Sparklers and skeins

Number two son had his birthday - fourteen!!! Very grown up. He went into town with some friends for ice cream and karaoke, which is a thing they enjoy apparently. OK, fine by me, especially since no parents are required other than for transport.



He wanted a pavlova for a birthday cake, which my husband made. It might be the first pavlova he's ever made - I don't think I've ever made one. We have always had people in our lives whose speciality dish is the pavlova (it's easy to make but difficult to get perfect) so we have not had to brave the pavlova waters. It was absolutely delicious, with cream, raspberries and passionfruit on top. And a special souvenir from Berlin - number sparklers! They were a bit broken in transit and funny looking so my husband worried that they wouldn't work, but he needn't have ...

They were very spectacular and sprayed little burnt bits all over the pav. Which didn't hurt the taste at all. Speaking of gifts from Berlin, I got some lovely Frida Fuchs hand dyed merino. I should have taken a before photo because they always look so pretty wound in a hank, but I forgot until I was halfway through winding it into balls.

You don't get a good idea of the colour from this photo but it's a lovely warm reddish purple. He also got me a lighter red so I'm going to use them together. This is my yarn swift and ball winder which was a Christmas present the year before last and which I've never used until now. I was a bit intimidated by all the moving parts but it's actually a very simple piece of kit when you get it together, and so handy!!! I made my hanks into balls like a pro ... well, the last ones were like a pro. The early ones were a bit dodgy.