I am at a point in several of my crochet works in progress where I have to think about what I am going to do before I proceed.

The thinking, so far, has not provided immediate results, so I have been forced into something I call “crochet contemplation.”

As part of my crochet contemplation, I spent much of today pouring over multiple projects at Ravelry for the express purpose of seeing how other crocheters have dealt with attaching crochet straps to crochet bags, and while I saw lots of wonderful finished projects and got even more ideas for what I “could” do, I did not have that feeling one gets from making tangible progress, so I set my computer aside and got out my hooks.

The first thing I worked on were a couple of new crochet tension regulators.

Despite having literally dozens of them, the only ones I could find were attached to some other project, so I first made a low-profile tension regulator with a 3.75 mm hook and Red Heart Super Saver grape fizz.

I was impatient, so rather than finishing it off, I used a removable stitch marker to hold the final stitch in place, and I got to work on a second crochet, full-size tension regulator.

Amused at the vision it presented, I took a moment to get out my camera and capture the meta-crochet moment:

Shortly after the above photo was taken, I finished both tension regulators and turned my attention to the hyperbolic curlicue tassel for the as yet unfinished felted fat bag.

While I have not yet determined how I will attach the the tassel, I have determined that it is an essential decorative element to the bag as a whole, and after I had crocheted what remained to be crocheted of the tassel, I then made a chain that measures 24 inches long so that I could felt it and know what length I would need to crochet a chain if I decide to use a tie as an element of the closure:

With those two small things done, I decided that maybe the best way to contemplate my current crochet quandary was to work on it. Perhaps, I reasoned, the solution would reveal itself to me in the meditative state that crochet can inspire.

With my recent surfing at Ravelry still fresh in my mind, I decided that some crochet boho hearts would be just the thing, and I got a start on these two before my dog nudged me so that I would not forget to take him on his late afternoon walk:

Some crochet journeys are straightforward — the path from beginning to end is clear and direct –but other crochet journeys require you to be patient while you explore avenues you didn’t even know were there.

Related posts: How to make your own crochet tension regulator
Borderlands of the heart