The Crochet Crowd and a Spring Beauty

My cross stitch project is moving right along.  Lately I've been working on the background flower motif that is a one strand half cross stitch in a pale gray colour.  A little hard to work because it shades differently depending on the light; hold the cloth one way and it almost can't be seen.  This made it difficult to photograph as well.

But it makes for an interesting background for the nest and bird and preferral to just leaving it a plain, empty space.
 I am trying to keep my mind blank regarding new projects but that is not easy.  There just seems to be more and more exceptional and beautiful kits, patterns, fabrics, etc. available.  What is a person to do!

As an example of what I am talking about is this page of afghans made by members of The Crochet Crowd.

I love each and every one of them.  They were featured in this Summer 2013 edition (below) of A Needle Pulling Thread which was another of my thrift store buys.

 I've mentioned before that it was a Youtube video made by Crocheting with Mikey that taught  me how to do the circle in a square granny square.  Mike (Michael Sellick) now has a web site, The Crochet Crowd, devoted to crochet with all free patterns, videos, tutorials, etc.  Members are invited to join and are encouraged to share their tips, patterns and photos. Be creative and non-competitive seems to be the theme. There are now 55,000 members world-wide and there is a Facebook local chapter here in Ottawa. One of Daughter's friends has joined and she was telling me how much she loves it.  She was completely new to crochet and has now learned a granny square and very proudly showed me her first afghan.  She had every right to be proud; it was a medium blue and white and I thought the contrasting colours made it look stunning.  She is now a convert to the needlearts as she described how much she looked forward each day to her 'hooking' time.

Finally something pretty to show you in the garden...
I almost missed this little guy, so low to the ground and covered in last falls' leaves that I had to clear away to get a photo.

It is Spring Beauty or Wood Squill or Siberian Squill depending on where you live.  Around here it is generally called Wood Squill and it grows wild in patches.  It is always the first flower I spy each spring, stays around for a few weeks, then magically disappears not to be seen again till next year.  I love the rather delicate looking petals and the blue is such a pretty shade. Some think it a weed but I think it is a real spring beauty.
 I've never picked it though I imagine a miniature bouquet of Spring Beauty would be sweet.