Week 17 | Weather Vane + Tropical Delight Part 2

Week 17 |  Weather Vane + Tropical Delight Part 2

Stephanie | I set out to work on this Weather Vane block earlier in the week so I would have an open schedule for the weekend. Lately I've been rushing home from church on Sundays to complete my sewing before doing any yard work. This week I got it all done on Friday which allowed me to work the garden all weekend long. I picked a color scheme a little backwards from the example in the book, but I love it. I really like the ombre vibe in the corners with the darker blue, lighter blue and white.

Favorite moment of the week: I really liked that we got some serious work done outside, we planted 3 eggplant starts, 3 pepper starts, 23 pepper seeds, 4 cantelope starts, 50 lettuce starts, and 6 squash seeds. We also fished working on some teepee style garden beds for the kids and my hubby bought me 5 beautiful rose bushes for the yard. . But I really loved that while working in the garden, my 3 yr old plucked a ripe radish from the ground, sat down, and ate it up right in the garden. This is exactly what we have been working so hard for.


Annetta | This weeks goal was to finish the squares from week 16 as that was a really complex square and also the square from week 12 that I was supposed to finish a while back, but never got around to it. I did finish up the square from last week early on in the week, but then that's all I managed to do as the week got full. I had four hour work days this whole week which only gives me about an hour to myself because I have to be a mom and wife. I did set out to finish the square from week 12 today, but the tutorial video I follow for instructions just wouldn't work at all! I only got to finish the row I was already on and made no further progress. We'll try some other time.

Favorite moment of the week: I actually had a full and exciting weekend. Lubos and I went on a getaway just for one night to Modra (my favorite little village next to the forest). We had so much fun! I changed my outfits every 3 hours because why not? On Saturday we got my son a brand new mountain bike so that we can bike the vineyard trails behind our flat. I also picked up two new roses for my balcony rose garden. Then today we got to hang out with the in-laws in another cute village at the market. To end week Lubos bought soil for our two vegetable garden beds that are also on the balcony. I will have one nice urban garden!

Week 16 | Tropical Delight Part 1 + Squared Up

Week 16 | Tropical Delight Part 1 + Squared Up

Annetta | I am finally getting around to doing the hardest square of the whole blanket. Luckily I only need to make one, but I just might make two if it turns out looking good in the end. Also, because it's the most complicating square of the whole project I need to split this one in two. There are a lot of details that go into this square that have taken me a week to crochet. I've also gotten pretty comfortable with my color palette and decided to wing the colors without following the color chart. I realized that the beautiful charcoal color was throwing off the whole blanket and am now making sure I leave it out of my squares. With the charcoal color gone I am really starting to like the squares. I think that this pattern would make a really beautiful round pillow cover or a gorgeous pot holder. I'll have to play around with this pattern after the blanket is finished. To finish the round part of the square I took it to our pastor's house for the Easter bbq that we did and managed to get that last row finished. I will be finishing the rest of the square for week 17, so more to come!

Favorite moment of the week: This week has been a good one also because we had 4 days off of school/work plus the weekend. We never had that in America so it's a treat for sure. I did still end up working all the days, but it was nice to have my husband and son home with me. There were many perfect and favorite moments with week from hanging out in Piestany (where we lived for two years), celebrating Passover, nieces birthday parties to today's cookout after church which was super relaxing. The weather was also in the 70's and the sun felt amazing.

Stephanie | My goal this week ended up being, get it done and get it done fast. I wanted to work on this many times throughout the week, but just couldn't get to it, so here it is Sunday -Easter Sunday, and I hurried to get a block done. This one looked simple enough and without the Flying Geese so I went for it. Trying to figure out the corners was a little tricky as its 2 squares and a rectangle. In my mind it was easy to assemble, but the instruction in the book wasn't lining up with the ones in my head and I stalled for a moment. I was quickly able to see it through and got it done. I still cant seem to get my blocked perfectly lined up. I switched to a 1/4" foot on my machine, but I still was having issues. When I sew, some blocks end up not coming out to size when pressed open. I am not sure where my hang up is.

Favorite moment of the week: This was an amazing week. My oldest had Spring Break from school and we were ready for it. My Gramma also drove down from WA and stayed most of the week with us. We really have missed her. We stuffed Easter eggs for the church one night, went to the zoo, did our first Build-A-Bear experience, harvested our first bunch of radishes, and my hubby and I celebrated our 12th anniversary. We went on a 5 mile hike at the Table Mountain Reserve that is just littered in wildflowers right now from all the rain this winter/spring. It was beyond beautiful. It was a good and full week. I also got a picture of my completed quilt I talked about last week.

 

  

Week 15 | North Star + Spiro Star #2

Week 15 |  North Star + Spiro Star #2

Stephanie | This week for me has been a blur. Trying to take advantage of the nice weather and get projects done outside and get chores done before Spring Break. I thought I would be on top of things this week and I picked my colors and pattern early in the week, but ended up not starting until late Saturday night. I wanted to try a no-waste flying geese tip on this block, since I messed up so bad last week, but that kind of math was proving to be too much for my tired brain and I fell asleep instead. I just stuck with how to book said to prepare them and I was on such a time crunch in the end. It still came out a bit wonky, but I didn't have time to care, I quickly snapped my photo and moved on to my giant to-do list.

Favorite moment of the week: I really enjoyed getting some projects done in some amazing weather. We made a new chicken coop area in the garden, and shuffled the chickens around and moved the ducks out of our bathroom tub. Ducks are filthy, in case you didn't know! Its been quite the ordeal caring for them and 10 baby chickens in our bathroom. I also finally got a quilt done that Ive been working on since October. It was supposed to be a Christmas gift which I wasn't able to finish in time. And with my deadline over, my push to complete it dwindled. So having that done feels great. I will try to post a photo before I ship it off. 

Annetta | I must say that I was very good this week in more than one way. I started and finished the square before Sunday (our due date) and on top of that, I haven't worked on any other knitting or crochet project at all, which is a huge accomplishment for me. I am also, finally, loving the squares I am creating. The first round of squares were not really my colour choices, but now on this second round, I can really look at a square that I have already done and picked the colours I want it to look like. My crochet is looking better as well because I've been getting lots of practice. I actually really enjoyed my square this week and it is one of my favourites. I am even thinking of making a whole blanket with just this square sometime in the future. In the beginning, I just wanted a grey and white square but ran out of the light grey. I improvised and added the mint colour which I loved so much more in the end.

Favorite moment of the week: This was a hard week for me in more than one way. I would say Friday was a favorite 'day' for me. We have had a friend stay for a little over a month and she was moving out on Friday, but before she left she bought me a huge bouquet of gorgeous flowers. It blessed me! Also, I LOVED how quickly work seemed to have gone. I don't usually feel like work goes quick, but this time it went super quick and I was loving it. That evening I also got to go on a date with my husband which is always a blessing to get to spend that time with him. 

Week 14 | Esme’s Winter Cottage Part 2 + Sawtooth Star

Week 14 | Esme’s Winter Cottage Part 2 + Sawtooth Star

Annetta | This week was a rough week for me healthwise. I had seemed to have strained a muscle in my wrist which made my hand go numb at night and sharp pain during the day. I had decided to not do a square this week and for sure not do the hardest pattern that I was scheduled to do. Mid-week I changed my mind and decided to do the second round of my week 1 square because when I did that square in week one I had started the pattern, but scrapped it and started another. I actually kept the square as I had already completed 6 rows and that's where I decided to finish it off for this week. Also, because I had done this square already I could look at the old square and change the things I did not like about the first one. I modified the pattern a bit and made sure the colors were better coordinated. I am so loving the slight changes I did and the whole square looks so much better without the charcoal color with the addition of more white. I think I will like all of my round 2 squares so much more because of the color changes I plan to do.

Favorite moment of the week: This weekend church hosted a women's retreat. It was a short one from Friday to Saturday, but it was wonderful and just what my heart needed. I walked away with so much. I also walked away with knowing it was time to take a really long break from knitting and crochet (that's outside of A Year To Inspire). That part is sad, but it's been on my heart for months and now is that time to finally do it. Wish me luck!

Stephanie | This block was supposed to be easy! I was cruising right along here and there throughout the week, when things fell apart. I found that I had cut one of my squares for the flying geese too short somehow. So I had to re-cut this. Then I made my flying geese and found one to be too short (see pic below) it didn't measure up to my center block. *insert sad face* I cut and remade this flying geese with the SAME results! I checked all my cuts prior to stitching again, so I don't know what I did. But I was able to tighten up my seam allowance and slightly trim down my center square to make my points match. I had thought this was going to be my best block yet. I went back and forth on my color choice and thought I picked the perfect combo to make the 'star' pop. Now all I am going to see is the mistakes and frustration. Oh well, better luck next week!

Favorite moment of the week: I have 2 favorite moments this week. 1 was the other day my and two of my girls did some serious gardening out in the yard. We pulled weeds, hauled  and put down compost soil, dug up and transplanted some bulbs and plants, fenced off this section to keep the dog out and planted a few packets of seeds. Its starting to look like a real flower garden in places, yay! My other favorite part was today after church, I had promised my girls that if they cleaned their rooms and did their laundry, I would take them to a park. So today we got to explore a new park near us and enjoyed the sun. We came home to enjoy popsicles and they hooked up the sprinkler as I sat and enjoyed from a rocking chair.

 

 

 

 

Week 13 | Robbing Peter to Pay Paul + In Like a Lion out like a Lamb

Week 13 | Robbing Peter to Pay Paul + In like a Lion out like a Lamb

 

Stephanie | This block has quite the name, Robbing Peter to Pay Paul. This was one of the patterns in the book I wasn't impressed with but put it on my list anyway. I think it has to do with the fabric choice in the example, I personally think its pretty ugly. The dark color just doesn't look good to me. But after putting my block together I actually like the look of it, so fabric choice is key here, I think.

Favorite moment of the week: This has been a pretty boring and blah week. I can't really remember it or the details to it, its kind of a blur to me. I do know that we have some veggies popping up in the garden. We already have radish, beets, onion, potato, and wild flowers coming up. We also discovered that we had some pumpkin seeds that sprouted since we through out our Halloween pumpkins into the compost. So far 19 little pumpkin sprouts have been rescued from the compost and will be planted into the garden.

Annetta | Here is the honest truth... I did not enjoy working on this square. It was fiddly and oh so complicating. Oh course, once I got past the hard part it went fairly okay. I have two more of these to do and I am NOT looking forward to it. Not all these squares will be a favorite and that is okay. I have one more really hard one to do before we go back and start all over again. I have also learned so much since the start of this project 13 weeks ago. It's also very important to pick good quality yarn. I'm not saying my yarn isn't quality, but I am really not enjoying working with this particular yarn. I will start a new project at the end of summer and am picking different yarn for sure.

Favorite moment of the week: My favorite moment this week was going on a walk in the vineyard all by myself to pray and enjoy the beautiful spring blooms. I went on a 3 mile walk and explored places I have yet to see. The weather was perfectly sunny, but it wasn't too warm out. It was a much needed time to pray and think about the changes that have happened and the changes I am hoping for.