The other day I set out to make Square 32 on page 33 Jean Leinhauser’s book 101 Crochet Squares.

Instead, as a result of a winning combination of being both somewhat distracted and less than attentive, I made Square 31, the directions for which are in the left-hand column of page 33.

Undeterred by my misstep, I kept my hook out and plowed forward to the next set of directions on the right-hand column of the page and began work on the square I had intended to make all along.

This was how far I got:

Today, in the bit of time in my day between the dog’s afternoon walk and my son’s trumpet lesson, I resumed work on Square 32.

I finished round 6 without incident and moved forward to round 7. I completed round 7 without incident but with some consternation, as the photo in the book did not detail some of the quirky aspects of this particular bit of the square.

I then moved on to round 8 where I stayed for awhile.

Round 8 is the sort of round that requires one’s full attention, careful counting, and an ability to never lose one’s place in the directions. There are elements of round 8 that are not perfectly symmetrical, and I was thrown off a couple of times by this feature. Eventually, however, my persistence paid off, and the square was finished:

Sometimes in life, as with crochet, we find ourselves veering off the beaten path, and until that leg of the journey is over and we have time to reflect, It is hard to know how we have been changed or even if we have gone in the right direction.

I don’t know yet what lessons I will bring forward from this combination adventure/misadventure, but I do know that each stitch changes me in some irreversible and unforeseen way.

Related blog post: I finish square 31 and get a start on square 32