I think of Sunday as the last day of my crochet week, and lately, I have been working (both an arrears and current square) from the Jean Leinhauser 101 Crochet Squares crochet-a-long sometime in the mid to late afternoon on Sunday. I take hurried pictures, finish dinner, and then, scramble to get a blog post done before it is time to go to sleep.

Today, however, I decided to get a head start on the end of week scramble, and hook in hand, I got to work.

The first square I made was Square 50. Primarily composed of puff stitches, Square 50 embodies all of the qualities that people who both love and loathe crochet would cite being the quintessential qualities that make crochet what it is.

I decided to work the square using Red Heart Super Saver cherry red and pretty ‘n pink. I chose the pretty ‘n pink because it is not a quiet color, and I knew that it would create visible stitch definition for the puff stitches that form the bulk of this square. I chose the cherry red, because it would set off the pink and further high light the crochet-ness of the design.

Because puff stitches are dense, requiring four yarn overs, each of which is immediately followed by pulling up yet another loop, I was not able to work the square quickly. Eventually, however, I finished it, wove in the ends and got this picture:

Pleased with both the square and the fact that I would not be going into the new crochet week any further in arrears on this crochet-a-long, I then turned my attention to Square 57 with the hope that not only would I not get any further behind, I might also gain a little ground.

Using my 5.0mm hook, and Red Heart Super Saver soft navy and Red Heart Classic emerald green, I completed two of the four rounds that comprise the square:

I haven’t yet settled on the colors for rounds three and four of this square-to-be, I but I know that when it is finished, I will have learned something about crochet (and about myself) that I did not know before.