Today’s weather was what I think of as “sweater weather.”

Not cold enough to go without a cardigan or hoodie but with plenty of gorgeous sunshine that is able to hit my back deck, unimpeded by the leaves of summer, the light perfect for working on the several hundred squares I have left to make and piece together for the six sudoku afghan I hope to give as a Christmas present.

Since my son leaves for school well before sunset, I spend the first hour or so after he catches the bus trying to get caught up on housework. I never do get caught up.

Today, once I had done enough chores to assuage my conscience, I decided to practice a more mindful crochet, and the result was that I got more done.

Here are the top two rows of the second sudoku:

and here they are, pictured with the first sudoku:

I would have happily worked on the sudoku pieces until dinner time, but just before my son was set to arrive home, I put the sudoku away and got to work on devising a headband/earwarmer that would coordinate with my recently completed grape fizz Victorian texting gloves.

Using a mash up of Catherine DePasquale’s patterns, and adding just a bit of grading to the back of the headband/earwarmer, I was able to come up with a headband/earwarmer that echoes the design elements of the gloves.

Here is a side view:

and here is a front view:

I should get this done tomorrow so that when Friday’s cold front moves in, I will be ready to face whatever comes my way with my awesome texting gloves and coordinating headband/earwarmer.

As for the six sudoku afghan, what is clear to me at this point is this: By Christmas Day, I will have finished at least two of the six sudokus for this gift. In the meantime, I will be busy.