The Sweatshop of Love Blog

What do you do with 70 sunny degrees and a Friday afternoon? PT and I thought Lincoln Park Zoo, and were not alone. There were maybe 4 children per person running around screaming, all holding bags of Doritos. We had no children and no Doritos, so we were feeling very left out.

Alpacas

PT and I like to joke about how some day in the future we will be farmers. We went around the zoo collecting animals for our imaginary farm. I, of course, grabbed these two pretty Alpacas. They will be not only good for yarn making, of course, but appear good for snuggling.

Flamingos

I also want Flamingos, which will serve no practical purpose, I just want them.

Very Loud Tiger

This tiger was so loud! I kept trying to make jokes about how it was hungry for some mariners, but it never worked out. He isn’t coming to the farm.

Happy, Despite Lack of Doritos

We both hadn’t been to Lincoln Park Zoo in a couple years and had a great time! We spent the whole afternoon outside, and were so happy to be able to do it.

Shrimp Pasta

We came home and made the most amazing shrimp pasta! We sauteed up some garlic in oil and butter, added the sun dried tomatoes, shrimp and broccoli and tossed all that with the whole wheat pasta and parmesan cheese. Out of control! SO good.

Saturday PT and I spent the whole day outside, walking around to local businesses and leaving Sweatshop flyers before lunching at Handlebar, one of our favorite restaurants. We ran home, made some kebabs and plantains, and biked over to a friend’s house for a bbq.

Grilled Plantains

These turned out so great! I just made a foil pouch, sliced up a couple plantains, threw in a couple globs of butter, sprinkled some salt and pepper and they turned out so well! Soft and sweet and charred in some spots. I’m going to have to buy some and bring them to Michigan when I go in May so the family can try them out. I know they will love them! We don’t see plantains around those parts.

A couple oat combo examples:

Oats, milk, cinnamon cereal, raisins, and raspberries

Oats, milk, canned pumpkin, and Kashi cereal

Today for lunch PT and I perfected the quesadillas I made for myself on Thursday of last week.

Goat Cheese, Tomato, and Spinach Quesadillas, Take Two

Much better this time! We threw in the spinach when the onions were caramelized for a few minutes, just to wilt the spinach a little. These quesadillas weren’t soggy in the least. PT even made guacamole, so we had both guacamole and salsa to dip them.

Now I’m just chilling, watching the Tigers game. It is rainy; the excuse I need to stay inside and get some work done. Must block the sweater dress! Must tidy apartment! Must knit my new sock!

Pre-Blocked Sweater Dress

Holy shit! I haven’t blocked it, but I will this afternoon. I should have blocked it yesterday when it was warm and sunny and it could just chill in the sun and come out the perfect size. It is basically the perfect size now. The sleeves are a little big; I’m hoping that after blocking it they will go down a little. I’m going to block them longer so that they skinny up.

Top Close Up

I’ve got my dress form as close as possible to my own measurements right now, and the shoulders look good, the boobs look good, the front stripe of ribbing looks good. Basically, I’m in love.

Sweater Dress

I just keep staring at it. It doesn’t even look hand knit. I’m kind of in shock right now!

Ok I’ll block it and then post pictures of me wearing it. I’ll stop gushing.

Break Sock

In the mean time I’m decompressing with some basic toe up socks. I found this kind of ridiculous pattern for toe up socks that so far is more silly and unnecessarily mathematical than I’d like to be dealing with. But, it is certainly nice to be just knitting and not k1p1 ribbing. And toe up socks are fun! I’m converting. Of course, I haven’t gotten to the heel yet.

I’ve been talking a big game about finishing my sweater dress by tonight’s Sweater Club, and I probably could have done it if not for the prep I had to do for Saturday’s Entrelac Workshop.

Entrelac Workshop Swatch

Saturday we will be doing this! I had to write the pattern and actually knit this swatch. But I’m so close!

TWO More Inches!

Between this morning and this afternoon I totally could have finished it! But I am excited about the Entrelac Workshop on Saturday so that will have to be my consolation prize. And no, I’m not going to try to wear the entrelac swatch to class tonight. If I were walking, maybe, but I’m biking and that would just be too pornographic for a Thursday night.

The weather is perfect for a stroll in a swatch! It is also perfect for my baby plants.

Hidden Garden

I’ve got pots of little babies! The tiny pots are all pansies, there is an avocado pit there from my mom that STILL hasn’t done anything and I think it is dead. At this point, though, I’m pot committed to this stupid pit so it isn’t going anywhere, no matter how dead it probably is.

The big pot on the right is the catnip and that is doing very well. Next over is the spearmint which really just has that one huge stem. Next over is the chamomile that is all stalled at about half an inch stems. In the jar are tomato plants for my Topsy Turvy! I can’t believe they are doing so well in an old olive jar. Not pictured is a pot that is supposed to be peppermint but is  actually a pot of dirt that I’m about to give up on. Stupid peppermint.

Terror Kitty Proof

This is how I save my plants from Pudge and Velma, who would instantly eat/dig up every pot. I installed this shelf across the window! I want 5 more.

Hidden Garden Part 2

As it is I have to put the overflow on the top shelf of a nearby bookcase chocked full of my inventory. That is more tomatoes, another avocado pit, and some cosmos that were doing amazing before I drown them.

I’ve been boring with the food this week! I’ve been eating a lot of oat creations because they are delicious, healthy, and quick. I had to make quick lunches this week with the afternoon Tigers Sox series and my lack of wireless internet. It is dangerous to be running back and forth between burners and my computer in the bedroom.

Today, though, I made Goat Cheese, Caramelized Onion, and Spinach Quesadillas.

Quesadilla Lunch!

They look pretty close to how they are supposed to look! I used regular taco shells because that is what I had on hand. They were good! In the future I will just throw the spinach in with the onions for the last couple seconds of onion cook time, and only warm it because the spinach got a little slimy and there is nothing worse than slimy vegetables.

I better pick out something to wear to Sweater Club tonight. Sad face! Someday soon I will update this blog and the entire post will be pictures of me in my sweater dress. No words, just sweater dress. It is coming.

You know when you are really young and you don’t know anything but what your parents let you know? Like, when they give you chocolate milk that is actually half white milk and half chocolate milk, and you think it is great because you have never had straight up chocolate milk. Then you go to your friend’s house and her mom gives you real straight from the carton chocolate milk and you freak the fuck out because it is the most amazing thing you have ever tasted.

I thought shrimp pizza was chocolate milk until I had real chocolate milk.

Banana Pepper, Sun Dried Tomato, Caramelized Onion, Spinach, and Three Cheeses Pizza

The feta was out of control. The sun dried tomatoes were perfect. I will never have fresh onion on a pizza ever again, having caramelized them for this pizza. Having had corn meal in a pizza crust at a dinner party last week, we threw in some corn meal and it was out of control. And this pizza sauce was the best pizza sauce I’ve ever made, with fennel seeds and red pepper flakes. I didn’t know this pizza existed in the world when I declared shrimp pizza the best pizza ever. I retract that statement.

I’m glad we made the best pizza ever because PT really needed it.

Rough Day in Baseball Land

We went to the Twins Sox game this afternoon and the Twins got it handed to them. If any boy needed a delicious pizza, it was PT.

My 8 Year Old Boy

The Tigers, on the other hand, came back to win in the bottom of the 8th inning from a 4 run deficit. My 8 year old boy totally called that comeback! I did not need a pizza. I still ate it, though.

Glorious Fish Tacos

I needed the best fish tacos PT ever made. Fresh mango!

PT's Easter Present, and Velma

I did not need half of this Reester Bunny.

B(kinda)LT

I did need this fake bacon, lettuce, tomato, and avocado sandwich.

Pudge Rodriguez

Pudge disagreed.

On the eve of a home stand against the Sox, full of the best pizza I’ve ever eaten (not to mention some cookies and cream ice cream), sitting in bed watching Celebrity Apprentice, life is good. My sweater dress is a sleeve and about 3 inches in length away from being finished! Pudge Rodriguez is digging through the trash and ripping up tissues, and I’d like to shake her until she goes to sleep, but you can’t have everything.