This Sunday marks the 8th birthday of this blog! Whether you know this place as Two Hearts Crochet, Yarn Geekery, or any of the other slightly different variations of those names, I’m glad you’re here to celebrate 8 whole years of crochet goodness with me!

2023 has been off to a slow start for me and my yarn journey, but I hope this will be the year I can break back into doing more of what I love.

For those who don’t know my story, I’ll start by saying these last few years have been a bit of a roller coaster. Here’s a little breakdown:

• Fall 2019: Got pregnant with my first child!
• Spring 2020: Pandemic/Lockdown
• Summer 2020: My son is born (pretty much in isolation…thanks, Covid!)
• Fall 2020: Postpartum depression
• Winter 2021: Surprise stroke (!) at age 30
• Winter-Fall 2021: The “Dark Times” (depression, anxiety, anger, all the lovely bits of emotional upheaval that comes with stroke recovery)
• Spring 2022: Diagnosed with ADHD…my life starts to make a lot of sense!
• Spring-Fall 2022: Lots of emotional healing and therapy
• Winter 2023: Crochet…?

Chaos, I know. Throughout my recovery from my stroke and in the throes of my depression, I sort of abandoned crochet. At the very least, I certainly wasn’t answering its call. I was angry, sad, embarrassed, ashamed. I felt like my mind and my body had failed, like I was letting everyone in my life down.

When I tried to pick up my hook again, I did still have muscle memory there, but it took a lot of time to re-teach my body how to actually crochet. I won’t lie—it was really disheartening. I would start projects just as quickly as I would throw them out. Honestly, I was really struggling to find something inspiring enough to sort of “jump start” my creativity, and motivation was just simply not enough to keep me going.

Enter: Bluey. (Or, as my husband would say, “Dad enters the room.” IYKYK)

Yes, the kids’ show about the dog. Yes, that’s a major generalization. Yes, my entire family loves it. Even my husband is obsessed, and he’s a pretty hard sell. (If you’re curious, Pat is his spirit animal. Mine is Chili. Our kiddo is straight-up Socks.)

At my absolute lowest point, Bluey helped shine a new and invigorating energy into each of the areas I was struggling with: parenting, my marriage, my friendships, and my passions as an individual human being.

I don’t really know how to put it into words, but this show has helped me in so many ways. Recently, my two-year-old son and I were watching the Curry Quest episode. Mum Chili explains the fundamentals of the classic hero’s quest story story structure to Bluey while she teaches her how to crochet.

Maybe it’s because I’m finally at a place of healing and curiosity, but I was immediately struck with the need to make a Bluey-inspired C2C blanket. I haven’t been that strongly inspired or excited about a project in years.

A little while ago, I made the announcement over on social media, but I wanted to make sure I talk about this project here, too, before it starts.

I can’t think of a better way to start my 9th year of (semi-?) professional crocheting than with a crochet along, and a Bluey blanket is exactly what I need. So, long story short, check back here on Sunday (probably in the evening sometime—I’m on Pacific Time) for the start of the CAL. In the meantime, check out the few details that I have over on the Upcoming Make Alongs page. I hope you’ll join me!

Special shoutout to my fellow Chilis! You’re doing great.