September 22

I like pinning my crochet pieces to blocking boards just about as much as I like folding laundry. (Spoiler alert: not much.) It's uncomfortable measuring and re-measuring down on my hands and knees. But it's a necessary part of the creative process, so I spent some time this afternoon getting it done with my latest projects.

It's hard to tell from the image, but there are probably about 250 pins pressed into these two boards. And the bottom one is only a little more than half done, since I don't have enough mats to pin the whole thing in one shot.

Despite my general disdain of blocking, I do get a sense of satisfaction when I stand up and look down at what I've accomplished; when I see the stitches expanded to reveal their full detail and intricacy.

It may sound strange --and it sounds strange even to me, since the thought just came to mind as I sat here writing-- but human beings can be an awful like unblocked crochet pieces: pretty in a way, but not nearly as lovely as we could be if we allowed God to stretch us and shape us into the people HE wants us to be. It's a great reminder that it's not only okay to be stretched sometimes -- it's necessary for the good of not only ourselves, but others as well.