mail them all on the 24th. I’m using scrummy yarn so you’ll have something pretty to look at while I overload you with hats! LOL!

One of my coworkers gifted me some wine (you can read the story of that person here) so as a thank you, I made him a hat. I’ll be dropping it off at work today, I hope he likes it.

Project Details:

Pattern: Ribbed Watchman’s Hat (this link leads to Ravelry. Please note that the new interface has caused accessibility issues for some users).
Yarn: MadelineTosh Chunky in colorway Tart (yarn base discontinued)

Reading:

I’m still reading The Water Dancer (blogged here). I’m used to Ta-Nehisi Coates‘ non-fiction style so his fiction voice is throwing me off a bit. The story is an interesting read so I’m taking my time with it before I decide if I like it or not.

As a sort of palette cleanser, I read one of my favourite books — Maya Angelou’s “Wouldn’t Take Nothing For My Journey Now”. My oldest copy I got in 1995 from a friend and I read this book EVERY YEAR since! My absolute favourite story in this book of shorts is “New Directions”. It’s a story of resilience and starting from where you are, no matter your age. It focuses on the aged old premise that its not how you start but how you finish. My copy of this book is well loved and once again, it hit the spot where content was concerned and an extra boost of inspiration welcomed.