My house was full of people during the Covid lockdown and forced work from home so it wasn’t until several weeks ago I was able to do a CCC – Covid Closet Cleanout. Tucked on a shelf in a closet was a Mood Afghan. I threw it on the bed, laughed and thought, “If I made one of these this year it would be black and gray.”
My next thought was, “Or would it?”
Let me back up and explain what a Mood Afghan is for those of you who stumbled over the words above. To make a Mood Afghan, you collect several skeins of yarn in a variety of colors. Every day you crochet a granny square or two using the yarn that best reflects your mood of the day.
When I look at my Mood Afghan, I know exactly what year it was made. 2015.
The white square was probably made on a day I worked on my oldest daughter’s wedding plans. The maroon square could have been a day my middle or youngest daughter had a school related activity since they had the same school colors. One was graduating from high school and one from college so there were a lot of end of year activities. The pink square probably was a day I did something related to my daughter’s prophylactic mastectomy. The brown square could’ve been a day I worked in the garden or a crappy day. Blue might have been a day when the skies were clear or I had a nice swim in a pool. Gray might have been a rainy day or a blah day. Yellow was definitely a happy day.
When the blanket was finished, it was mostly yellow. I trimmed it with more yellow as a symbol that no matter what the mood of the day might be, there is happiness to be found.
A 2020 Mood Afghan? What colors would dominate? My first thought was black and gray. Lots of black and gray.
But then I stopped and thought about ALL that happened these past 9 months and realized I might have some red in it because I loved having my adult daughters home for months and months. And more red because it’s the longest length of time I’ve gone without my husband traveling every week in over 20 years – and we savored every moment.
My 2020 Mood Afghan might have a few green squares because we went for a LOT of walks in the woods around my neighborhood. We also witnessed the new leaves peak out during spring as we ate dinner together as a family on the patio.
I would probably have to crochet several blue squares since the girls and I were in the pool every sunny day.
And white because that is the color of xanthan gum and we tried a lot of new recipes using xanthan gum. My youngest daughter will tell you we talked a lot about xanthan gum. We laughed a lot about xanthan gum.
Oh, and white might also represent the toilet paper my family laughed at me for stockpiling in February but were really grateful for in April.
And there would be yellow. In spite of all the uncertainty and fear a strange virus brought into our lives, we were together, healthy and happy.
Most of us are more than ready to leave 2020 behind and look forward to 2021 with promise and hope. I know I do. I hope to be able to see my parents and other relatives. I long to travel to see family and friends. (The tags on the clothes I bought for trips last spring mock me when I go in my closet.) I want to return to church and hug my friends. I want my friends who own small businesses and restaurants to thrive. I want to live in a world free from fear of an unseen virus.
Though 2020 was a year of extreme uncertainty and change, there were many wonderful blessings. I loved the time with my daughters. We played games, worked puzzles, took walks together and had deep conversations. We loved hearing the laughter and voices as neighborhood kids played outside like in “the old days.” We saw neighbors be, well, neighborly.
2020 had its challenges for sure but it also was full of many blessings. I’m looking forward to the year ahead with hope and promise. Maybe I’ll gather some yarn and see what a 2021 Mood Afghan looks like.
What would your 2020 Mood Afghan look like?