As the start date for state fair season draws nearer, not only do I need to finish projects and clear space so that I can work on this year’s piece, I also need to solve as many of the potential technical difficulties that the year’s state fair project might present before August 1 arrives.

This year’s proposed piece has brought some challenges that I have not wrestled with before, and today — in a moment of desperation after trying several things that did not work — I came across and approach that just might do the trick.

After I stumbled on the potential answer, I decided that it was time to set it aside and let things percolate while I returned to working on the flamingo-inspired practically perfect bag.

One stitch here, another stitch there, and after a couple of hours, I had managed to clean up my office a very small bit, crochet these two-five round squares:

as well as eight more first rounds for the thirty-two two-round squares I will need:

and then I assembled them all together and got this group photo:

As I look back on this Bastille Day, I can see that summer is once again going by too fast. I would love to capture a day like today and preserve it so that I could pull it out on some frozen January afternoon to restore my freezing cold soul and help me shoulder my way through what remains of the winter.

But there is now way for me save this warm and sunny day so I can trade it out at a later date for a cold and rainy one, so I will do what I can to enjoy each hour of summer.