For better or worse, I made this clock:

Its home is the Middlesex Public Library in Middlesex, North Carolina. The library is small, quaint, and cozy, and, as is evident from this post, very eclectic in it’s art collecting.

I cannot claim the design as my own, and I’m not certain that Anne Halliday, the original designer, would appreciate my effort, as I departed quite radically from her palette, but making the piece brought me a measure of joy, and I was happy when the library agreed to display it.

Anne Halliday is my favorite crochet designer. I first became aware of her work when I purchased her book, Decorating with Crochet at a used bookstore in Redding, California. The projects and designs reflect that fact that the book was published in 1975, but as much of the book focuses on home decor, it is easy to update the patterns with new materials and make something new and wonderful.

In addition to the designs, which I adore, Ms. Halliday revels in the possibilities of crochet. Her unapologetic and frequent use of color changes requires the crocheter to both pay attention and work deliberately presaging the more recent Slow Movement. In a world that has, until recently seemed to be spinning a touch faster each day, many crochet designers have been coming up with newer, faster, easier ways to crochet that attempt to avoid the time consuming tasks of joining individual pieces into a whole and weaving in ends. Ms. Halliday, however, does not shy away from creating items that composed of many colors and many pieces, and the effect is, most often, stunning.

People have often said to me that they wish they had the time to do what I do. I don’t possess access to more hours in the day than other people, but it is within my power to choose how I will spend the time that I do have, and it is my hope that more people will budget time for crafting and join me on this journey that is crochet.