For reasons I don’t yet understand, I have felt compelled to make the textured afghan project from Maggy Ramsay’s Magic Motif Crochet collection.

I started the project almost accidentally.

I had been looking over my crochet books in search of my copy of Jean Leinhauser’s 101 Crochet Squares when I got waylaid by an entirely different crochet tome, and like a lingering cold, I have been unable to shake it.

Today, I could easily have turned my attention to a more colorful project. This one is on a counter clamoring for my attention and begging to be finished:

Instead, I (and my 4.5 mm Etimo hook) have been drawn to Maggy Ramsay’s textured squares afghan, and today I finished the second of sixteen medium squares needed to move forward on the project:

I also completed four more of the small squares which are the foundation of the medium square:

I have to admit I am finding this project more captivating than I had thought it would be.

The directions, which are spare in detail, have been more guide than instruction and do not include the level of specificity that is common today.

I have made notes along the way that include stitch counts for each round and other details that bring me comfort and help create the illusion that what I am doing has predictable results that can be repeated.

But crochet, like life, is filled with uncertainty, and it is really only the ritual of the stitch that can be replicated.

Video Tutorial: How to make the crochet textured square/magic motif