In addition to being “an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice procedure radio communications,” mayday is also the distress signal for crocheters everywhere when they wake up one morning and realize that all the time they thought they had to complete a project has evaporated into the ether.

Such was the position in which I found myself when I awoke this morning. The changing of the calender from April 30 to May 1 meant that an entire month disappeared overnight, and suddenly the deadline for this beach-blanket-to-be/wedding gift was looming much larger on the horizon.

With 19 squares to finish and join along with ancillary strips of crochet to fill in where needed before I could even begin to think of doing the border and blocking, I decided that I really needed to make a push to get some work done on the Granny Square Sampler. With my dog walked, coffee made, and my trusty 5.0 mm hook in hand, I got to work.

I started where I left off yesterday with Square A-2:

With just one more three-round granny needed to complete the square I got out my Red Heart Super Saver and in a move that felt both bold and foolish, I worked the first two rounds of the fourth square with lavender and carrot:

Not entirely certain I had made a good choice, I persisted anyway and worked the third (and, in this instance, joining) round in magenta:

Satisfied that the colors of Square A-2 would fit with the rest of what I had done so far, I prepared to join it to the body of the blanket:

and got out my Red Heart Super Save gold and crocheted the final and joining round:

With A-2 securely attached, I then crocheted additional strips to square things up and even them out. From there, I got to work on Square B-1. After making several mistakes on the last two rounds that necessitated more frogging than I would have liked, I finally finished it:

Pleased with how the square had come out (if not with how long it took me to get it done), I checked to see how it would fit onto the larger piece:

and then joined it with Red Heart Super Saver claret:

Knowing that I still had some daylight to work with, I continued on my quest to make measurable progress and finished Square I-2 with hardly any unraveling:

Here is how it looked before joining:

and here is how it looked after:

While there were times that my crochet day did not go as smoothly as I would have chosen, I did achieve my goal of making measurable progress, and I am looking forward to going to sleep, so I can get up tomorrow morning and do it all over again.

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