I've been (sorta) off-grid

We've been all over the state the past few days!

Thursday morning, our day started with a 2-hour trip to a friend's car dealership to pick out our new vehicle.

I had taken my new project along with me using some Lion Brand homespun yarn.  I had the whole skein to go and I thought it would have plenty of yarn without running out for the trip.  Ummm....... I guess I misjudged how much I could use up in that time.  So, I was given permission from Candace to work on her scarf.  It's a good thing the kids were prepared to help out dear ol' Mom :)

And, after a 3-hour chitchat with our buddy Shannon (yes, a boy)......It's official.  I am now a minivan driving Mamma!  Oh boy.  

I'm not super materialistic by any means!  I carry a little card-wallet as my purse and not an extravagant handbag.   I dress very simply;  no extravagant outfits.   I will admit though.... the black leather interior of the van looks pretty extravagant :) !  

And after about 30 minutes of driving it, I figured out the radio system (pretty much).  LOL.  Seriously!  There was more than one time during the informational show-n-tell by Shannon when I thought that this thing is a very expensive computer!  LOL.    And I am realllly liking all the options I have at my fingertips on the steering wheel!  

The most memorable moment when learning about all the gadgets and what-not from Shannon.....

Me:  Shannon, ummm....where is the odometer?

Shannon:  Amy, you see that two-one-emmm-i showing there on screen?  That's the odometer.

Me:  Wow!  21 miles!  I don't think I've even test driven a vehicle with so few miles!  Ever!

So, it now has over 400 miles on it with all the other running we've done since then!

First, it was off to pick up Cassie from her week at the University of Wisconsin - STOUT for her Science-Technology-Engineering camp.  We enjoyed an hour long graduation ceremony and chatted a bit with some of the other parents before heading out again.

We had total intentions of stopping at home only briefly to pack up clothes for the weekend and to feed the animals.  It was about 8:00 when we rolled in home, but both Paul and I were a bit groggy and under the weather, so we postponed our departure until Friday morning.

And then.........total relaxation up at the Farm!  And no surprise here.... I crocheted.

On Saturday, I put the last stitch into the simple V-stitch afghan using the Lion Brand homespun:  Painted Desert colorway.  It is sooooooooooooooo soft!  Holy moly!  

Originally, I planned to do a different pattern.  But.  One thing about this yarn.... it's not the easiest to use when it comes to being able to find your stitches.  So, the V-stitch pattern was found and used;  it only requires you to crochet into spaces and not stitches.  Perfect.

AND!  The "Super Fast and Easy Throw" pattern was teasing on my brain the entire time I was working on the V-stitch homespun afghan.  SO, Caitlyn and I went shopping for colors for her.  The red, white and blue is what she chose.   The first few rows of the pattern were slow-going, and I ended up altering it just a bit on the single-crochet rows;  I'm sc into the ch1 spaces instead of into the stitches.  I like how it enhances the gaps more, plus... it's a bit easier :)

And darn!  I just took a closer look at the pictures shown in the pattern;  now I understand the comments from some of the other ladies who said it appears that their project was two stitches off on row 3 because their rows weren't lining up correctly.  My 5-clusters aren't lining up as shown in the pictures, but I followed the pattern.  I guess I'm agreeing with all the other commenters who suggested that an error was apparent in the pattern.  Gah.  Wish I would have looked sooner.  BUT, I was, afterall, off-grid for the past few days;  I only had the pattern in my hand that I had printed off before leaving.

Oh well....know what??? Caitlyn will still like it!  And now.... it kinda looks like a wavy flag!  Cool design change, right??!?! :D

Alright!  Ummm.....

Man!  AUGUST this week already!!!!! Eye and Dentist appts the next two days;  gardening ... crocheting... yup.  More of the same I think once Wednesday hits.  Then again, maybe a road trip or two will need to be planned to break in the van a bit more :)

Happy Sunday everyone.