Four days into this year’s state fair season, I listed the following as my goals:

First and foremost is to design and complete a new (to me) afghan.

Second is to use the materials I already have (except for the three skeins of Red Heart Super Saver blue suede which I bought because I found it irresistible).

Third is to have a home that becomes more orderly and calm as my work on this year’s state fair project progresses rather than a home that devolves into irretrievable entropy as the due date approaches.

I spent most of my morning and into the afternoon working on the third goal of a more well-ordered home while I waited for the weather to cooperate with my efforts to achieve my first goal.

By one o’clock this afternoon, I had put as much effort into goal number three as much as I cared to for one day, and the realization that I was going to need to make my own sunshine if I were to reach my first goal began to take root.

In an effort to make my own sunshine (in a metaphorical way) I swept, dusted, and vacuumed the living room where I wanted to work as it is the room in the house with the very best light.

As both the cat and dog hate the sound of the vacuum, in short order, I had a mostly pet-hair free (for the afternoon any way) environment where I could work, and after several hours of joining motifs with a short break taken to pick my son up from school (he had stayed after to attend his algebra teacher’s review for a test tomorrow), I had made substantial if not munificent progress.

Here is an overview of my continued progress:

here it is as seen from the side:

additionally, here is a detail of the texture:

and a small bit of the blanket-to-be which I think gives a good sense of the “flair” of this particular project:

Tomorrow’s weather icon looks a lot like today’s, so I will probably spend less time cleaning my house and get an earlier start on making my own sunshine.