Never-Ending Afghan of Doom has been Conquered.

It all started on November 15, 2011.   An event with such happiness, such promise of beauty.  And then the day arrived when I couldn't bear to look at the thing any longer, so I put it in hibernation.

The 2012 summer Olympics arrived, and again the afghan emerged to the light of day.  I had a quest!  10 days to finish the thing and win a virtual gold medal.  Could I do it before closing ceremonies?

No.

The task was too big, too daunting.  I failed.  Hanging my head in shame,  I rolled the afghan up inside a quilt and stuffed it into the closet like an unappetizing burrito.

Until two weeks ago.  The kids went back to school and things started to feel a bit like fall.  From somewhere unknown a burst of optimism and energy emerged, and I dragged that thing from the closet depths like a crazed woman.  This time, I was determined to finish it.

And yesterday, I did.

If I ever, Ever, EVER start making noise about a motif-based afghan again, I need you all to come over here and start beating me with sticks.   No matter how beautiful the end product is, it's not a good idea to make 24 triangles, 35 squares, and 48 octagons all separately, sew them all together (honestly, this is the part that's truly dreadful), and then put on a border.

But it's done, and I did earn a medal after all, of sorts.  I'm giving myself a medal for Longest Project Ever, coming in at just under two years from start to finish. November 15, 2011 - September 3, 2013.  Whoa.

Normalcy, resumed.

The children have begun another school year!  Regularly scheduled programming can now commence.

Crash Course in Summer

Thank you to everyone for nagging reminding me to update the blog.  Yes, I did return from my trip and yes it was fabulous.  The cardi was exactly right for the weather; in fact I could have used another!

I didn't blog at all the entire month of June.  That's because Summer showed up and chaos ensued.  I was not prepared.  I forgot that schedules need to be maintained, activities planned, and expectations communicated or somebody loses it and starts screaming like a crazed maniac.  Yeah, that statement could apply to any one of us who live here, truly.  We all had a day (or four) when our throats were a bit hoarse by bedtime.

But, I tell you all with hopeful optimism, JULY is a fresh month!  JULY we have started anew!  JULY will be blissful like summertime should be.

July also happens to be heavily scheduled and planned with lots of camps and activities.  (Yay!)

I do want to highlight the fun things that happened in June, because there was fun.  Really!

While I worked from home, the kids made piniatas!   These are so easy and fun.  Take an empty cereal box and cut the top flaps off.  Then cut down each corner about 1/3 way.  Bend the narrow side flaps in until they meet in the middle and tape them together.  Cut off the extra from the front and back of the box to make the curved top.  Then, cut tissue paper into strips and fringe it.  Glue it on in rows and taa-daa!  Piniata!  We bought a couple bags of cheap candy from the dollar store to put inside.

My daughter did a quilt-in-a-day event for kids at the library.  It was completely free;  thanks to the volunteer time of the local quilting guild, lots of donations and a grant.  This is the finished quilt she made in just four hours.

Not to be outdone, by son came home and started piecing his own lap-sized quilt top.  He likes the modern black and whites.

 They've also taken every Lego brick we own and have been diligently building out a massive Lego city.  This thing is huge.  It takes up the entire dining room.

You've seen the Mansion before, but I confess to stretching my building skillz and creating the grocery store and apartment building.  I'll get some close up pics before demo.   The kids built everything else.

 Here's a neat little tip.  Dumping the Legos on the floor results in lost pieces and angry feet when they get stepped on.  I found this cheap toddler pool at the store.  It's only 6" high and about 3' diameter, so it's perfect for keeping things contained while the city is under construction.  And it deflates for storage!


Remember this magazine picture I shared a while back?  Well, it's almost done.  Hours and hours and hours of crochet work...

...and I HATE it.  Really.  It's fits well, but the skirt flare is so much that I feel like a cross between Minnie Mouse and Alice in Wonderland wearing it.  It's not at all like the photo in the magazine.  Two hours more and this would be 100% complete, but I'm going to cut my losses now and unravel it.  The yarn will get used for something I"ll actually wear.

ick icky ick!

In other crafting news, my daughter and I are entering some things in the state fair this year.  We've never entered before.  It will be exciting just to see our stuff on display, even if we don't bring home a ribbon or two.  The deadline is a month away so I need to get busy selecting my entries.

Anyone have a Space Bag?

I have two planned trips this summer and the first is coming up quickly.  It's still far enough out that I'm unsure exactly what the weather forecast will be, but the internet is full of helpful information like "temps fluctuate wildly," "often breezy," "average temp between 50 and 90 degrees."

How does one pack for that, exactly?

50 degrees means jeans and long sleeves.  90 degrees means dresses and sandals.  In between could be a crazy hodge-podge of layering.  Oh, and did I mention that I'm trying to do this with only my carry-on bag?   So far my must-take list includes 3 pair jeans, 3 dresses, 4 pair shoes, assorted short-sleeved tops, and then long sleeved things to layer over everything else.

I made this cardigan special for the trip.  Hope it's not too granny.  I wanted something warm that can be worn with both jeans and sundresses, because we're just climbing out of the Longest Winter Ever and I don't want to wear anything that resembles a coat, jacket, or windbreaker again until at least October.
 

Why is packing the hardest part of travel?  Gah!  The next trip should be easier.  Because Texas is always warm, isn't it?

I smell like a princess.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there.  I hope today you were given the appreciation you deserve.  I've been showered with love and it's truly been a wonderful day.

The kids let me sleep in until 9 am, and then they gave me presents.  Presents!  I love presents.

One of those gifts was a sampler of Vera Wang's Princess perfumes: original, Night Princess, and Preppy Princess.  Delightful!  I love them all.  Plus the kids scored big because there were TWO gift-with-purchase promos going on.  Buy Vera Wang and get a tote bag, plus spend X amount of dollars on fragrance and get a purse.  Woohoo!

This is huge, and will make an excellent pool bag this summer.

The purse is a beautiful shade of teal blue.  I don't have a blue purse so I was excited to get one, but unfortunately it's too large to be used as an official purse.   However, it's just the right size for a crochet project bag!  See...I've already moved in.

A whole afghan project will fit in this thing!

My son wrote a lovely poem for me and framed it.  Here goes:

Makes good food
Our best mom ever
Told many stories
Hugs and kisses for me
Eight years with you
Roses for you

Awww....

My family also took me out for lunch to a fabulous local mexican place.  I snarfed down my enchilada combo before thinking to take a photo.  Splurged on a delicious mango margarita - very similar to the ones we enjoyed in Cancun a few years ago.

In somewhat disappointing news, one of my most favorite yarns ever is being discontinued.  Caron Spa, a lovely soft bamboo yarn, will soon be no more.  Luckily I found out about this before it becomes really scarce, and I ordered myself 6 sweaters' worth.  Yeah, I may have gone an eensy weensy bit overboard there, but I figure I can always resell what I don't end up using myself.

Joy!

 Later this evening I'm going to start a cardigan project with that light stone colored yarn in the lower left corner.  I want something light that will look good with jeans and t-shirts as well as layered over a sundress.

Next post I'll do a show n tell of the Most Versatile Pattern I've Ever Found.  Stay tuned!

What I Love

The best kind of projects are the ones that take 20 minutes or less.

Reflections

Looking back on recent posts, it's hard to believe those beautiful sunny days were so recent.  Spring must have taken that wrong turn at Albuquerque because it's nowhere to be found today.

Poor plants.  It's a confusing time.

As I was sorting laundry to be put away, I reflected on the odd mix of seasonal clothing we've worn the past four days.  In the baskets were thick flannel pj's - the kind that button all the way up to your chin to keep the winter out.  Right next to them were eensy little shorts and tank tops because there were a few days when it was so unbearably hot we could barely stand to wear our own skin.  It's hard to put one season's clothes away and pull out the next when we keep wearing All The Clothes from Every Season.

Mr. Weatherman assures me it will be somewhat stable next week.

The weather also creates havoc with my crafting.  I started this lovely reversible afghan for our newly decorated bedroom, but then I set it aside because I was SURE spring was coming and I wanted to make a spring dress.  Now I have both projects going at once.  On the hot days I can't stand to have a heavy blanket on my lap, so I work on the dress.  If it's below 60 degrees, the afghan gets a few new rows.  Makes slow progress doing two things at once.

Reminds me of eyelet fabric.  

The original design is done in a horrid color.  Looks like she is wearing a doily.  Ick.
I'm trying to modernize it a bit by going pink and adding contrast.

I also want to prepare for Summer, so I dug through the fabric stash to see what treasure was buried there.  I found this delightful gauzy white fabric with dots.  Matched it up with a sundress pattern.  This one will be so, so pretty and light!  If this pattern fits well I want to try it with knits too.  It's super simple and should only take an hour or two.

Lastly, my Nook bit the dust.  Fortunately I had purchased the extended warranty, so I was able to replace it with the Nook Tablet HD.  Such a fancy gadget!  The cover for the old one is about 2" too big, so I'm going to use the e-reader sleeve tutorial and make a new one, with upgrades!  Instead of the button closure, I'm going to do wrap-around elastic.  It'll slip into my purse easier that way because the button won't catch on things.

This fabric reminds me of that segment on Sesame Street from the 70's.  There were no words, just music, and a colored ball that went through rainbow tracks.  It was like being inside a pinball machine.  Anybody remember that?