Did your eyes well up with tears this past month as you watched someone special walk across the stage and receive a high school diploma? The college years are a very special time in someone’s life. I remember when my mom dropped me off at the residence hall with all my stuff. She came running back in to make sure I had a quarter for a phone call. (Yes, I’m dating myself, but I don’t care! It was the 1990s!)

It was during my college years that I learned how to make a space like home and uniquely my own. I missed my family quite a bit but I was comforted by the things that reminded me of home and family. Why not send your child/friend/family member off to college with something special and crocheted especially for them by you!

Photos via flickr by South Hadley Historical Society, Katie Peek, and Erin. License

OMG I totes love totes. (Scroll down for translation.)

Crochet totes are everything! (Photo source: flickr (c) Dan Zen License)

I know, right!?

Translation: “My goodness, I am entirely fond of tote bags. Don’t you agree?”

I may sound a little giddy, but I don’t mind admitting that I do feel quite enthusiastic about crocheted totes. They’re so useful and so easy to make! I love a quick project and a good tote is definitely worth the return on investment.
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Tell me what you think of the following assertion: The soothing motions of crochet are made even more comforting when your brain doesn’t have to work too hard to figure out what comes next in a pattern. When you can easily select your hook and yarn and just stitch, crochet takes on a different, meditative dimension.

Am I right, people? …

What brought on this sudden episode of “deep thoughts?” Well, it’s just that I think that most of us probably have a pattern or two that we go back to over and over again because it’s just comfortable. Maybe we’ve made it so many times that it’s fun to see what else this pattern can become for us. And working on this pattern so often allows us to move our attention from the physical movements and mental concentration required for other patterns and experience crochet in an entirely different way.
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