This morning was just as the weather report had promised — moonlit and cold, but once the sun had risen on the new day, things warmed up considerably from the howling winds that had brought the arctic air here in the first place, and in short order, I found myself doing the household chores that the cold, cold weather had precluded.

First on the list was laundry. Then there were dishes to be done, and debris to be swept up. But once I had put the laundry up to dry, I had time to turn my attention to the crochet heart scarf I finished yesterday and which was in great need of blocking.

I started by soaking it in warm water:

Then, after getting most of the water out by rolling the scarf in a towel, I laid out the pieces of my “Knitter’s Block,” and pinned the scarf in place:

With the scarf pinned to the knitter’s block and the day’s forecast high of 50º, I had lots of time until the scarf would dry, so I got out my copy of 101 Crochet Squares by Jean Leinhauser and continued my effort to get caught up with the crochet-a-long.

I decided to focus my efforts on squares that had an element of appliqué so I could use skills I develop on one square in the next.

First up was square 5 which features a daffodil in the center of it.

Our winter has been, as winters go, rather anemic, and just about a week-and-a-half ago, a neighbor of mine had a daffodil blooming in her yard, so I though the daffodil was as good a place to start as any.

Using my 5.0mm hook and an array of Red Heart With Love, I got to work.

I began by crocheting the flower with the color daffodil:

from there, I worked on the square. The clover was an easy choice for first four rounds of the square, but it was only after much internal debate that I finally settled on the mallard for the last two rounds:

Here is how it looked with all of the pieces situated in the same manner that I will assemble them.

With square 5 substantially completed and a large assortment of With Love covering my kitchen table, I decided that I would save the assembly for another time, and I moved onto square 6.

Still using my 5.0m hook, I got out a skein of Red Heart With Love bluebell, a color akin to periwinkle with an ever-so-slight touch of gray:

I then used soft navy and true blue for rounds five and six:

After some hesitation, I used the true blue for the butterfly as well:

Here is how it looked on the square:

By the time I had gotten the ends of the butterfly woven in, I needed to get the scarf unpinned and photographed before it was time to run a couple of errands.

I was delighted with the clarity of the detail of the newly blocked scarf and was very glad I had not wasted time trying to take a short cut of some sort:

and then I rolled it up for easy wrapping:

Today was along and busy day, but if I can be as productive all of the other days this week as I was today, it will be a very good week indeed.