When I first set out to learn the craft of crochet, I was a woman on a mission, but at that time, I had not yet learned to see crochet the way I see it now, and something I had never done before has now become a part of the fabric of my life.

I did not noticed that in Wayne’s World 2 there was an afghan composed of large hexagons on the sofa where Garth sits when he and Wayne broadcast their public access program, I would have completely missed Mrs. Dubose’s granny square shawl in the movie To Kill a Mocking Bird, and I would not have seen the afghan that graced the back of Ann’s sofa in “Parks and Recreation.”

But the years and crochet have changed me, and now I see crochet everywhere, and below are some of the things I have created over the years:

I do not understand why crochet has become such a compelling force in my life, I only know that it has.

When I see an object that attracts my attention in some way (say a basket or tote), I immediately (and almost involuntarily) begin to break it down into its component parts and try to figure out how I could crochet something like it, or possibly better. My mind immediately begins sorting through all of the readily available materials I have at hand to determine which materials would be best.

Other times, I like to consider crochet from the other direction: what could (and would) I make with the materials available to me?

I suppose one of the things I enjoy about crochet the most is the way that it opens up a world of possibilities, and those possibilities, in turn open up my world.