the magic football blanket

So many Venn diagrams could be drawn to represent overlapping aspects of craft. Remember Venn diagrams from high school? The big circles where the cool shit always happened in the football-shaped middle? The center of those diagrams were the pinnacle of awesome. Never mind that you could draw them in reverse with the awesome on the outside... no one ever does that.  And there was that weird triangle middle too - the shape that happened when you had three circles, but that's too complex for this story. Let's keep this simple.  (You there hiding in the back row - yes you...  I can see you rolling your eyes. I hear what you are thinking too. You are thinking, "you are talking about high school science, Amy, that isn't simple. Get on with the story... ")

As I was working on my crochet blanket, I thought a lot about Venn diagrams. I thought about them far more than a human probably should. I was looking for that middle awesome. I was searching for the holy grail of process and product. I wanted to enjoy them both.  

I knew I was onto something visually good. I knew that I'd hoarded the right cotton yarn and I had found Sucrette's Ripples of Happiness pattern. Those two things went well together. I had all the makings of something really spectacular. Unfortunately I've realized that I am not one for rippling. I don't enjoy the monotony. I can't stay with it. The process bored me to tears. It felt tedious and mundane. I'd be at it for years with my 4ply yarn and 3.25mm hook before my blanket was done and I wouldn't be happy.

Finding the happy middle ground of process and product is a really hard thing to do. I think it's something we all struggle with. I couldn't find happiness inside magic football, so I did the unthinkable - I stopped and called it a scarf.