Jo Jo done, ballgame

First, the finishing! Got Jo Jo all put together, and washed it a bunch more (maybe too much! It got a wee bit stretched out) and wore it! I think it's okay, but I definitely need to work on fit. The straps are too long (even after I frogged back and shortened them before blocking) and the body is a little loose. Funny thing about cotton/silk. No give while you're working with it, but the fabric sure stretches when you wear it. Hmm. Still love the color, and still love the cables. Not sure this was worth the price tag if you just go by the finished product, but I enjoyed working on it. Not too bad for a learning project, I suppose. Maybe it'll grow on me. It has potential for over a top, under a jacket wear. Definitely can't be on its own.

Specs:

• Yarn: Rowan's Summer Tweed: Smoulder
• Pattern: Rowan's JoJo
• Needles: US size 8
• Modifications: yarn substitution, some short row shaping for the bust, adjustments to length & width given that the pattern didn't come in my size.

Next on the needles, one of those felted bags. Oh, and I made two little rice packs for boo-boos, and sewed one more circle for my circle quilt. Been busy!

In other news, this weekend Max went to his first Mariner's game. Here he is with Dad.

Max enjoyed the hot dogs, red vines, fries, and cotton candy (my oh my!) and covered his ears whenever people cheered a hit or run. His favorite part might have been watching the trains in the train yard on the way there & back though. We'll work on the game comprehension too - not sure he understood anything that was going on. Ah well, fun for all!

Jo Jo is Blocking

I'm so excited! Jo Jo is finally blocking. I was knitting so quickly when I started, and then I slowed way down, so this took 5 hours to knit 1/3 of the front and a month and a half to knit the rest. Ah well, life gets in the way of the knitting sometimes. Here's Jo Jo blocking with a little help from Max.


And here's a closeup of the cables. This yarn (Rowan Summer Tweed) is fun, and I didn't have trouble working with it, although as others have reported it really doesn't have much give and definitely is full of straw and other vegetable matter. I fell in love the over-saturated color, but after doing the swatch I knew I'd better wash it out well before attempting to wear anything knitted with it. I put the knitted piece into the sink to wash and the water turned majenta! I think I rinsed it about a dozen times, and finally got down to a very pale rose color. Since I'm planning to wear this with a white shirt underneath, I think it was worth the trouble.

And just an aside - Max loves his PJs so much lately that that's all he'll wear. I can talk him into adding overalls, socks, and boots when we go outside, but inside, it's all PJs all the time. Here he is mid-morning today in the dino-jams that cousins Ethan & Fiona sent when Max had his tonsils and adenoids out.

Progress on Jo Jo, and it's Mr. Bunny!

It's amazing what a 4.5 hour drive will do for your knitting. Jo Jo's almost half a top now. I got bored working on the straps, so I've postponed finishing the front in favor of starting the back. Maybe I can do all four at the same time and have them come out the same length. Who knows?

In other news, Max had a swell time dyeing Easter eggs. He insisted on playing Easter bunny and hiding them in the living room for Colin and I to find. Here's the bunny prep time...

Are you ready? Yep, all set!

Of course, then he came down with croup that night and couldn't do the actual Easter egg hunt at the neighborhood park on Sunday. Good thing he jumped the gun and hosted his own mini-hunt on Saturday.