The Sweatshop of Love Blog

When you work for yourself you miss out on a lot of internet things that everyone else in the whole world knows about. I don’t have to look busy sitting in front of a computer like I would if I were working a desk job somewhere. Funny viral youtube videos? I’ve probably never seen it. Words With Friends might as well be Greek. Computer game featuring birds being shot into things for points? Yeah. No idea.

Angry Birds!

PT, on the other hand, went through a phase a few months ago where he played Angry Birds like 8 hours a day. I’ve been joking about buying him tshirts every time we pass a store full of Angry Birds merchandise ever sense. So naturally for his birthday yesterday he got a set of three of these little guys.

Cardinal Angry Bird

I found a collection of Angry Bird amigurumi patterns by Deborah Hutchinson, who has cornered the Angry Bird crochet pattern market. Just this week she added four more Angry Bird patterns! Sadly, a week late, since I cooked these up when only her first three patterns were avaliable, including the above Angry Cardinal.

Blue Angry Bird

Angry Blue Bird here, which looks more like a sad blue bird. I think it’s sad because it gets flung at walls. I’d be sad, too, Blue Bird.

Angry... Pig?

And last but not least, an Angry Pig. I don’t get it. I’m like my grandma talking about Angry Birds!

I got up in the middle of the night to hide Angry Birds around the house for PT to find on his birthday. It was pretty cute. Happy birthday, PT!

Pattern: Deborah Hutchinson’s Cardinal, Blue Bird, and Pig

Yarn: Random scraps, mostly Vanna’s Choice

Hook: Size G

Ravelry Project Pages: Cardinal, Blue Bird, Pig

My mom got me the Knit Picks Blocking Mats for my birthday a few weeks ago! I had my eye on these for years, and have been using towels laying all over my house to block on since I started knitting.

My Stack of New Blocking Mats

One of the main reasons I wanted to get these mats is because I thought they’d attract my cats less than towels always do. I swear my cats lay in wait for me to block things because they are only truly happy when they are sleeping on wet towels.

Velma Scoping it Out

Velma, the smart one, was the first to check it out. She took a few minutes to sniff around, but lost interest quickly.

Pudge Testing the Water

Pudge really wanted to make this work! She is usually the one sleeping on the wet sweaters the most, so once Velma walked away she was all over it.

Pudge Giving Up!

But it just wasn’t the same! She walked around the sweater and the blocking mats for another few minutes, but ended up leaving, too. It was fantastic! No yarn pulls, no messed up sweater, no wet cat hair! And the sweater dried overnight, and even though it’s cotton, the sweater is worsted cotton! Overnight drying is still pretty damn good.

So I’m in love with my blocking mats! Thanks mom!

… and y’all can just go ahead and ignore that sweater drying on that mat. There is nothing to see here.

One of my favorite things about being back in Minneapolis for the winter is that all of my cooking materials are up here. I’m back with my pots and pans, my crock pot and gigantic stock pot, my emulsion blender, my bread maker! We are all back together again, and I’ve been cooking up a storm.

Bagel Sponge!

Making my own bagels has been on my list for a long time, and after visiting my friend Katie the other week right after she made her own bagels, I was re-inspired.

Bagels Boiling!

I found this recipe on pinterest and, without reading it, started working. And, JUST LIKE WHEN YOU DON’T READ AHEAD IN A KNITTING PATTERN, after I was about 8 minutes into kneading for 30 minutes, I glanced at the recipe and noticed it was divided into two parts: day one and day two.

Soysage, Egg, and Cheese Bagel Sandwich!

The bagels turned out great. A little dense, but very good. I’ll be making more soon, since PT and I are eating like 4 a day. I’m sure as hell trying a different recipe, though! A one day recipe.

Gratuitous Cute Pudge Rodriguez Pic

A couple other fun things to mention! I was included in Lisa Shroyer’s 8 Designers to Watch in 2012 list, which blows my mind. But, let’s be honest, it’s completely true. With Holla Knits launching in a couple months, my work with WORK+SHELTER and a trip to India scheduled, and the (secret) promise of a book, 2012 is going to be my bitch.

I was also included in this week’s Best of the Web collection on Pocketchange!

Slippers off and I’m back in the kitchen! This barefoot only rule is killing me, though. It’s cold up here!

I couldn’t be more excited to show you the pattern I’ve got in the new Knitscene Magazine!

Tulip Slouch - Knitscene Spring 2012

This is the hat that was suppose to be a top. When I submitted this duplicate stitch tulip motif it was sideways across the top of a slouchy, short sleeved tunic. Lisa Shroyer, the editor of Knitscene, emailed me saying she liked the tulips but didn’t love the top, and wondered if I saw the motif on a different project. We emailed back and forth a few sketches of a possible clutch and hat ideas before Lisa gave the ok for this slouch.

Tulip Slouch from the Back

I was so excited to see these pictures when the issue preview was released last week. I really love this hat. It’s so fun and bright, and the tulips give a little shout out to my Dutch heritage! And duplicate stitch is something that I hope gains some popularity. As a girl who love embroidery but hats intarsia, I end up duplicate stitching all my color work.

Me in my Tulip Slouch!

I took some pictures of my sample before mailing it off to Knitscene last August. My knitting this sample was a little frantic because I was in Minneapolis at the time, and the yarn got mailed to Chicago. By the time I got the yarn I had like 10 days to knit the hat, and I messed up the first sample beyond repair, so I had to start over. Needless to say, I didn’t duplicate stitch for a while after that!

Tulips Down One Side...

The body of the hat is knit in one piece, and tulips are duplicate stitched like they are growing from the bottom to the top. When you are wearing it, you can see the tulips wrap around your head, shown going down one side…

... And Up the Other!

… and up the other. It’s CUTE y’all!

I used Knit Picks Gloss Fingering in a whole mess of colors. This would be a great hat to knit if you had a bunch of sock yarn scraps laying around. You’d just pick your neutral main color and duplicate stitch with your scraps! It’d be beautiful in any combination of colors.

I’ve been floored by the attention this hat has been getting! This issue is a total knockout, FULL of really beautiful designs by knitters I love, and somehow my design keeps getting mentioned as a standout, even getting a shout out on the Knitting Daily email yesterday.

But like I said. It is the hat that was suppose to be a top. Shows what I know!

Our Knit Alongs are getting pretty popular! Thank god, because it gives me an excuse to keep doing them. We’ve knit some beautiful sweaters together! The Beatnik and my Two Boyfriends Cardigan, Make Up Your Mind and The Loop Entrelac Tank, and we just finished our Aidez cardigans, so we’ve got a lot to live up to!

Last fall we held a vote for our next KAL sweater. Aidez BARELY beat out Delancey, so I figured let’s do it! Delancey Cardigan it is!

Delancey Cardigan by Alexis Winslow

And I’ve loved this sweater since I saw it over a year ago, and since I’m the boss what I say goes. Something tells me you are all pretty pumped, too.

More good news? Alexis Winslow, the super talented designer behind this pattern, has been kind enough to offer KALers a couple coupon codes! When you purchase the Delancey Cardigan pattern on ravelry, use coupon code DELANCEY50 for 50% off the pattern price.

OR, if you’ve got your eye on the Delancey Cardigan and another of Alexis’s patterns, use coupon code DELANCEYBOGO to get them buy one, get one free. These coupon codes are good until the KAL kicks off on February 6th.

CUTE Cardi!

Fun, right? I can’t wait to get started!

If you are not on my KAL mailing list, shoot me an email at allyson@thesweatshopoflove.com to get weekly updates in your inbox every Monday morning.

The Delancey Cardigan is part of the Knit Picks Independent Designer Program, so Knit Picks makes it really easy to pick out the yarn for this sweater. Use the kit builder to chose your size, then chose between Capra, Swish DK, and City Tweed DK right on that page. Any DK weight will work for Delancey, of course, so feel free to substitute at will.

Knit Picks Swish DK

I’m going a little crazy with my colors! I’ve picked Knit Picks Swish DK in Gulfstream as my main color. I wanted a bright yellow as my contrasting color, but since the yellow Swish DKs were sold out and unavailable for months, I slipped over to Brava Sport and scooped up their Canary!

Brava Sport

Sweet, right? Take a peek at the finished projects on ravelry for color ideas. This sweater looks awesome in such a wide verity of color combinations, so don’t be afraid to pump it up.

Our Winter KAL kicks off in three weeks! We’re casting on Monday, February 6th, so get your yarn ordered, gauge up, and get ready to knit up this beautiful cardigan!

And a huge thank you to Alexis for offering her pattern as a discount for us. Be sure to say hi to her at her blog and on twitter!