It has felt like a very full week! I know I don’t have a whole lot to show for it, but I’ve found myself busy, a little ragged, and somewhat unproductive. I can’t tell you if its because I’ve been busy with other things or just full in the brain but whew! Time moved fast this week!

That being said, tomorrow is another eventful day, and I won’t be home much for it. I won’t have a Finish Friday post, but not due to a lack of trying! I just know I don’t have enough minutes before then to show off anything of substance. There will be many more Fridays 💜

Most days, I crochet in my bed until its time to sleep. I know its time to sleep when I start losing stitches. I’ll go into my stitch, pull up my loop, and then when I hook the yarn to pull through the stitch, I miss, and pull my stitch right out. No damage is done, and I simply slip the hook back into the work and go again. But then it happens again, and again, and finally its just clear I’m not longer awake enough to crochet.

Unfortunately, my body is doing the same thing to me this afternoon. I am positively dragging. But that is just something I’ll have to get through 🙂 The day is still beautiful! I still hope we go for a walk this evening! I am constantly daydreaming about summer and the lake and creating and selling beautiful things at a nearby farmers market. Its going to be a busy, but beautiful season!

Quick. If you were at a farmers market and saw my table, what would you hope was on it? Kitchenwares? Market bags? Plant hangers? Novelty? Simple? Hit me with your ideas and whats trendy! I welcome all input and ideas!

Did you guys know that today is actually the official Tartan Day?! Its a real holiday! And I don’t mean it like the calendars that call everyday National Somethingorother Day. This is a real holiday celebrated in North America to mark the signing of Declaration of Arboath, which is the Scottish Declaration of Independence. It was signed in 1320, and started being recognized as a marked holiday in the mid 1980s.

You’ve probably noticed I’ve been really digging into plaids recently, making blankets of tartans, as well as other plaid patterns. I am really enjoying it! So its pretty cool to have a day where I’ll be able to centre on tartans in general 🙂

A LOT of love goes into these tartans. But at least in my opinion, it is SO worth it.

This is the tartan I did most recently.

• 

• 

Im in the process of one right now that I began while I was away at the retreat on the weekend. So, being that its tartan day, I figured I’d show you the unfinished product so you can see what all goes into it! Detail time!!

First, we have what I call the base of the blanket.

I know. It looks like it should be a complete blanket here, but it isn’t. Its actually more like a grid. Its 120 rows of spaces. This took ALL weekend to make. Hours on hours on hours. Its not quick.

Chains are next. Chains are a labour of love.

• 

• 

For this blanket, I need 93 chains. Since I have already started and measured up, I need each chain to be roughly 220 stitches long. So I have the pleasure of counting to 220 ninety-three times. As if I needed to say it, its also not quick. For this current plaid, I’m using these colors. I did all the black ones first because the darker the color, the harder to see, therefore the hardest to work with. Got them out of the way 🙂

• 

• 

• 

Then I have to weave all the tassels through. If I really give ‘er and do it in one shot, it takes around 3 hours. Once they’re done, the body of the blanket is done.

Then there are tassels to cut. Ninety-three for each side. But two for each spot. So 372 all together. Then I have to tie them on.

And then I have to twist them, or braid them, or whatever the customer wants. That takes another few hours.

You can see why I have to charge for these suckers, right? Its definitely not super complicated, but its tedious. It takes time. The only complicated part is rebuilding the plaid on a graph so I can nail down the exact design before I start. That gets a little mathy.

Conveniently, I really enjoy making these plaid blankets 💜 I’ve really appreciated all the positive feedback along the way as well! Thank you, friends, for your support and care!

As the temperature rises and the snow melts, we all have spring on our minds. At least I’m assuming. I’m positive its not just me.

You might remember that the kids spent their last spring absolutely covered in dirt. Head to toe. Now I’m all for some good dirt. Its healthy and good to be outside, exploring, and getting dirty. But baths are no ones favorite in our home. Showers are even worse. So bathing every single kid every single day is NOT worth the effort. Not that I really have to justify it, but this year, I am ready for GRASS in the yard!!

Fun fact. Every time I type the word “yard” I first type “yarn.” Because, priorities.🧶

We had good goals for grass. We had planned to seed it ourselves last year, and babysit it until we got a lush lawn. But my goodness, that just wasn’t going to happen. Its laughable now, really. Of all things, we just couldn’t even think about that last year. No WAY. We made a good attempt to kill the bulk of the weeds, brought in topsoil, and got it all ready for hydroseeding.

Our neighbours hydroseeded their property a couple of years ago, and we were so intrigued! They paid as few hundred dollars, not very much at all, it seemed, and the guy travelled here, sprayed everything really thoroughly, and threw a big fat warranty on it. It seemed like perfect option for us! No fuss, no muss. Affordable. Guaranteed. So it wouldn’t be a super thick lawn right away. So what?

Brady contacted the same company this year and our yarn HA! See?!?! There!

Our YARD will cost around $700 to hydroseed. And the warranty is down to four weeks. I can’t help but feel a little shaky on my feet with this. The price almost doubled, and the warranty went down to less than a month! I said to Brady, at that price, we may as well do sod.

But. Sod is obviously more expensive than that. I assume. I really don’t know for sure, to be honest :/ Its always felt SO out of reach, financially. And even more so now that Brady can’t be the one to lay it. I know we cannot afford to get it installed, so we’re back to expensive, low warranty hydroseed. Maybe? Ugh. I don’t knowwwww!!

What I do know is that I really really want a lawn this year. Even if we only really get to be on it in fall. I want it to exist! I’m tired of our property looking ragged and dirty.

All of this being said, I welcome your feedback and advice! What would you do? Pay for the best and ask friends to help? Pay for midrange and hope for the best? Give hand seeding another whirl but just keep praying we can move? Guys. Input is the name of the game here. What would YOU do?

I promised to post about what Brady and the kids were up to this last weekend. But then I realized, if you follow him on insta, you probably already know. Consider this my shameless plug to to follow @icantstand.woodworking! Here is a quick photo play by play. They ate good food together, got the bikes going, played in the garage, driving, and did lots of reading and crafting.

• 

• 

Brady and I have always felt its important that we are able and willing to be alone with our kids over a weekend so the other can be free to duck away for a couple of days here and there. I completely accepted that this had changed in the last year, but Brady had not accepted it. He was determined, and he prevailed. I am incredibly grateful for a husband who wants to be with his kids, and now works ten times as hard to be on his own with them for an entire weekend. This was an excellent test weekend, and I know it was a stretch, but it was a success!

We both slept SO well last night 💜 Now the new week begins! The kids have today off of school, and we’re filling the day with some chores, baths, and planning ahead! Its spriiiiiiing! While we had hoped we’d be in a different house, or close to it, by now, we’re not 🤷🏼‍♀️ So we need to find a way to make this next season function a little smoother over here. 💪 I still need to unpack from yesterday also….. We’ll get there!

Late Friday morning, I was completely unexpectedly convinced out of my house for the weekend.

There was an event this past weekend that I have always loved attending – the craft retreat. I wrote it off long ago for a handful of reasons. Both financial and moral responsibility beat out my desire to crochet on a couch, among friends, eating good food. But the game was changed. So I spoke to Brady, who had only just learned that the craft retreat was coming up, was in full favour of me going. We haven’t spent a night apart since he came home from the hospital. With that, he hadn’t spent that long on his own with the kids since well before his surgery. He was completely capable before, and we both knew he’d be fully capable now, but I did worry he would tire out really quickly and struggle more. But we agreed that now was the best time to try it out, when I would only be a short 20 minutes away if something really went bad. And we were both confident it wouldn’t.

Spoiler alert: We were right. Nothing went bad 💜

We decided I would attend the retreat around 11am on Friday, and my ride showed up about three hours later! We got there in time to help unload, set up, and organize the place. We got tables and chairs set up, food put away, rooms assigned for night, etc. And then people started coming and we started crafting.

I sat on the far couch. See my big ole yarn carrier thing? Yup, that was where I parked my behind.

And this weekends schedule speaks for itself!

Remember when I could hardly eat? Man alive. I really enjoyed eating this weekend. Its possible mini eggs were part of my brunch plate.

I got a mountain of work done. More than I ever would’ve gotten done at home. We can talk more about that another day. It was all so last minute, I didn’t have time to acquire the yarn I needed for pending orders, so I just crocheted *gasp* what I WANTED!!! So that was a riot, hahaha! I worked and ate and slept a little, though I forgot my pillow at home, of all things. But I made it work, and had such a nice weekend away.

I was greeted at the end of our driveway by my husband 💜 What an incredible way to come home. The kids followed within the minute of my arrival. It was pretty awesome to be received so warmly.

I LOVED my time away. I felt LOVED while I was away.

I LOVED coming home. I felt LOVED at home.

Thank you, Lord, for this weekend. I feel incredibly fortunate 💜

*

I’ll show you what Brady and the kids were up to tomorrow 🙂

Behold! What you missed this last week!

Ok, I’m pretty sure you saw this already. Maybe? I don’t know. I bought some super cute cotton yarn and made really bright, summery dishcloths. I can’t tell you why I like these colors so much but I just really do.

Dekker looked like a teenager this one morning, so it needed to be captured 💜 Ugh. This kid just keeps growing.

We exchanged our phones this week, as you know 🙂 I didn’t get a picture of the three of us, because Brady was being responsible and we were hanging back a bit. But we had fun 🙂

Also this week, I bought something SUPER exciting at Value Village! Ok, so probably I’m the only one who cares, but this thing is the cats pajamas. Its a yarn winder! I will admit that I did buy one of these for myself brand new last year for my birthday. If I remember right, it was about $60. This one, I paid $3.50 for. It needs a clean up, but its way sturdier than my other one. What a steal!

A while back, one of Brady’s friends, Doug, drove out to show Dekker around his trailer and all his tools. He gave Dekker a bunch of stickers and one of this company hats. It was very cool of him to make such a special effort for Dekker! Turns out, he has been working on getting hats for ALL the kids 💜 They are a total hit, as you can imagine. I’m partial to Waverly’s hat, but who is surprised by that?

Brady and I got to go for a solo walk just the other day 💜 It was nice. When he uses the Batec, we can hold hands! Between having a bunch of young kids and now paraplegia, I’ve really missed holding hands.

We put the Batec through some rigorous testing this last week and I think we’ll try to keep it on the road lol! Brady was able to get through everything by driving with his right hand and pushing his wheel with his left. Thank goodness for his grippy outdoor wheels! We got through, but you’d better believe we took a different way home!

This last picture was worthy of a giggle for me. You know when you try to drink out of, say, a wine glass or champagne flute, and you also have a nose? And it just doesn’t work?? This is the toddler version, hahaha!! Her hat made it next to impossible to steal that last little drop, but she maintained her style while earning that teeny little spec of coffee. She’d say it was worth it.

Thats been our week! Pretty quiet, but in a way we are completely happy with. More rowdy days to come, I’m sure. If the weather can ever sort itself out, hopefully we’ll have grass started sooner than later. Sod? Spray? Seed? Always planning for whats to come…

Today’s Finish Friday is brought to you by this plaid shirt, hahaha!

Cher got this shirt from Cabela’s a while back and I was instantly very jealous, hahaha! I couldn’t put my finger on why, but I LOVED it. Turns out it was half price, and I drove in to Saskatoon the very next day to buy it for myself. Its kind of fallish, but it also isn’t just fallish. It works for anytime. I love the colors so much.

So as I sat and worked on my crochet projects, this shirt just sat in my closet, staring at me. And I do mean it stared at me, because from my side of the bed, I can see into our walk-in closet, and that sucker is right there. Looking at me. Still. Anyway.

I couldn’t shake it. So I had to make it.

Ta-da!!!!

#shakeittilyoumakeit

For the details…

This blanket is pretty square. Its about 5’x5′, with twisted tassels. Its beefy and will be really warm. Maybe not one an adult could wrap around their shoulders, but a good one to sit with on the couch. Also would be a goooood cozy choice for a kid! This one in particular is tied nice and tight, so while there is still stretch and comfort, there are fewer holes and snags.

To me, this blanket is a testament towards unlikely colors going SO beautiful together!! I owned this purple yarn already, but it just sat. It was a more reddish purple than I usually gravitate towards, so I hadn’t reached for it. Navy I always have, because we need some good dark colors that aren’t always black. And that orange. Never would I have bought that orange. I have loved orange in my life, and there is still a place for it. This orange, however, it a little weird and dark. But not like that nice deep dark spicy orange. Its just – weird orange. The label claimed its carrot orange, but I call foul. Definitely 🙅‍♀️ not 🙅‍♀️ carrot 🙅‍♀️ Who would’ve thought these weird colours would go so beautifully together?? Not I! But I am so grateful I had the chance to prove myself wrong.

Sometimes we’re just inexplicably drawn to something. And I am not mad at it!

Happy Friday, friends! 💜

You’ve seen Wavy in her many outfits. I know I’ve shown her style on the blog before. She is terribly cute regardless of her clothing choices, but her personality shines in all kinds of different ways. She loves clothes. And she loves to change her clothes. Aaaaall the livelong day.

That being said, today is pink day.

• 

• 

She is rocking a pink dress, with a pink shirt and a pink hoodie overtop her dress. Also leggings, and her new hat from Greenlee Construction.

Her outfit alone spoke for itself, but then this picture showed up and it was undeniable. We commented on how pink everything was, and she giggled and announced matter-of-factly, “Ya, its pink day.”

So mark it on your calendars, folks! March 31st. Pink Day. Report your participation to Miss Waverly, making of rules.

Did you hear it like “The House that Jack Built?” Because I sure did.

Aaaaanyway, Brady built a bed frame!

My mom commissioned him to build her a simple, sturdy bed frame. The purpose was to hold a single mattress, but to fit a second mattress underneath it. She wants to be able to have people come to stay, but the two single beds set up all the time took up SO much space. So this was a perfect idea for her. Brady was confident he could make it happen, with some style and class too. The legs are super cool and VERY sturdy. To save some time and money, we used an extra set of bed slats from Ikea, so that was also a win!

I’m petitioning for one for us next. We have some mattresses I’d love to move out of our furnace room and into a bedroom, so this would likely solve that issue! Me next!

Today was a day we’ve been waiting for! A day where Brady, my mom, and I can all go in together and get new phones! Our original plan way back was for my mom to inherit one of our phones when we went to get new contracts. But as time has gone on, Brady’s screen got cracked and one of my speakers got crackly. So while the plan changed a little bit in that way, we made the plan to go in together and add my mom to our account! Doesn’t hurt to get a little bit off of all of our bills, right?

Right. All three of us were long out of our contracts, so it was definitely time.

The last time Brady and I had changed our phone plans was last summer. At Kinasao, we have zero wifi options. So we always are using data when we’re on our phones. Which is fine in the way that we don’t need to live on our phones when we’re at the lake 💜 But we also do use them pretty frequently. Brady is active on Insta now, and I blog every day. We need some internet. So last year, we boosted our data plan in an effort to worry less about rolling over our gigs. Telus finally offered unlimited data, with the speeds slowing after 15G. So 15G each of full speed high speed data. We got that plan for only $5-10 more than what we were originally paying.

When we went in today, one of the first things they told us was that our plan didn’t exist anymore. They said we could keep it, but could never tweak it or change it really. For informations sake, we were told the next best plan was another $10 up, and it would give us 45G of worry-free internet EACH. Now that is WAY more than we need, but it was enough to tempt us. Now, I am a firm believer in finding good deals, but knowing the difference between necessary good deals and unnecessary good deals. If you buy a million good deals, you’re still spending too much money, right? Right.

But then they told us, by adding my mom to our account, we all save $10 off our plans.

Meaning this new, WAY better plan, was the same price as the last one.

Sooooo thats how we walked out of there SO set up with amaaazing plans! Our internet at home often sucks, so we spend a good chunk of time with our phones off of our wifi anyway. This way is just so worry-free, and you’d better believe thats something we value a lot in this family!

Brady got the dark blue phone, and my mom and I got the super light pink ones. We all got clear Otterbox cases, screen covers, and fast charger bricks. It was successful, and we are TIRED. Hahahaha! Yikes!

What a great day 💜