The Sweatshop of Love Blog

This is my third burrito of the week.

My Lover

Do I have a problem? I chop up some onion and throw it in a pan with some oil. I chop up tomatoes and cabbage and mash up some avocado while that is cooking, then add my pinto beans and some rice to the onions with some taco seasoning. When that is cooked I warm up my burrito wrap, then I dump the beans and rice, tomato, avocado, and cabbage on it, wrap it up, and eat it. Today it was the perfect accompionment to the West Virginia game I’m now watching. Not that I care.

Almost Done!

I’m going to finish up my sock today. I’m working on the top ribbing. I was driving everyone insane last night at Sweater Club because I wouldn’t stop talking about this sock. And my love of entrelac. I love it! I will shout it from the rooftops. I want to buy a car just so I can get a bumper sticker made that says ‘I Would Rather be Entralacing’.

Behold!

Before/After

I had to wind something, so I wound one of the skeins of sock yarn I got to bring my order up to $50 to qualify for free shipping.

It.

Was.

Awesome.

I winded the shit out of it.

However I will still need a friend to hold a hank if I want to wind yarn that isn’t in a skein. My mom’s hot tip is to put the hank around your feet and wind it from there. Then your feet is your friend. Are your friend? Gah.

Saturday is the kick off of a new program I’m starting, monthly workshop classes! This Saturday’s workshop is Knitting with Beads, something that is kind of tricky. Like anything with knitting, and I say this all the time I know, it looks trickier than it actually is.

I’m working out the patterns today, actually putting them down on paper, and I’m teaching myself how to knit with wire.

Wire+Beads=Bracelet!

I’m happy to report that knitting with wire is much easier than it looks. I knit this puppy up in no time.

See? Not a Liar

I started it to be funny, but I actually kind of like it! The beads are ridiculous and of course I got the ugliest gold wire, but somewhere in my head it is cute and wearable. I go to do something else and think about the bracelet, convincing myself it is actually really ugly, then come back to it, pick it up, and re-decide it is cute. We are making them Sunday.

In class we will start with bead knitting with yarn. We have three hours so we will be able to cover everything. Interested? There is still room! This class is $40, including the beads and wire, and it is Saturday from 1-4pm.

This afternoon I have also been working on my new side job of assistant editor-like person for Grocer Gram Quarterly. I’m not kidding. I’m writing blurbs related to food products, like this:

The Quaker Oats Company to Focus on Whole-Grain Oats

For the first time in its 130-plus year history, The Quaker Oats Company will campaign for all its products at once, focusing on the whole-grain oats in its most popular products. “This repositioning helps us elevate and communicate the power of this surprising super grain – the oat – to meet the needs of the growing number of health conscious consumers,” said Mark Schiller, president of Quaker Oats. Quaker is pushing whole grain oats as the ‘super grain’, a key ingredient in the health and wellness of everyone. The ‘Go humans go’ campaign is encouraging Quaker customers to use the super grain to power their bodies and minds so they can live life to the fullest. In the ads the iconic ‘Quaker Man’ offers an encouraging smile to all people using Quaker whole grains to fuel their activities. In addition to boosting sales, Quaker hopes to raise money to help fight childhood hunger with its Quaker Go Project that encourages people to use the energy from Quaker whole-grain oats to fuel forward Through donations, grants, and volunteerism.

I wrote that and it is going in Grocer Gram Quarterly. My life is weird.

It was sunny and beautiful all weekend, and yesterday, (and today) and that resulted in not a lot of progress with any knitting.In Sunday’s Sweater Club I pulled out the sweater dress after retiring that basically the entire week to work on the socks. I’m working the under arm part, still in moss stitch, for three inches before I start ribbing for the skirt. It isn’t boring as much as I would just rather be entrelacing!

I'm in Love

Isn’t it cute? I love doing it! I wake up early and knit a few rounds while watching The Today Show before work. And see my open window! It is getting chilly, I’m just sitting here with a tank top on but I’m being stubborn. My feet are blistered from all the walking I did today. My legs are sore from all the biking! I’m happy. Chicago and I are working on our relationship. We broke up hard core in January and it is going to take more than a random 72 degree March day to get me back, but he is moving in the right direction.

Sea Food Crazy

It helps that I cracked out the pasta maker this weekend again and we cooked up an excellent sea food pasta dinner. PT was thinking shrimp, but we saw this random bag of, like, octopus, muscles, shrimp, and imitation crab for $4 so we grabbed it. We threw it in the pot with onion, red pepper, broccoli, garlic and tomato sauce and out came a very delicious dinner!

Speaking of dinner, I should get on that. After my afternoon Shamrock Shake (oh yes, McDonald’s and I hung out for a bit this afternoon for the first time in years) my tummy is a little uneasy. It did sound like a great idea at the time, though.

Seriously? Seriously, Interweave? Seriously with the wraps and turns and all that counting? You expect people to be all super pumped about knitting this entrelac sock with this wrap and turn bullshit?

It Is Cute Though

And please take note of my princesses kleenex box.

The problem is that when you knit a sock from the toe up you have to wrap and turn like a crazy person for the heel. You all know how I feel about wrap and turns. And you all know how I feel about the rib down sock heel! I love it so much. But this toe up sock makes so much sense, especially if you have nice sock yarn, you just rib until you run out of the ball, instead of trying to guess and ending up needing the toe to be a different color. Which I kind of like.

God I’m a sock neurotic. Who knew?

Is there any way to knit a toe up sock with a short row instead of wrap and turn heel? I was trying to work it out with I was wrapping and turning and wrapping and turning but I couldn’t. I can’t!

Tara Made Me

I bought this yesterday. One for me and one for Tara. I figure I can get people to come to a class to wind their yarn, right? It is like a business expense. And it is cute.

And I was watering my seeds this morning and I have somem catnip and a lot of camomile! My mints and flowers have nothing going on, and my avocado pit is still very dormant. But it is supposed to be 50 degrees this weekend so that has to help! Even if they are inside.

Back to my heel. I want to finish that bitch before dinner.