crochet mandala

Winter loosens it’s grip (sort of)

Leslie Stahlhut

The summer between my junior and senior year of high school, I went to the Yolo County Fair with a friend of mine, and she persuaded me to go on a ride know as “Flying Bobs.”

To say that I am not a the sort of person who gets a thrill from adrenaline inducing rides does not quite get at my aversion. Once we were secured in our seats, I grabbed onto a bar with my hands and held on for dear life. When the ride ended, I found that the fingers of my left hand would not loosen, and I had to use the fingers of my right hand to pry them free so that I could get off the ride before it was due to start up again.

That is what this winter has been like. The past two weeks, it has been hanging on with everything it’s got, unwilling to give way to spring, but today is March 1, and spring is beginning to assert itself more definitely, so even though this morning we awoke to freezing rain, by 10:00 am the temperature had risen to a balmy 34ยบ F and the freezing rain had given way to regular rain which melted much of the ice that had been covering many of the streets in my neighborhood.

But yesterday, while winter still had the upper hand, I spent most of my day securing the boho hearts I had made into rings that I could then (somehow) turn into a mandala.

Here is how it looked as of late yesterday afternoon:

a future crochet mandala composed of concentric circles of boho crochet hearts takes shape on a winter day
The boho crochet heart mandala with the hearts joined

Today with the icicles on the back deck beginning to melt and the asphalt of the roads once again visible, I had to use some of my daylight time to make sure that I was ready for what might be a school day tomorrow. What time I didn’t use getting caught up on chores I have been able to neglect, I spent weaving in ends on the future boho heart mandala.

Here is how the first round looked with all of the ends woven in and a new center secured:

boho crochet heart mandala center inmates the arrival or spring on a warmer than average winter day
The first round of the boho crochet heart mandala with the ends woven in

and here it is with the second round of hearts done and ready for a second structural round to be inserted:

a boho crochet heart crochet mandala
The center of the mandala with the second round of boho crochet hearts

I have not worked out the details of the rounds I will need to complete this project, but like all crochet adventures, planned and unplanned, I will work my way along the path in front of me, one stitch at a time.