The Sweatshop of Love Blog

Every woman, at some point in her life, should take a pair of scissors to her own head.

I Start at the Top

I’ve never gotten my hair professionally cut. I went from having my mom cut my hair to just doing it myself.

How's it Looking Back There?

I use to have really long, curly hair. Three summers ago I just cut it all off myself. It was one of the most liberating things I’ve ever done. I wasn’t hiding behind my hair anymore. I couldn’t hide behind anything! It was just me and my face.

Oh God.

It is terrifying, though, every time I do it. My brain is saying, ‘WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!’ But I keep telling myself, ‘It’s just hair! Nothing bad can happen!’

CLEAN!

When I’m done cutting it always looks terrible. It’s greasy from touching it so much and flat and I feel like I look like a boy. I think about how people won’t be able to tell that I’m a girl.

Short and Cute

And then it dries.

Real Cute.

And I look like a girl.

Right?

A cute girl. Who didn’t just spend $60 on a hair cut. Who just balls-ed out on her OWN HAIR! Crazy/scary/amazing/stupid/kinda hot.

What did I do this weekend?

Lotta Hood

I barely left my house. Barely left my TV. I didn’t miss a ski jump, a cross country race, a mogul, and, most importantly, a pairs ice skating performance.

Yesterday I had Sweater Club in the morning, returned home around noon, then at 10pm when the Olympics ended I looked down at my knitting and thought, well shit!

I knit like 13 inches of my Hoodie Devoted. Since the opening ceremonies.

I even went out Saturday night! I brought my knitting to game night and happily knit while vampires and dinosaurs were fighting in Heroscape while listening to the Lord of the Rings soundtrack.

Take a second to let just how cool I am truly sink in.

Pudge Approves!

Pudge has grown very fond of this hood, probably because she has been laying under it for two days while I was knitting. I put it on the floor to take these pictures and she was so confused.

She was mainly confused that I was standing, and walking around.

The stitch pattern is fun and interesting, the bobbles aren’t annoying and every other cable is different. Thus, this is pretty much the best pattern to work on 12 hours a day two days in a row.

Yikes.

Well, what am I supposed to be doing on a February weekend in Chicago? It’s cold, bro. And it isn’t like I should be out celebrating a holiday or anything.

Last night’s 2010 Winter Olympic opening ceremonies were a little bizarre. Between the punk fiddlers and tap dancers, the huge Coke polar bear, an anorexic Brian Adams, and a huge torch lighting malfunction, there was a lot to take in.

Hoodie Devoted

I can safely say, however, that I have never looked forward to an Opening Ceremonies as much as I was looking forward to these, because of the start of the Ravelympics!

I’ve been getting a few questions about what the Ravelympics are. They are like the Olympics for knitting! You enter into different competitions with different projects and you have to get them done by the closing ceremonies.

I’m on Team Buttercream hosted by the lovely Julie at Knitted Bliss. I cast on Hoodie Devoted, out of Boutique Knits, last night.

Cables and Bobbles

This is a little more project than I was expecting! I’ve got a good start on my needles, but that is 215 stitches I’m working! 17 days? And I’ve got other projects on the docket?

Well, it wouldn’t be like me not to try to do a million things at once.

I tagged my ravelry project page with the official Ravelympics tag, my team name: teambuttercream!, and the event I’m entering with this project: Hat Halfpipe!

I was tweeting like a crazy person last night! Keeping up with other Ravelympians and Olympic Opening Ceremonies watchers. It was easily the most fun I’ve had on twitter to date.

Highlights:

rocketslide: Olympic drinking game! Drink for every cable knit, turtleneck, & hat with a pompom! RT @sweatshopoflove: Loving the Olympic knits!

jmgehrke: @sweatshopoflove Wait, which one was Michael and which one was Janet in that “We are the world” montage?

actifblue: Maybe we could start one… RT @sweatshopoflove NO JAMAICAN BOBSLED TEAM?!?!

adamfairholm: The dancers on each side of the athletes coming it is making it feel like a sad Wii Mii fashion show.

modeknit: Dang we gots some good lookin’ hats on our atheletes! ravelympics! MOOSE!

WaterlooWools: Loving all the live tweets of the ceremonies–but aren’t you people supposed to be knitting?!

acmevalley: If Sum 41 doesn’t make a showing here, I will be FLOORED. YOU HEAR ME DAVID ATKINS?!?!

adamfairholm: Leave it to the French Canadians to turn the Olympics opening ceremony into a bad student art show with gothic fiddlers and riverdance.

CaryWhitt: These dudes are like the ambian and Nyquil of Olympic speech readers.

rocketslide: This is what you get for using the metricsystem!

modeknit: RT @ebertchicago: U.S. tweeters snarky about Canadian Olympics ceremony. Canuck reply: If you’re so smart, why don’t you have health care?

Madison Hand Warmers Kit!

I was packaging the Madison Cowl and Hand Warmers kits up the other day and I was blowing myself away with how amazingly cute these things are!

I mean that in a non braggy way, of course. It is kind of like when you finish knitting something and someone compliments it, and you yell out immediately, ‘I know! Isn’t it amazing?!’ Because you are just so surprised it turned out so well. Kind of like you weren’t even responsible.

As you can see, this kit here to my left is about to get packaged up! It’s a gray hand warmers kit.

The hand warmers take about half a skein of yarn, so that ball is wrapped up with a Sweatshop tag. The laminated instructions (see that laminated shine?), designed by Tara, is popped into the drawstring project bag.

Buttons!

I was always terrified I was going to forget the buttons every time I packaged a bag up. I’m pretty sure I double checked every bag.

Ready to Go!

See the cute Illinois stamp in the corner? And that the color of the draw string is the color of the kit? Yeah, we kinda thought of everything.

Madison Cowl Kit

For the Madison Cowl Kit, each project bag gets a full skein of yarn, again with our cute tag!

Instructions!

Buttons!

Again, laminated instructions and fabric covered buttons round out this kit!

One of my favorite parts of this project was pairing the fabric for the buttons with the colors we chose for the cowls.

See all the button/cowl match ups here!

Ready to Go!

Our tag on the bag makes it happen! This kit is ready to go!

We got our first feedback yesterday! Lori said:

I love everything about it! The bag, the pattern with your notes, all the tags, the buttons, everything! You and Tara did such an excellent job on those!

Thanks, Lori! Order your own kit on our etsy page.

Sleeves, Kinda

When we last checked in with my Dollar and a Half Cardigan I had just discovered two major errors. I was finished with the body and one side. Since then I’ve finished the second side and have got a good 8 inches of two sleeves finished.

Will I finish this sweater before the Ravelympics start during the opening ceremony of the Olympics tomorrow night? No way in hell. I’m saying it right now. There is no way I can finish those sleeves, attach everything, and knit the front button bands, by tomorrow night.

I know what you are saying. ‘Allyson, you should have figured that out a long time ago.’ And you are exactly right. What was I thinking? I am one woman! Frantically knitting a lot a sweater!

Geez, Allyson. Geez.

So what is the plan? I want to start my Hoodie Devoted! But I lent out the needles I need for that pattern. Which sucks because I need this hood!

Hoodie Devoted

I mean, come on. Everyone needs this hood. So I don’t really have a plan. WHY AM I SO UNPREPARED?! It’s really unlike me. I’m blaming Dollar and a Half. She has been zapping up all of my energy.

What do you have planned for the Ravelympics?! And I hope you are more prepared than I am!