Pattern Sudoku

I love puzzles. Actually, my whole family loves puzzles. Hubby starts his day with the Jumble, and is usually done in about 45 seconds -- a skill I will never aquire, because the Jumble just ain't my thing.

The kids and I like crossword puzzles, and Sudoku-- a Japanese puzzle that can become addicting very quickly. It's a grid of boxes, nine up and nine across. The goal is to get the numbers 1-9 in each line up and down, without repeating them anywhere, but also in each little grid of nine boxes. It's amazingly challenging, and will boggle your mind, most days -- at least it does me.

So, I got this box of patterns from an acquaintance, who knows that I love patterns. She sent me pics and I said sure, bring 'em over. Fabulous stuff -- 40s mostly, suits coats, capes, and a bunch more. Just lovely.

Till I see that the box, stuffed full, has lots of stray pieces, patterns tied in bundles, shattered envelopes, etc. Oh well, I like a challenge, remember? I set the box aside, figuring I'll work on it at some point. Last week, I figured, I'd better get to it, or I never would.

Turns out this is pattern Sudoku.

Those patterns are a hot mess. Envelopes that look perfectly fine become three different patterns, when the pieces are taken out for perusal. Most of them are missing at least one piece, which I figure may show up as I wander through. I even found a hat pattern in one envelope. The envelope was for a coat, but mixed in amongst several other patterns' pieces was a cool 30s hat pattern. I say cool, because I know the era of the hat, but I have no idea what the hat looks like, because I don't have the envelope. And the coat, whose envelope the hat was in? Well, there were no coat pieces in that envelope. There were a concoction of other pieces, but none for the pattern envelope that I was looking at.

This is the way the whole box is, except for the ones labelled "Ray's pajamas," "Sue's skirt," etc. This box is gonna be a challenge. I've found a handful of complete patterns, but have also started a box of almost complete, and another box of stray pieces, figuring they are going to show up somewhere.

So, I guess that's my form of the Jumble. Hubby'd give up in a New York minute, and most people wouldn't blame him -- especially on an evening where I'm trying to sort pieces whilst watching TV. In front of a fan, because of our dying central air, vintage in its own right. Let me tell you -- counting pattern pieces in front of a fan is not conducive to being in a happy place.

So, I found a pattern in my store that takes me to a happy place. Of course, if it fit, I'd be even happier, and I'd make it exactly how the pattern illustration shows it -- one in a cheery floral print, and the other in green. I'd even get matching dress clips for it. Best thing about this pattern? It's complete! No pattern Sudoku involved.