The Sweatshop of Love Blog

I had a baby! A new baby. A baby named The Chicago Knitter.

The Chicago Knitter

The Sweatshop of Lover’s Blog isn’t going anywhere. The Chicago Knitter is going to be more knit-fashion oriented, and more Chicago knit focused, that my Sweatshop blog.

The Chicago Knitter is going to be highlighting Chicago yarn events, Chicago knitters, Chicago knitting meet-ups. You get the idea.

So, if you live in Chicago, roll on over there and start following The Chicago Knitter!

Make sure you find me on Twitter here.

If you’ve got a knitting event you want shared send me an email at allyson[at]thesweatshopoflove[dot]com to let me know. And if you see me on the street with a camera and you are wearing something you knit don’t run away! Let me take a picture of you so I can put you on The Chicago Knitter.

Mrs Darcy Cardigan

It could just be because there has been a lot of shit going on lately, but I finished my Mrs Darcy Cardigan without even really realizing it. Which sounds silly, I know. But I write a KNITTING BLOG and I knit this entire sweater so fast that I only mentioned I was knitting it twice. Here it’s a pile of sweater in Portland. And here it’s a pile of sweater in the background of these Dollar and a Half Cardigan pictures.

Ug. Mrs Darcy Has Problems

To say I had issues with this pattern is an understatement. I knew what I was getting into kinda because it’s a free pattern, because everyone on ravelry kept saying there were lots of issues with the pattern, because there is a warning on the pattern itself that says there are lot of issues, and because one of my Sweater Club students, Laura, is also knitting this sweater and was coming across lots of problems.

Mods:

1. I had to add two rows of single crochet to the bottom of the sweater to get it from curling, and it still curls a little. There should have been more garder st at the beginning, or a rib.

2. The fronts are curling in; you can tell in the pictures. I started to add a row of single crochet but it looked weird next to the three garder stitches around the front. Maybe making the garder stitch band five stitches would have helped, but I probably would have left it off and picked up stitches around for a ribbed band later.

3. I knit the sides and body at the same time because there is no way I would have been able to line up the twisted rib sections based on how the counted rows were set up in the pattern. I just went with what I thought the pattern was saying based mostly on the pictures and am glad I didn’t have to duplicate it.

Darcy to the Side

But it’s finished, it’s March 15th so it was a super quick knit, and I’m happy with the results. Besides the front curling, but I’ll probably block it again and hope that takes care of it.

This Paton’s Classic Wool Merino is quickly becoming my go to worsted yarn! It’s cozy and not itchy and beautiful. I knit Caitlin’s Cardi in it, too, and couldn’t have been happier.

Damn You, Curly Fronts!

So, Mrs Darcy, I don’t know you very well since we didn’t spend a lot of time together, but that must be how people feel when they buy sweaters. Not a lot of emotional attachment. Weird.

Pattern: Mrs Darcy Cardigan

Yarn: Paton’s Classic Merino Wool in Red

Needles: Size 9

Ravery Project Page

Thanks to everyone who entered my Red Gold Tomatoes Giveaway! Y’all really wanted that huge can of goodies! It was really fun reading all your silly comments here, and on facebook and twitter.

I’m happy to say the winners are:

Lynn at The Actor’s Diet

Becca at The Nutmeg Knitter

How fitting it is that a food blog writer AND a knitter win!

Thanks again to everyone who entered and I look forward to giving out more huge cans of stuff soon!

Huge Can of Tomato-y Goodness

Make sure you zip over here and enter to win this huge can of tomato-y goodness from Red Gold Tomatoes! I’m picking both winners tonight and will announce them tomorrow.

When I got back from my brother’s wedding this weekend I was greeted by this:

Very Large Can of Tomatoes

I should have put a cat next to this can to show you how big it is. It’s the size of one of those holiday popcorn tins. LARGE!

And it was full of this:

Lots of Loot!

Two recipe books, a tin truck (that my brother’s baby is going to love!), two magnets, a soup recipe fold out, a coaster, a refrigerator clip magnet, and a media kit CD about how Red Gold Tomatoes are all grown in the Midwest and started as a family owned business.

Tomatoes!

And, of course, some regular sized cans of tomatoes.

Veggie Pasta!

Right away I whipped up a version of my Veggie Pasta Recipe with the Basil, Oregano, Garlic Red Gold Tomatoes, and it was seriously excellent. I didn’t even season the pasta sauce! It was all in the tomatoes already.

My only complaint, if I get to complain about any aspect of a huge tomato can of free goodies, is  with the recipe book. While all the recipes look very easy and use few ingredients and look like they come together very fast and are all pretty healthy, there are only a few vegetarian options. I will be changing them up to make them vegetarian friendly in the future, for sure, but I’d like to give that heads up!

And so, without further ado, the kind people at Red Gold Tomatoes have TWO of these gift cans to give out to my readers! Holla!

Leave a comment to enter! Tweet this giveaway, citing @sweatshopoflove in your tweet, for another entry.

That huge tomato can is already full of yarn, safe away from my kitties, and my tea cup is resting on a tomato coaster right now! And yours can, too. You’ve got until the evening of Sunday, March 14th to enter. I’ll announce the winners Monday morning!

Good luck!