The pianist.

Eli's first piano recital was on Sunday. He was so nervous! He was quiet. VERY quiet. If you know Eli at all, you know that "quiet" is rarely used to describe him. At one point he even said he felt sick and, to be quite honest, he was definitely looking a little green around the gills, but he did it and he was great! I was very proud of him....

Here is a picture before we left for the concert, looking quite handsome in his shirt and tie.



Here he is, just prior to going on, looking less than impressed.




And the video of his performance



Chey couldn't be left out. After he was all done and the applause died down, Chey said "Wow! That was GREAT!"..... and she wasn't quiet about it either.....the entire audience burst out laughing (there were over 100 people there) it was the only noise she made through the whole concert......

My best spinning yet!

I had about 50g of the purple merino left from my 6ply never-ending-spinning-project that I decided I would use to attempt to spin bigger. I've discovered (remember, I'm new and apparently not that bright) that spinning bigger also means spinning faster (by which I mean, completing the actual "yarn," and not the speed of the wheel) which does make sense...... IF I had actually thought about it (I hadn't). Much in the way that knitting Aran or Bulky knits much faster than knitting lace, spinning a 2ply DK spins WAY faster than spinning a 6ply fingering/sport (about 3hrs vs. probably 30hrs)...... and I'm pretty happy with the result. It's very squishy and soft and about 11-12 WPI (I measured before I set the twist, so It might be a true 11 WPI now). It's also pretty consistent with only a few thinner/thicker spots..... and I got about 132m and 48g. I also switched my wheel from a double drive to scotch tension, I'm not sure if that made a difference or not.......



Oh... and here is a cute pictures of Chey helping me plant the garden...... Summertime is here at last!

A day of sadness...

Today is the anniversary of my step-brother's death on Mount McKinley in Alaska (also known as Denali). He was 25 yrs (turning 26 in July) old when he died during a climbing accident on his descent from the top of Mount McKinley. Dan and I were never really close. I think it was mostly because we were both old enough to be really aware and unhappy about the circumstances of our blended family. I was 8 or 9 and he was a year older when our parents married and we resented each other almost from the start. We spent our "formative years" together, but when our parent's divorced when we were teenagers we never really spoke again (I am still close to his sister, however, and speak to her often). Even though our relationship was not close, I still think of him around this time of year and I still consider him to be my brother. No matter what, the shared experiences of our youth bound us together as family, blood or not.

Rest in peace my brother......

Could it be?

That spring might actually be here?? Finally?? This winter has been the longest and coldest I can remember in a long time. We actually had freezing temperatures for a few days last week!! In May! At least now, when I look out my window, I see leaves on the trees. They're not quite all the way out, but hopefully, there is no turning back. I just hope that we have a decent summer. Last summer was bad, we only visited our little lake a few times in August and I want to spend a LOT more time there this summer!

Today I plan to get the rest of my flower beds done, along with my planters and hanging baskets. I normally do 4 large planters, 3 smaller planters and 2-3 hanging baskets. 2 of the large ones are done (I risked their death in the freezing weather, but they seem to have survived), so I'll be mostly buying for the other planters.

I am also starting to plan summer activities. Summer camps, camping and a visit to Vancouver Island are all in the works and this summer will be a first for me and for Eli. He is going to spend around 2 weeks with his Opa and Carey on their boat. I'm really excited for him! I think he's going to have a total blast! This will also be the first time Chey can go into Day Camps (well, 1/2 days at her age), so I'm looking forward to that as well.

I've been in a bit of a knitting "blech" lately. I finished a couple of projects and then couldn't really think of anything I wanted to knit. I actually went nearly a whole week without knitting (much, I did work on my sock club socks a bit)! I seem to have gotten over it though and am working on the Whisper Cardigan from Interweave Knits spring issue. I'm using a lovely wool/silk blend lace yarn from Zen Yarn Gardens in a colourway called "Shimmer". It's a silvery colour, perfect for summer. I also joined the Fiber Club through this website and received my first club fiber this week. It's a really pretty blend of browns and red, 100% Superwash Merino. I plan to start spinning it soon.

I finished my latest spinning project. I had originally thought I would get a sport weight or DK out of a 3ply, but I, apparently, spin pretty thin... A 3 ply worked out to about 18WPI (lace weight), so I cabled the 2 of the 3ply together and got a Sport weight/DK weight out of that. It turned out VERY soft, but is definitely under-plied or something because it's pretty wavy. I got about 400m of it though and gave it to my sister who came to visit last week. I plan to use the little bit of Roving left from this (I thought I spun it all, but found about 50g in a different location) to practice spinning thicker singles. I'd really like to be able to do a 3 ply Sport/DK for the Fiber Club Fiber



That's about it for me right now.... I'll try to post more, but the weather really gets me feeling grumpy and I don't feel like doing much of anything.... here's hoping for better weather!