Monday, February 22, 2010

PJ's Birthday

PJ decided she wanted a girls party this year for her birthday.


The idea of a girl party worked out really well, as SeaBass and Paul were away for a hockey tournament.



There is a new kids hair salon in town and one of the things they offer is glamour girl birthday parties. I checked into it and it sounded perfect. PJ invited six friends and they all had a blast.




At the salon they have a glamour room where the girls get to pick out a fun outfit to wear, get their hair, nails, and makeup done and then have a fashion show.



The place even provided juice, pizza and a gift for every girl invited. PJ got to pick out a necklace for each of her guests. All I needed to do was bring the cake. It was very cool and very organized.



PJ said it was one of the best days ever. You can see Q in the pictures. He was very good natured about being the only boy there, he brought some art stuff and his DS so he would have something to do. It turned out they had a couple of costumes for him to pick from and he played a bit with the girls.



Everyone had a wonderful time and I would do it again if PJ wants to next year.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PJ! I just can't believe how fast they are growing up.

Sunday, February 07, 2010

Fit to be Plied

I finished spinning this wool a long time ago, it is superwash merino that I bought online. I wanted to Navajo ply it, but did not know how so it is sat around on the p
spindles forever. I was feeling brave this weekend and looked up how to Navajo ply in book. Which only confused me.

I am a tactile learner and really need to touch things to get it my head so reading about a new technique does not work well for me. I decided to go online and Google some how to video. I watched two people do it on You Tube and then decided to give it a go myself. I ended up with this as a result:



I really felt like I was I ruining a decently spun fiber. I felt a bit frustrated and could not get any rhythm with my hands and my treadle speed. Not good. I went back online and looked at one more video. I noticed that in all three videos the spinners all held the single in a different way, they all did it a little differently. Of course, look at ten knitters and see ten different ways to hold your yarn, to hold your needles...why would a spinning technique be any different.

I went back to the wheel and played a bit more and ended up with this:



Way happier with it, I only wish I was paying more attention to where the end of my single was, I would have attached the next spindle of single ply and kept on going. I am going to try to do some more today.

This is the first time I have plied with the Wooly Winder, I have to say I have no idea how I managed to ply with out it. Totally rocks, no need to stop and move your yarn from hook to hook.