Today was one of those rainy days that washed the pollen away and was blissfully free of errands. I celebrated the occasion by tidying up the myriad loose ends from yesterday’s crochet work.

The first order of business was to get the recently dyed (and as of this morning, completely dried) Lamb’s Pride bulky weight wool wound into balls before they formed an intractable tangle. While the orange had already begun its descent into entropy, I did manage to bring it back from the brink into a well-ordered ball of yarn before it could ensnare any other yarns. I also got the electric green and lemonade pink yarns wound before they had a chance to knot themselves:

Having gotten the yarn in order, I then continued my work on Stash Bag number 9. Begun with a partial skein of Red Heart Super Saver medium purple, I decided that I would work on it until I reached the end of this particular skein. By the time I had used all of the skein, the stash bag had begun to take shape:

Although this is the ninth time I have used this pattern, each time, I am amazed at it’s structural integrity. The fabric created with a worsted weight yarn and a J hook is not the firmest, nor are the double crochet stitches used in one round of a multi-round pattern that is repeated to create a cylinder, but the fact remains, the stitches work to create a bag that both easily collapses and easily holds its shape — a wonder of crochet engineering.

By the time I finished crocheting what remained of the skein of medium purple yarn, I was itching to set the stash bag aside to do some work on my groovyghan-to-be.

The groovyghan is fun and elegant (so far) in it’s simplicity.

Today, I got out the four remaining centers for the flower motifs and set to work crocheting the three rounds that form the petals of the flower. I finished all but one of the flowers needed:

and then assembled the completed flowers for the crochet equivalent of a group photo:

I think they look like they’re smiling for the camera, and even if they aren’t, they sure do make me smile.