Stitch it with Intent

So I am on one of my last days of Spring Break (one of the perks of being a teacher) and the rain is keeping my husband and me from doing anything outside.  This is fine with me- I have an excuse (all the laundry and other chores are done!) to do all things crafty.  I had wanted to scrapbook today but I am now obsessed with getting this site personalized and fun to look at, as well as working on some crochet projects.

I am not formally trained in crochet- I learned in college as part of a Womens' Center initiative to crochet/knit hats and scarves for battered women.  I bought yarn and hooks then but quickly fell out of practice once I stopped working at the Womens' Center. 

Years and eons later, I decided to start crocheting again.  I was diagnosed with breast cancer in May of 2010 and went through surgery and began treatment that July.  The hospital where I have my treatment accepts newborn hats and lap blankets for the elderly so I decided to begin my own yarn therapy to ease me through my treatments.  I could spend the time during and in between treatments with intention- working on hats and other yarnalicious projects.   

As it turned out, I mostly felt fine through my treatments- only missing a few assorted days of work towards the end of the four and a half months.  But my desire to crochet continued and I'm still crocheting five months post chemotherapy treatments.  I noticed during this time that the hats on display for newborns at the treatment center were boring and plain, just blue or pink, no flair, no whimsy.  I went out and bought a stores worth of Caron Simply Soft yarn (it is that soft) along with Lily cotton yarn and swiftly joined Crochet Spot and Ravelry to get cute and simple patterns.  The hats I have made so far have flower, petal and button embellishments and are in a variety of rich colors and stitches. 

Many thanks goes out to my mother-in-law, a superior crochet-er, who got me started again when all I had was a hook and a dream at the beginning of my self-imposed crochet therapy sessions.  Stitching with intent gives me purpose and helps me stay grounded.

 My first completed baby hat with flower embellishment.

A newborn beanie with flower and petal embellishment, made for a friend and her beautiful newborn.