It was with some reluctance that I returned my efforts to the “Big Rug.” This project has, from the very start, defied all of my expectations and required me to regroup, reaccess, and unravel, and while I feel I must do something I am not exactly looking forward to the return of this project that won’t reveal itself.

I was able to put it off for a bit with doing other things, one of which was to finish the last two rounds of my first effort for a sisterhood of colors swap I am involved with:

But by early afternoon, I had finished the square, three loads of laundry, as well as myriad other chores, and I could no longer evade the pieces of the Big Rug that have been accumulating, including these three squares I completed in the last few days:

Then, when I could put it off no longer, I grabbed my Clover chibi, pulled out one of the magic, bent-tipped needles, and began the process of piecing together the squares that will become the first row of what will be 17 rows of 13 squares each:

This rug is not going to be one of those quick, instant gratification projects. I will, no doubt, learn lessons about perseverance along the way that I had no idea I needed to learn, but with each stitch and each seam that I finish, I will be one step closer to having what I hope is a completely amazing and beautiful rug.