Jobo Designs

I finally have enough yarn spun to make the hat... I think!  Things have been crazy around our house the last few weeks with a friend's wedding, and a few unforeseen events ("Earl" and some impromptu home renos) and I was feeling like I really wasn't making enough progress on my commissioned projects.

<-- this is my latest skein... 50/50 Alaskan Malamute / Merino - approximately 125 yds somewhere between Sport and Worsted weight traditional 3-ply.

Samiah's owner and I had decided a few weeks ago on a slightly lacy texture for our hat/mitts/cowl set - using a common diagonal lace pattern as the cornerstone.  I found a few patterns that fit the description, but I will have to adapt them all in some way I think to make it all come together.  The cowl and hat are fairly straightforward, but I think the mittens will require the most tweaking of the bunch.

Either way, it feels good to be making a little progress.  After the skein was washed and hung to dry, I got my workstation ready:  Subject measurements, measuring tape, various sized needles, pattern examples, chocolate bar... and when the yarn was dry and skeined, I set out on the hat. 

More hat pictures later in the week :)  I've finished the cuff, and I'm already about 3 inches up into the main body of the hat!

Now that the moving and unpacking is finally under control? I am starting to get back to my usual yarny diversions :)

I have been working on a cowl (Alexstraza - by Robbyn Kenyon) and I just have to tie in the ends and manage some decent photographs! 

I enjoyed this simple project, and was more pleased with the results than I'd have imagined.  I only had a little bit of this yarn, which was my first real useable spindle spun yarn from several years ago. 

The fiber was a merino silk blend sliver from Fleece Artist that I chose from a bin simply on feel and color alone - I had no idea that silk was slippery and challenging! 

So I wanted to use the yarn for something practical, and since I didn't have enough for mittens or anything larger than a hat, a cowl seemed like a reasonable compromise. 

Robbyn's cowl was written as a flat-knit and then seamed at the end, but I decided to do the knitting in the round and forego the sewing part.  There were no charts, only written out rows, but after a repeat or two I had no trouble following along. 

I was a little concerned in the beginning that my yarn would be too *busy* for the dragon-scale lace, but the pattern still shows up reasonably well and makes the stripes in the yarn look like ripples.

Now I just need to do some blocking? the silk already feels nice around the neck, but I think a little soak and pinning will give this a more polished feel.

Ruttiger is also enjoying the sunny summer weather.  He finds things a little hot from time to time, so we try and cool him of by keeping some ceramic tiles and waterbottles in the freezer.  He has been having fun nosing the frozen bottles around his cage, and welcomes a relaxing bunny-flop on a cool tile. 

Here he is just Chillin' Out!

He also loves fresh summer fruit? especially Pineapple!