My crochet exerts quite a pull on me, and the time I don’t spend at my craft, I generally spend attempting to keep the housework that has been piling up at bay. But every now and then, I find it helpful to leave behind both the crochet and the housework, and that is exactly what I did this afternoon when I went to Woody Allen’s latest film, “Midnight in Paris.”

It was a delightful escape, and when it was over, I was both refreshed and renewed, and in the aftermath I had a somewhat jarring but important epiphany.

The sequence of events that lead to my epiphany started when I walked past a bookstore.

Bookstores, like yarn shops exert an inexorable pull on me. While I had no purchase in mind, I took a few minutes to look over the available offerings and found myself drawn to a table with an assortment of 2012 calendars.

This one in particular caught my eye:

Before I walked into the bookstore, I thought I knew what I was going to make for the 2011 North Carolina State Fair. In fact, I had known (or thought I knew) for several months exactly what I was going to do, but looking at that colors and designs on this calendar, I knew in that moment that I needed a new plan.

After the bookstore, I continued on my trek to the car and came across this vehicle:

In addition to what can be seen in this photo, the chrome cover for the spare tire had the name “Lilly Pulitzer” emblazoned on it in pink letters.

When I got home, I did a quick Google search and found this wiki entry about Lilly Pulitzer and her design dynasty.

How could I not be inspired?

Rested, rejuvenated, and ready to get back to work, I pulled out my most colorful current project and got busy.

Having finished two additional squares, I removed the single crochet edging that had served to border the Quadrant Blanket, and I joined the two new squares to the original four using a slip stitch through the back loops only:

The former Quadrant Blanket is now six squares large, and I will continue to work on it until it has an even dozen.

My epiphany? If I spend time working on things I don’t like, it will leave me less time to work on things I do like.