I found this crochet hook tucked in a tote bag along with several skeins of yarn and half-finished projects. I bought it from a craft store during a moment of pure creative optimism, grabbing it along with several skeins in colors I just knew would become something ambitious. For a while, I really committed: watching tutorials, practicing stitches until my hands sort of learned what they were doing, and accumulating a lot of different granny squares. I can still remember the hand cramps.

But like many of my hobbies, the excitement slowly faded as life got busier and my half-finished projects piled up. The hook eventually ended up stored away, still holding the memory of the early days when I thought crocheting might become a long-term outlet. Every so often I find inspiration and I find myself looking for the tote bag, and attempting a project to see how much I can remember.