The Sweatshop of Lovers Blog

I had horses growing up, and this is a real thing. If you get kicked off a horse you have to jump back on and tell that horse what is up. YOU are what is up. Not that horse. That horse did you wrong! That horse tried to tell you that you suck. You do not suck!

I do not suck! I can cook, you stupid horse.

Buckwheat Noodles They Are Not

I still had failure on the brain yesterday when I fished out these rice noodles. I smelled them. I pinched them. I read the ingredients and instructions. I glared at the buckwheat noodles still parked next to these in the pantry. They looked safe, being rice noodles, but I was still worried. Was there something I was overlooking? Could the gross culprit be something else?

I chopped the veggies, I cooked the noodles (still smelling normal I started to feel better), I stir fried the veggies, I mixed up the dressing, I threw it all together and put it in the fridge. I crossed my fingers.

That is Right, Horse. Suck It.

Success! I can cook! And those buckwheat noodles are going in the trash.

Zombies with Lunch

For lunch today I cooked up a doozie. My mom tipped me off to this trick, which she got from HungryGirl. While damage controlling some family business (Matthew, my youngest brother, has decided to move out of my mom’s house with no job/money. Boys.), I poured 1/2 a cup of milk in my bowl and mixed in a little sugar free/fat free pudding mix. I let it sit while I chopped an apple, defrosted my raspberries and, cleaned my blueberries. I dumped in 1/2 a cup of oats, my three fruits, and sprinkled some nutty cereal and raisins on top. What did I get? An amazingly nutritious lunch mascaraing as a pudding treat! I put in about half a tablespoon of the pudding mix and it thickened up that milk so much! This was a pudding parfait.

Interestingly, there had been very little brain eating in the whole 130 pages I had read of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies up until I was eating a meal with a brain-like consistency. Didn’t remotely bother me, though. I love this book so much I could literally be eating brains while reading it and still be happy. That is love.

Since I got that Summer Sweater out of the way, I’ve been able to work on my other projects that have been hanging out on the back burner.

My Sweater Pattern

I separated the sleeves of the sweater pattern I’m writing. Cute, right? Tara’s Sweater inspired me to make my sweater stripped, and I’m working on it right now and looking at the picture of Tara’s sweater and it looks a lot alike! Right now I’m working on boob increases. It is hard to translate boob size to stitches increased, but I’m trying.

Working on it right now, you ask? One of the many joys of having a very old computer is that you have a ton of free time to knit, balance your checkbook, dance, whatever! while things are loading. I am never without a project while working on my Old Lady. Especially when I have a lot of programs going. Right now? iTunes, gchat, my photo editor, and this blog writing page. Old Lady is working hard. She is just lucky there isn’t a baseball game on.

F-BLTA Sandwich

If it is possible to die from an avocado overdose I’ve got to be close by now. After Saturday’s avocado soup and avocado salad, you would think I would have had enough of the stuff. Not the case! Yesterday PT suggested BLTs for lunch. With avocado, of course, though the letter is not represented. And if we are being technical, that is fake bacon. PT calls it bacon crackers, but I’m fine with it. I can’t remember what real bacon tastes like, anyway. This sandwich was unbelievable! Homemade bread, a little Miracle Whip, lots of tomato, romaine, bacon crackers, and a quarter of an avocado.

Egg and Avocado Salad Sandwich

Then I turn around this afternoon and make egg salad with avocado for lunch. This is so incredibly simple: one hard boiled egg, 1/4 of an avocado, fresh cracked pepper. Mash with fork. Throw on toasted bread.

I’m sure I am alive right now only because my dinner last night didn’t involve avocado at all.

Fresh Michigan Blueberry Pancakes, and Potatoes

One of the best parts about being an adult is that you can eat pancakes whenever you want. Hungry at 3am? Pancakes! Dinner? Pancakes! Hungover and just woke up at 2pm? Pancakes!

Our excuse? The Logan Square Farmers Market treated us right again yesterday with a pint of fresh Michigan blueberries for $4. One pint of fresh Michigan blueberries? Pancakes! These were cinnamon blueberry pancakes and heavenly. The blueberries exploded when I cut into them, so the blueberry juices would spill onto the plate, mixing with the syrup I sopped up with my pancake! Stop. Just stop.

The potatoes were excellent, too.

I still had those pancakes on the brain when I was hitting my Goggle Reader this morning. A blog I just recently started following, Bakerella, had a blueberry pancake orgasm on her blog, too. And while you are over there, check out the reason I’m following this amazing woman in the first place.

By the way, my boobs are size 12 stitches. I’m ok with it.

My friend Colleen lives in St Charles, which is F-A-R. I don’t have a car so the only way we see each other is if she drives the hour through ridiculous traffic to Chicago or if I bike/train downtown then hop on a metra for an hour and 15 minutes.

Metra Whoo Hoo!

1 hour and 15 minute train ride it is! I brought Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and read over a hundred pages round trip. I’m loving it! It is so funny and violent! And the integrity of the original isn’t lost of made into a joke. It is exactly what I wanted when I imagined one of my favorite books being laced with zombies.

Mushroom Omelet, Potatoes, Toast

Colleen met me at the train at ten to ten; perfect brunching time! We have a tradition of going to Nosh in Geneva, which is very close to St Charles, apparently. I’m suburb racist (they all look exactly the same to me!), so I never know where we are.

Usually our friend Shawna is with us and the three of us go, but Shawna is summering in Italy. Boy did she miss out on a delicious breakfast! Who would rather be in Italy when you could easily be in Geneva, IL?! Eating at Nosh?!

Certainly not me after I ordered the mushroom, caramelized onion, and herbed goat cheese (man I ate a lot of goat cheese this week) omelet, served with potatoes and multi grain toast. One of the great things about having a place like Nosh you have been to with your girlfriends a million times is that between the three of us I’m pretty sure we have ordered everything on the menu. There is no guessing! Everything is amazing, and this omelet didn’t disappoint. Caramelized onion in an omelet will be making an appearance in my home made omelets very soon.

Colleen and Her Polenta

Colleen ordered something that we always order, the pear polenta, which is always delicious. Nosh has a nice outdoor seating area that we took advantage of, hence Colleen’s hot shades.

Colleen and I, despite the heat, hit up Geneva’s Swedish Days, which was basically a huge sidewalk sale with food stands. Then we walked along the river where we made some new friends.

Make Way for Ducklings

And we hit up a St Charles staple, Gramps Frozen Custard.

We love Gramps. We love Gramps so much that we walked like two miles in 90+ degree heat there and back.

Cookies and Cream, Peppermint

Gramps always has vanilla, chocolate, and twist, but then they make 4 or 5 special flavors of the day, which Colleen and I took advantage of. Her cookies and cream was amazing, my peppermint was delightful. We ate slowly to put off our steamy walk home.

Beautiful Dinner Spread

Cooking with Colleen is like what non-cooks want cooking to be. Every time I make food with this girl I don’t even realize I’m doing it. It’s what I picture Joan Cleaver was like in the kitchen. She chops, she mixes, and out comes an amazing meal.

No kidding, she whipped up this dinner in 10 minutes. That is a strawberry, cranberry, avocado, toasted almond, blue cheese, balsamic vinaigrette-y salad and avocado soup. I’m a cooking dawdler, apparently, because I know that would have taken me half an hour to put together. Colleen mashes some avocados and asks me to chop up some strawberries and I turn around and everything is done! She can whip up a mean pasta dinner in about 7 minutes, too.

We took that salad to town. I could have eaten it straight out of the bowl and never looked back. I make salads and they are chocked full of veggies and for me there is no other option. Strawberries? Duh! Cranberries? Allyson, get it together. Embrace the possibilities!

After dinner I read about zombies while getting very sad Tigers updates (1-8=OUCH) on the train back to the city while watching black clouds roll in. My tummy was full of amazing food, though, so that cut the pain of the Tigers loss and the potentially stormy bike ride back to Logan Square. I made it somehow, dry but for the sweat rolling off my upper lip. I knew a nice Saturday night in was exactly what I needed, so I watched the storms roll in. Me and the zombies.

I have been eating amazingly well over the past three days. Just uploading the pictures I’ve taken since Thursday inspired the title of this post. No one in the world has eaten better than I, starting with Thursday’s dinner party with my friends Kasia and Anders. PT and I made guacamole (PT made guacamole), which was nothing compared to what we were served.

Goat Cheese Flan

Starting with this beautiful Goat Cheese Flan served on a bed of salad. The Goat Cheese Flan was unbelievably good until you hit the halfway point, when it became ridiculously rich. I wanted to eat every bit of it, but just couldn’t! It was creamy and thick and cheesy! But non of us could finish it.

Beet Soup

This beet soup on the other hand! I scraped the bowl clean. I’ve never had beet soup before, or chilled soup for that matter, but this was so good. Especially when you got a scoop with goat cheese in it.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with Basil Ice Cream

But the highlight of the night was the dessert. This Strawberry Rhubarb Pie was one of the best pies I’ve ever eaten. The crust was buttery and crisp and flaky, the filling tasted like strawberries sweetly kissed by God. If God had just finished eating a sugar cane field. And the sugar cane field had been danced in by rhubarb fairies. The whole thing was set off so nicely by the basil ice cream! The whole dish was so fresh and seriously perfect in every way.

Friday's Dinner of Sides

Friday for dinner PT and I had some food that needed to be eaten so we combined it into a dinner of sides. Brussel sprouts, plantains, and corn dogs. The brussel sprouts were broiled in the oven in olive oil, salt and pepper. The brussel sprouts themselves are amazing, but the best part of this method is when the outer leaves fall off while cooking and become brussel sprout chips, all crispy and salty!

Poor brussel sprouts get a bad rap. They are usually over cooked and droned in butter at Thanksgiving by meat eaters who have no idea what they are doing.

Fried Plantains

We also had some sad looking plantains laying around that had to be cooked Friday or not at all. So brussel sprouts and fried plantains? Sounds good to me! I pan fried these up in oil and they were better than ever. I had been trying fake butter before, but oil is the way to go. They cook faster and get browner and sweeter in the oil.

After dinner PT and I watched some baseball (the Tigers broke their 7 game winning streak/Twins won= one of us was happy), but it was such a lovely night PT suggested some ice cream. The Sweatshop has had a big week; a nonprofit asked for class donations (exposure! fame!), and I got a nice link on Carrots N Cake (exposure! fame!). There is no better place to celebrate exposure and fame than Margies.

Large Chocolate Sundae, Anyone?

We shared, which I don’t like doing, but it was midnight, and a lady can only eat so much ice cream after midnight before she starts looking like a balloon.

PT was excited. And yes, the sundae warranted that face. Margies never lets us down.

Two spoiled days down, one to go!

Little Shoulder Preview

I buckled down and finished up the straps of my Summer Sweater while watching the Tigers finish their SWEEP OF THE CUBS! It motivated me to knit very fast, football fast! I also seamed it up the sides, which matched up perfectly! I am so so happy with every aspect of this pattern I am beside myself with joy right now. The sides seamed perfectly, the strap seamed up relatively easily, considering I had to measure and remeasure to make sure one sleeve wasn’t longer than the other.

Pretty Pretty!

Seriously? Seriously? I mean. Seriously. LOOK HOW CUTE THAT IS! I’m looking down at myself right now, admiring how cute I look in this top. (Also, look at how hot my shoulders are. Thank you, X Sport Fitness)

I know you all want to knit this top now, so email me and I’ll send you the pattern.

It is too bad that the amazing feeling of finishing this sweater is being trumped by Michael Jackson dying. Not in a selfish way. It is really heartbreaking. It’s like the ’80s dying. He could be Madonna-ing it out, doing yoga and looking better than he did 20 years ago. Instead he crazy-ed himself to death.

But, my sweater is done. And I’m wearing it tonight, and will inevitably dance to Thriller. For Michael.

PT and I are taking the same steps to recover from our cooking misstep this weekend.

PT's Pasta

PT cooked up some delicious (well, minus the olives) asparagus, mushroom, and olive pasta with parmesan for lunch earlier this week.

My Pasta

For dinner last night I made some simple red sauce and poured it over some broccoli, asparagus, and mushrooms, with parmesan, too.

Our healing process is slow. The heat is keeping us out of the kitchen, too, naturally. I brewed some ice tea earlier and I had to close off half the house.

… shit, and I’m pretty sure it’s still on the stove.

Someone who doesn’t need any healing?

Hello, Gorgeous

Tara is rocking out her sweater for Sweater Club! Look at it! I’m a very proud mama. I never know if I’m going to get a picture of a huge mistake or amazing success, so I was very happy to open this attachment and behold this pretty work in progress!

First sweater, people. Holla.

One of the biggest complaints I hear from my knitting and crocheting students is that they hate going into yarn shops because the workers are unfriendly and unhelpful. The women behind the counters barely look up from their knitting to acknowledge they entered the store, much less help them find some yarn or answer a question.

I’ve had my fair share of run ins with angry shop owners. Loopy Yarns in the South Loop blacklisted me after an unfortunate, ‘No, take that back and tell them you don’t want to spend $22 on rosewood needles or $70 on three skeins of yarn for a baby sweater” incident. Final price of materials after return? $44.

Another student of mine went to Loopy when they were hiring and after she told them she learned to knit at The Sweatshop they told her she knit incorrectly.

When I first started teaching classes a yarn shop owner who will remain nameless sent me an email after seeing my ad on craigslist telling me that I have no business advertising that I can teach people to knit in two hours. I should advertise that I’m teaching a crash course in knitting and not the skill. If I wanted to see how a real beginner knitting class worked I could go to her shop and check it out, for $120.

I work above a knitting shop (‘work’ is the 4 hours of office assistance I put in every morning), so sometimes when I’m feeling lazy I stroll in and see if they can save me a trip to Joann.

Today it was warm and kinda stormy so I thought I’d try to save myself a hot bike ride. I walk in. Three women sitting at the work table in the middle of the store don’t look over. I need materials for one of my students in beginner knitting class, so I start looking around.

‘Can I help you?’ the youngest of the three woman asks me, getting up, leaving the other women to talk at the table.

‘Yeah, I’m just looking for some cheep acrylic yarn for a beginner.’ I say. Her face goes from uninterested to dead.

‘We don’t have any acrylic yarn,’ she says, looking at me like I just told her to suck it. She walks over to a wall of yarn and pulls out a skein. ‘When we teach beginners we give them this. It’s wool.’

I take it from her, fingering its rough fibers. ‘It doesn’t split? I don’t like giving beginners wool because of its tendency to split.’

‘Oh,’ she says, taking it back. ‘Well I’ve got an acrylic cotton blend over here,’ she moves to another section of the store. She hands me an 80 yard skein.

‘Well, it isn’t very big,’ I say. 80 yards? Come on.

‘Right, well I’ve got an acrylic wool blend here that is bigger,’ she reaches for another skein. ‘But it’s $9.’

‘Yeah, that isn’t going to cut it.’ I say, handing it back to her. ‘I guess I’ll just have to bike over to Joann.’

‘Well I’ve got this acrylic yarn here,’ she says quickly, up and over to a new corner of the store so fast I lose her in the boxes and crates laying everywhere. She pulls out another ball, more what I’m looking for, simple and acrylic, but on the small side. ‘That is $4.’

The price was right, but I knew that we would have to go through this fiasco again when I wanted cheap straight needles, no rosewood, please, so I hand it back, ‘Thanks for your help! But I need something bigger.’

I run out of the store, past the women still busy chatting at the table. I can only imagine what they said to each other about me after I left. It is probably the same story I’ve told here, only with an emphasis on how I’m stupid for wanting acrylic when I could have gotten the wool. Probably with a few, ‘And she said she is a teacher?’s thrown in.

I’m cool with it. I biked over to Joann and got the beginner materials I needed for $6.52. $1.48 mark up to make up for a sweaty bike ride? I’d say that is a deal.

Three Loves

Cabled Change Purse, how do I love thee?

I love you so much that I rigged this picture to make it look like you were finished to get more people to sign up for this workshop!

I wanted to punch something out in time for my newsletter Monday, hoping people would see it and love it and sign up for the workshop class on Sunday, July 12th from 1-4pm. Of course I decided this Sunday afternoon. So I got some needles out and got to work. Out came this beautiful little bag! It will soon be lined, I got the zipper yesterday.

Here is what I’m thinking. I’m going to sew up the lining for the bags before class for everyone signed up, and even throw the zippers on there. In the pattern, though, I’ll explain how to do it. That way in class we will knit the bag and hand sew the lining with the zipper that is all ready to go into the bag! Smart, right? It would just be a pain in the ass and a waste of time to hand sew the lining, and hand sew in the zipper in class. You would have to hand sew the lining and zipper into the knit bag whether you had a machine readily available or not, so this way I’m just cutting the crap.

Interested? Email me (allyson@thesweatshopoflove.com) to sign up for this class! It is going to be fun and in three hours you will leave with this little purse.

Straps

I’ve also been working on the strap for my Summer Sweater. I’ve got it in my lap right now and have been picking it up while pictures are loading, reading emails, reading blogs. Whenever I’ve got even three seconds I’m punching out a couple stitches. I’ve got maybe 15 inches done, so almost half way. It’s not hard, I just want to be done! My goal is to wear this top this weekend. I think I can do it! It will be holey shirt wearing weather this weekend, and I’m going out to St Charles to spend the day with my friend Colleen. I’ve got to hit the burbs in style.

PT and I were feeling pretty Asian-centric this weekend, what with all the cold Asian noodles we were eating (shit I seriously almost wrote DEVOURING! Damn you, Sex and Bacon!) and the… ok so the noodles were the only Asian part of our weekend, but as you know food plays a huge roll in our lives so I guess Asian felt bigger.

Aloe Drink - Looks Cooler in... Korean?

We rolled over to Joong Boo Market Sunday on Kimball to take a look around. Joong Boo Market is packed full of Asians, hipsters, and food labeled only in Asian languages. We did our best, picking out a huge bag of bean sprouts, 16 oz of button mushrooms, snap peas, two different kinds of noodles, three different oils and sauces including a bottle of sesame oil, and a bag of the same almond cookies you can get at Chinese restaurants!

We grabbed this bottle of weird aloe vera drink that I’ve tried before and really loved but have only ever seen for $4. $1.75 at Joong Boo! And just as delicious as I remember. Very refreshing on a warm day.

I was very annoyed at the end of this trip. Joong Boo is TINY and there are no baskets, you have to use a cart. All the Asians were looking in our cart and judging our choices. One woman even pointed in our cart to the mushrooms, maybe? and asked if we knew how to cook them, laughing. Back off, bitch! Can’t you just pretend we don’t exist like white people do? You can run into someone at Jewel with your cart and they still won’t make eye contact with you. America!

Kimchi

PT also picked up some kimchi (or gimchi, kimchee, or kim chee). I had the tiniest nibble because it is so pretty! But it’s seriously spicy.

All that? $20.45. I’ll be annoyed for all that savings. That would have been at least $40 at jewel, and where else can you find those almond cookies?!

Looks Can be Deceiving

Needless to say, PT and I were really excited to get home and cook up another batch of cold Asian noodles using our new sauces and veggies. We cracked open the cookies and the aloe vera while we chopped vegetables, mixed up the dressing (with the new sesame oil!), and cooked up our buckwheat noodles. Just like whole wheat noodles, right? … right?

NO. There were too many variables to pinpoint the problem, but this meal had the funkiest, mustiest smell and taste! I’m thinking it was the noodles (only like $2.50 so I’m not too upset about it), and PT thinks we got a weird kind of bean sprout, or they were bad (only $1 so I’m not too upset about that, either). You couldn’t even taste the dressing with the new oil in it! The musty taste took over everything.

PB & J on Stupid Bread

After picking out the vegetables we were still hungry, so we supplemented dinner with more almond cookies and PB & J on my stupid bread.

Simple Oat Bowl

It was a crushing blow. We were trying to remember a failure like that and couldn’t! Which I guess is a pretty amazing average, but it still hurt. Yesterday I kept it simple, a little gun shy! I had oat bowls with fresh Michigan strawberries I picked up at the Logan Square Farmers Market and stupid bread with peanut butter on it.

Huge Amazing (and Simple) Salad

I mixed up this salad last night for dinner. Snap peas, tomato, asparagus (from the farmers market!) hard boiled egg, mushrooms, romaine, and cucumber with thousand island free.

No cooking, just delicious. A place I’ll be for the next few days.

Toy and Accessory Knitting

With the first hot week we’ve had in Chicago come the complaints. It’s too hot, too muggy, too sticky, blah blah. Of course, the complaints never stopped; last week it was too cold, too rainy, too stormy.

I love it. I’m sitting in my apartment with all my windows open, the breeze blowing the curtains. AC? Not for me. Sure, I’m in my underwear, but even if I were fully clothed I would still love it. I’ve got my iced tea and Regina Spektor. What else do I need?

Well, I could use a small knitting project. Toys, socks, the cutest purse I’ve ever designed? Perfect! You can knit every project The Sweatshop has planned this summer without the yarn touching any part of your body other than your hands. Air conditioning can’t even take away the discomfort of yarn on lap in 90+ degree weather.

And don’t forget about our free knitting events! See you soon!

-Allyson

PS – I FINALLY got my ravelry.com page up! Check it out: http://www.ravelry.com/people/sweatshopoflove

Summer Classes

Happy/Sad Poos

Knitted Happy/Sad Poos: You have probably seen the amigurumi pattern for these and wished you knew how to crochet. Now you can knit your own happy/sad poos! With some mid sized double pointed needles and some scrap brown yarn, whip up a happy poo in an afternoon. Class includes stuffing and yarn for eyes and mouth. Sunday July 26th, 1-4pm. $30

Pattern Reading How-To: Have you been looking at patterns and feeling like they must be written in a different language? Not sure what k2tog, skp, kfb, m1 means? This class will help you sort it all out, from the yarn type to the gauge. Learn to read and knit a chart pattern, too! Monday July 20th, 7-9pm. $20

Cabled, Zipper, Lined Change Purse

Cabled Change Purse Workshop: Don’t know how to cable knit? Never lined anything before? Ever added a zipper to a knitted project? We are learning it all during this Saturday afternoon workshop class! Knit a small cabled purse, seam it up, line it, and add a zipper! It sounds like a lot but you will be well on your way to having this adorable little purse by the end of the class. Bring some scrap yarn and mid sized needles and I’ll take care of the rest! Sunday July 12th, 1-4pm. $40

Beginner Crochet: Want to learn to crochet? This is a great opportunity to learn the basics of crocheting! In this class we will learn to make a chain, single, half double, double, and treble crochet stitches, and how to crochet in the round. Wednesday August 19th, 7-9pm. $25

Beginner Knitting: Did you get on this mailing list in the hopes that eventually you will have the time to learn? Sign up for this beginner knitting class and learn how to cast on, bind off, and knit and purl. Thursday August 20th, 7-9pm. $25

Simple Knitted Shawl/Scarf: So, you learned how to knit, now what? This makes a great first project! I hate to say the word scarf this time of year, but this shawl turns into a great scarf in cool weather! A simple pattern that knits up very quickly, this shawl/scarf makes a great last minute gift, or knit a bunch for yourself in different colors! Tuesday June 30th, 7-9pm. $25

Simple Crocheted Shawl

Simple Crocheted Shawl/Scarf: So, you learned how to crochet, now what? This makes a great first project! (see where I’m going with this?) I hate to say the word scarf this time of year, but this shawl turns into a great scarf in cool weather! A simple pattern that crochets up very quickly, this shawl/scarf makes a great last minute gift, or crochet a bunch for yourself in different colors! Wednesday July 1st, 7-9pm. $25

Group Class Come get help starting a project, finishing a project, picking a project or learning something new! $15
Wednesday July 22nd, 7-9pm
Monday August 17th, 7-9pm

Sexy Knees

Toe-Up Socks: So SERIOUSLY just sign up for this class before I turn into a crazy person, only teaching only Toe-Up Socks every day and nothing else! One ball of sock yarn makes one tall calf sock, and with the toe-up sock you just knit until you run out of yarn! Part One is the toe, Part 2 is the heel. Thursdays July 23rd and 30th, 7-9pm. $40

Knitting in the Park! Chicago’s outdoor movie festival begins July 14th and The Sweatshop of Love is going to be there! Every Tuesday evening starting July 14th and running through August 24th Grant Park plays host to a different movie. This year has got a great line-up, including Sunset Boulevard, Duck Soup, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Born Yesterday, Psycho, Young Mr Lincoln, and Tootsie. Movies start at sundown, but we plan on getting their early, with food and our knitting needles of course! Want to join us? Be sure to email me so we can coordinate.

Knitting Book Club: Our June book is Sex and Bacon, Why I Love Things That Are Very, Very Bad for Me by Sarah Katherine Lewis! We are meeting Monday, July 6th to talk about it and get some knitting done. If you are interested in joining us send me an email. Please don’t come with knitting questions as I won’t be teaching anything (so the book club can be free of course), just come to knit and chat about our book!