Fiesta!

For Addison's 7th birthday last week, he requested we get a pinata. In Holland. They barely know what a burrito is here. Good luck finding a pinata!

So, what does a good mother do? Find a tutorial online for making one from scratch. It was really fun, actually, and Addison helped out. None of the kids at the birthday party had ever done a pinata before, so it was really nice.

Here's the birthday boy himself holding the goods.




And here it is after a good twenty whacks with a stick.


So, next time you are thinking of having a fiesta and you don't live anywhere near Mexico, just make your own. It can be done. Thankfully, we do have Corona here...

Adios!
Malia

Woah there springtime!

Yes, I have neglected the blog in favor of the wonderful spring air. Thanks to the chiding of my friend, and consistent blogger, Andy, I have returned.

This spring I have spent my time getting better at spinning, designing new patterns and/or helping to test new designs, and, to a lesser extent, knitting for pleasure. Here are some of my new exploits.

This, friends, is my first 3-ply handspun yarn. I worked 3 separate, very thin singles and then plied them together. Why not navajo 3-ply you ask? Because I completely suck at it at this point, that's why. Yes, I will eventually get back at it and give it a go, but for the time being, I am having plenty of success doing it this way.



Now then, a few posts ago, I was all jazzed that I found an old schippertje at the tweedehands winkel. This is my baby, and she has been named Gunpowder Gertie after a famous female pirate. After I found the schippertje, Dagmar found (within her totally fiber-obsessed family) a lovely Louet wheel that she has been spinning with. Well, just after that all transpired, I found this girl sitting out in the trash area a block from my house:

In our spinning-wheel naming session, this girl was dubbed Sadie the Goat after another female pirate. She's missing the foot pedal and the flywheel, but I am hopeful that I can maybe find a Louet flywheel that will fit her and get her all up and running.

As for Dagmar's wheel, we named her Clementine. Not sure if that's a pirate name or not, it's just rad. Don't you agree?

I have also been helping Dagmar to develop the pattern for this darling little baby hat. Look out for it on Ravelry soon. It's cute and easy!

So, that just about catches us all up. Except to say that I am now totally in love with this song. It is by an artist named Chad Van Gaalen. I haven't been able to find any others of the artist's that I am so head over heels about, which is a shame. I can't stop listening to this song.

Craft On!
Malia