Levi

In his first year:

As I was looking through photos and trying to catch up on the blog a bit I made a horrible discovery: I do not have a single photograph of Levi's 4th birthday, on January 19th! How did that happen? I am not only a bad blogger, I am a bad Mommy!

So to make it up to him (just a bit), here is a little tribute to Levi.

Here's Levi, back in Buckley, WA, eating a little mud:

On his third birthday, at the Tacoma Dome for Monster Jam (January 2008):

During our trip to Williamsburg this summer:

And hanging out on the dock this summer:

Checking out the train display at the Union League on New Year's Day:

How is a Mommy supposed to get any spinning done with this going on?

Today, from the back seat of the car, and apropos of nothing, Levi said "Mommy? If I were a pirate, with a wooden foot, and an eye patch, and I found a diamond - I would give it to you."

There is nothing quite like being loved by a little boy.

I love you, too, Levi!

Caution: Spinning Content

I received a WoolLee Winder for Christmas from my sister, and it is such an amazing product. It really speeds up your spinning - and I suppose it will help with consistancy, too, as I get used to it. It feels different than the flyer and bobbin that came with my wheel, and I have had to goof around alot with the Scotch tension to get everything to flow correctly.

The WoolLee Winder came with 2 bobbins, and I ordered a third so I would be able to do a two-ply without having to use the old flyer & bobbins at all. I will probably order at least one more, so I can do a three-ply or a cabled yarn.

So I spun 2 bobbins full of superwash merino singles, but when I started setting up to ply them onto my third bobbin, I discovered that these new bobbins don't fit on my lazy Kate! They are bigger than the Ashford double-drive bobbins - and hold a lot more fiber - but it's a bit of a problem. So I Googled "homemade lazy kate" and in a few seconds, had several good ideas about how to make a quick, tensioned kate. And a few minutes after that, I had this:

A shoebox, a pair of 14" aluminum knitting needles, and a piece of string, and you have a perfectly usable tensioned lazy kate. I love the internet.

And a little while later, I had this:

I am planning on using this for some more of those kool-aid dyed fingerless gloves - I haven't swatched yet, but I think this will look pretty nice.

And, by the way, what ever happened to that last bit of spinning you showed us several weeks (or was it months?) ago?

I was trying to make a 3-ply sock weight yarn. My 3-ply came out more like worsted- or even heavy worsted-weight. Ah well, I guess I just need more practice, right? It's still a nice yarn, it will be good for something. Maybe some really THICK socks.

We had some cold weather here a while ago...

I am playing catch-up here a little bit. Here are a few photos we took on January 18th - a cold and snowy (sort of) day. We walked over to Nini and Poppy's dock to check out the frozen creek. We kept Beale on a leash for fear that he would go on the ice and fall through. Lucy we left on her own and she skittered around on the ice like a crazed thing. She really loves the cold weather!

And here's a little video sample of the craziness:

As Promised...

The monster truck show.

For those of us who have been to a proper Monster Jam program at a nice-sized venue like the Tacoma Dome, this might have been a bit of a disappointment. The arena (the Wicomico Civic Center) is really small for monster trucks. The races took a fraction of a second as the trucks jumped from one end of the floor to the other, and quickly slammed on their brakes. Add to that a little disorganization on our part - Steve and I completely neglected to bring any cash with us, and the t-shirts were cash-only! AND the tickets we had (contrary to what the website said) did not include the "pit party", so we were not able to get close to the trucks. The boys handled all of that really well, and seemed to enjoy the show - especially....

Transaurus!

More later - ttfn!