Crochet is therapy. And art.

I used to crochet in high school–during a difficult time. I wasn’t getting along with my folks so well. I was breaking free from a whole lot that wasn’t me. And you know, the crochet was shockingly helpful.

A whole lot of angst, frustration and pain was burned off, right into those stitches.

So now, I completely understand, folks that use crochet to grieve, to heal, to meditate. The work requires just enough attention to distract and clear the mind, but not so much you have to focus heavily for most of it. It’s very zen.

My daughter recently took up crochet. “They crochet all the time on “Orange is the New Black,” and it made me want to learn.”

Which inspired me to pull out my yarn and hooks again, after some thirty-five-ish odd years.

I’d heard of a Temperature Gauge blanket and loved the idea. You do a few rows a day, choosing the color from a predetermined palette to represent the temperature. So it becomes a tangible representation of that time period, when you birthed it.

But I wanted something more…astrological.

I wasn’t super clear on the plan. You know, because the Temperature Gauge notion is all about the random. I’m great with random. Whereas, the moon goes through signs in a predictable order.

“Okay, I will just use whatever yarn matched where the moon was, when I was working on the blanket.”

But that’s kind of tough to purchase the yarn based on such a premise, when you don’t know how much work you’ll be doing in each sign. And besides, I wanted to be sure and include all the signs. What if I crocheted like a madwoman in an Aries moon but slept through the Pisces moon? Would not work.

So I settled for doing the work in order, making sure I did at least some work with the current moon sign during each moon. Because if I had too many rules, it would suck out the joy. I had different types of yarns and different size skeins. I was badly out of practice crocheting. But it didn’t matter if it was perfect. Only that I got something out of it. And I did!

But this wasn’t about making a blanket. Not really. I have been following the moon. It seemed a way to creatively connect to the energy of each moon sign. I had SO MUCH FUN picking out the yarn for each sign.

Astrological Yarn Choices

• For Aries, I was looking for fire! I could have done more red, but this is what we found and Aries didn’t want to wait for a better fit.
• Taurus had to have some green, with an earthy vibe. And soft! Taurus insisted on being soft. Wouldn’t budge on the point.
• Gemini insisted on boldly multicolored–it’s the only thing that distracted from the bother I couldn’t find the right sparkle yarn. Next time, Gemini.
• Cancer was going to be silvery like the moon reflecting on a lake, but let Aquairus have the silver yarn instead, because Mamas do that. So a quiet, peaceful pool of blue, Cancer was.
• Leo came in a different, more fussy form–a hank, you know, for the special yarns–and was not as flexible as I would have liked. But Leo sure looked great in the final show, as you’d expect.
• Virgo is modestly sporting the hues of a spring garden. There wasn’t quite enough. Must encourage Virgo to take a full turn next time.
• Libra is pretty and dainty in jewel tones. I’d have liked a more dramatic showing for Libra, but she didn’t want to be treated differently than anyone else.
• Scorpio blends the colors of night, with purple for power and depth.
• Sagittarius expansively casts tones of an exoctic sunset.
• Capricorn refused to be anything but boring–not realizing those flecks would make the final section look like it had fuzz! Capricorn is mortified, but stoically denies it.
• Aquairus has a hint of futuristic, metallic shimmer, like the Star card who shares it’s modern, planetary association of Uranus.
• Pisces is just muddling together the colors of the sea–not as soft as it should be, but Pisces quickly forgets that.

I already want to do it again! Get all the same kind of yarn, and try for a better match for each sign. Maybe variegated yarn for mutable signs, with single colors for fixed? Two strands for Gemini? Or maybe I could do big squares for each sign, with something that represents the energy worked in? So many options.

Now, when I look at yarn, I see the zodiac. Or chakra colors. Or Tarot cards. Or elemental energies. Or magick spells. Sabbat throws? Eclipse hats? Prosperity pillows? Who knows?!

And I love the creative process of it, even if kind of suck at the craftsmanship bits. Because I’m doing it for the JOY of creating it. Personally, I think there is no reason better.

My favorite (not surprisingly) was the Gemini moon yarn. I just ordered a boatload of it but don’t know what I’ll make with it yet…once I’m done with this one.

Upper Chakra blanket, in progress.

Do you do any art for art’s sake?