I live in the northern hemisphere and as such, tomorrow marks eight weeks until the winter solstice.

So while my dear readers south of the equator are hurtling toward summer, I and my northern hemisphere compatriots are moving just as quickly toward winter. And while spring includes the well-known rite of “spring cleaning,” I find that in the fall it is just as necessary to take stock while one can and make room for winter.

Unlike summer which, to my mind, is carefree and easy, I find that winter is a more mindful season that requires preparation.

Today, I found myself readying for the shorter, colder days ahead by clearing out the debris and detritus that have accumulated in my car over the summer. Once I reached a point where I felt I could stop, I once again turned my attention to the 101 Crochet Squares crochet-along I am involved with.

I am still many weeks behind in this endeavor, and as such, have quite an array of squares from which to choose when figuring out what I will do next.

One of the squares I chose was Square 43. I picked it in large part because I wanted something I could finish in short order. To my great relief, that is exactly what happened. While I made one error that required some unraveling, the making of this square was, for the most part, uneventful, and by the time my son got off the school bus, the square was completed:

While the square is, for the most part, a straight forward combination of granny square goodness with bobbles to add interest, there is an interesting treatment of the corners on the second to last round where, to create a bridge from open to filled corners, seven stitches (3dc, tr, 3dc) are worked into an open (chain-5 corner space). The result is a smooth transition and a visual frame for the rest of the square.

In addition to Square 43, I also completed Square 2. Using the colors of Neapolitan ice cream as my guide, I began by making the center from a brown acrylic yarn I picked up many moons ago in a bin of mill ends at A.C. Moore.

I found the design of the first two rounds charming, and fiddled around with it for 20 minutes exploring some of the other design possibilities the motif afforded. Eventually, I got back on track and completed the third round using Red Heart Super Saver light raspberry:

The third round, as can be seen in the above photo, is very ruffly, and that air of ruffliness remained even after the next three rounds (made with Red Heart Super Saver aran) were completed:

For the last two rounds I used the brown I had used for the first two rounds. The repetition of the color framed the square, and the stitches helped to pull the piece together and tame the unruly ruffliness of the third round and give it a more undulating and petal-like look.

Winter will be here soon, and while it brings the perfect weather for crocheted socks, hats, scarves, and mittens, I will miss these warmer days of autumn that hold the promise of the summer just past.