The Best Laid Plans...

Cecily1 wrote

on Sep 13, 2006 2:08 PM

We often carry a bag for reasons that have less to do with the need to have something to carry things in as a need to say something about ourselves or to represent where we want to go.  

The first time I saw this bag*, I wanted to go to the beach. I imagined myself organized enough that all the things I could need for a pleasant morning would fit into this bag.  How cute and together I’d look!  When I saw the pockets inside I envisioned hooks and yarn and other inspiring things tucked in for the journey and at the ready whenever I might be inspired to use them.  

And this was the plan: to treat myself to a day on the beach reveling in crochet inspiration. Inspiration is a tricky thing to plan.  I imagined I’d dip my feet in the water and enjoy that great feeling of letting the waves wash away anything clouding my mood.  Then I’d sit down, break out the hooks and yarn and whip up something fantastic. This was the plan.  

In reality, I packed a great yarn palette of beach colors, sunscreen, a few colorful pens and pencils, a notepad and even yoghurt for a snack. See something missing from that list? I forgot to bring hooks!  I'd picked out a handful of hooks, the perfect hooks for the yarn palette I had selected and forgot to place them in the pocket I had selected for them!

There I was having my ideal day of beach fun and crochet inspiration. My sweet new bag sitting on the sand while I stood in the waves. The lifeguard stand caught my eye, “Wow!” I thought, “I have a yarn in my bag the same color and then another the same color as the sky, ooh!  It all looks so great!  Ooh!”  I was ready to dive right into my yarn with a hook…  I plopped down into the sand and reached into my bag… no hooks! Gah!

I took a few moments to accept that I had to put that moment of inspiration on hold. I sat there in the sand with my yarn. I arranged the skeins in my lap in ways to match the layers of blues, sandy tans and white around me. Sigh; yarn stacking instead of crocheting. Because I couldn’t immediately dive into my yarn with a hook I had to sit still in the moment of inspiration and ended up taking a closer look at the things that inspired me. I took photos of everything that inspired me and had a nice time marveling at the many shades of blue.

When it was time to get out of the sun, I had intended to sit at a nearby coffee shop and crochet. With no beachside craft shack selling crochet hooks I found other ways to pass the afternoon. I had fun strolling Main St. swinging my happy bag at my side and soaking up some window shopping. And yes, I did have a few moments when I would convince myself that stores like a handmade soap shop might happen to carry some crochet hooks. Luckily, an awesome bead store was just two blocks from the beach. I wandered into Ritual Adornments with absolutely no intent of buying any beads. Then I saw this sweet little lampwork teapot. Just like the lifeguard station on the beach, this bead inspired me. On the beach I felt a desire to play with the colors on hand and to layer them on top of each other. In the bead store, I had a vision of a quirky fabric, perhaps a tea cozy, with this little teapot bead dangling from it.

Now I've got myself a handful of photos of the beach and visions of layered colors and textures to play with. I've also got a teapot cozy idea that I never would have met had I spent the day gripping my hook. Not a bad bad day for collecting inspiration, even if it didn't turn out as I had planned.

I think I need another trip to the beach, this time with hooks! My Della Q bag is sitting right there on my shelf, packed and ready...

* Note: Warm and happy thanks to Della of Della Q Imports for supplying the inspiration for this piece.