Jobo Designs

Being off work is taking some getting used to?. 

The first weird thing? is that I?m actually ?done? done with that job, and when I return to work after the baby, I actually will be going back to the Hospital where I worked previously.  So not only am I finished of work and going to be home for an entire month before the baby gets here? I?m actually feeling a bit of a loss from knowing that things are just ?over?.  It will be fine to be back working at the hospital I?m sure, but at the same time it kind of feels like a chapter is ending.  It?s a bit strange to be so nostalgic about the whole thing really.

The other weird thing is the complete lack of a routine I have going on.  I try to get up reasonably early in the morning, but with no specific place to be at any specific time, I?m finding it a challenge to feel accomplished or organized in any way.  I?ve been doing some knitting, trying to take some naps, get some errands run, and even doing some baking (see Cinnamon Buns below? oh so yuimmy!) and still haven?t found my pace completely yet. 

Here?s hoping things get a little more comfortable soon :)  On the positive side ? the little beastie is growing and progressing just as planned.  In fact s/he is kicking mommy in ribs as I type this!

I made a pair of hand-dyed, hand-spun and hand-knit Fiddlehead mittens last year . It was an epic project, and every step was done by hand.  I love the results (which you can see here)  but when someone asked if I could make another pair, I didn’t really feel up to the challenge of doing it all the hard way again.  Don’t get me wrong - the first pair was a complete joy, it’s just that if I go through all of those steps to make another pair of mittens, I’ll likely want to be creating something more unique in the end.  I don’t tend to make the same thing more than once.

So, then the hunt began for some suitable yarn.  I could do as the pattern says, and just buy the 6 different colors and this would have been fine also, but I would have enough yarn to make like 4 more pairs (if the second pair is an unwelcome thought, believe me, the 3rd and 4th pairs would simply not get done) and there really isn’t any point in that. 

Then it occurred to me that I could get a color changing / color gradient yarn and use it for the contrast strand instead of all of the different solids!  I knew I wouldn’t really want to use something like Noro (both for the price, and the unpredictability of color sequencing) but there are a lot of different options out there now.  I can’t remember the name of the one I saw at Michael's but I believe it was mostly acrylic, so I didn’t bother looking any harder at it for this project.  I bet it would work lovely too (I think it was Impeccable, something like that).  The next yarn I saw that fit the bill was the new Knit Picks Chroma Worsted.  From the catalog, it looked like there were repeating colors in the ball, and there was also a white or chocolate brown option for the solid to match.  I figured this was a perfect chance to try it out, so I ordered a ball of the cream/natural and a contrasting ball with a variety of greens/blues/purples called “pool party”

So far things seem to be working out quite well.  I like the texture and softness of the yarn (though I don’t think it’s really all that rough and tumble it’s a barely together single really) and the way the gradient is running through the design.  The colors are different enough for the nice swirl pattern to still stand out.  I’ll be interested to see how the lighter green holds up in contrast to the white in the end. 

I’ve made it up past the thumb on the first mitten, and plan on finishing the pair for sure.  I am really enjoying doing colorwork on a pair of long circulars too no gaps in between DPNS, and no fussing with the beginning and ends of rows.  I still very much like working with DPNS, but circulars certainly have their advantages too! 

As the mitten progresses, I’ll post again!  I think these are going to look great in the end!

I think summertime is finally arriving here on PEI... with flowers blooming, the garden growing, and even a few warm sunny days too!  My garden is picking up finally... we ate freshly harvested spinach last night, and the lettuce won't be too far behind.  I can't wait for the yellow beans, tomatoes, herbs, and other plants to catch up though.  I'm still knitting a bit, but photography is a challenge since all I have is my iPhone to snap pictures with.  I've almost finished the baby hat I started earlier in the week, and my Purse-socks are almost done too... I'll have to be coming up with something new to work on soon :)  Maybe over the weekend.

Lupins in the ditch on the way home...

Blue Skies and Red Fields... in Cherry Valley.  Love the wispy clouds!