The Sweatshop of Love Blog

Am I just the luckiest girl in the whole world or what?

I Win! I Win!

I totally won a copy of Brave New Knits by Julie Turjoman from Miss Teresa at CanaryKnits!

CanaryKnits

She’s got a real cute sweater in the book, so she signed it and send me a sweet note with the book.

It Comes in Waves Pullover

There are some really cute projects in this book, on top of interviews with the designers, who are all bloggers and online pattern sellers.

This is the (It Comes In) Waves Pullover by one of my favorite designers, Stefanie Japel, and was an instant stand out for me.

Koukla Cardigan

The Koukla Cardigan by Hilary Smith Callis over at The Yarniad, a blog I didn’t have in my reader before I spotted this lovely jacket. When I was pursuing her blog I saw that she designed another sweater I’ve had my eye on for a while, this Kimono Wrap Cardigan. While it’s beautiful I haven’t made moves to knit it because of all that stockinette. I might suck it up for the Koukla Cardigan, though. I love the pockets and double breasted closure.

The Orchid Thief Shawlette

Ysolda Teague‘s The Orchid Thief Shawlette I’m in love with and I’m not even a shawlette knitter. I love the way the lace leafs open up at the neck.

Helix Socks

And I’m not a fancy sock knitter either, but I’m lovin’ up on these Helix Socks by Sean Riley at Personal Knitter. They are simple socks that I love to knit with a twist. Quite literally.

I’m really excited to dig into this book and get crackin’! Thanks again to Teresa for holding this giveaway and miraculously choosing me.

Officially this is supposed to be a launch for the Hello Sailor Entrelac Clutch AND the Knot Necklace but Renegade ran me right out of them. Which is a good thing! I’m going to be making more, but until then the clutch was feeling left out.

Oh! Hello, Sailor! Entrelac Clutch

So here is it’s moment to shine! You can now get the Hello Sailor Entrelac Clutch on Etsy for $28. It comes with everything you need to make that cute clutch!

Including:

Yarn (in Navy and Cream)

A little green vintage button

A zipper and some apple print lining fabric

The laminated instructions

All stuffed inside a bright yellow project bag!

Everything is in there and ready to go!

You will need size 6 needles to work the body of the clutch and the flap closure, 2 size 9 double pointed needles for the icord handle, a yarn needle to attach that handle, and a needle and thread to sew in that lining.

So Cute, Y'all!

I know I know, you are scared of entrelac. Don’t be! It’s really fun and easy once you get the hang of it. I use these exact instructions included in this pattern to teach entrelac so it’s really straight forward and written for people who have never entrelaced before.

And don’t you think it’s worth learning for this cute bag?

Order your kit now! I’m closing the shop again in a few weeks for the DIY Trunk Show coming up, so get them while they’re hot!

Ok y’all after this I promise I’ll stop using exclamation points in all of my blog titles.

I took yesterday to recover and clean up my house! It was a disaster, as you can imagine. Boxes everywhere and stuff piled in every corner. Sometimes the piles didn’t even make it to corners. And I was BEAT. Renegade is 12 hours on your feet talking to people! But I went to bed at 9:30, slept like a log for 10 hours, and now I’m back in the game!

So, Renegade recap! Well, on day 1 it rained.

Lookin' Good!

But still a ton of people came out, and by 2pm the rain cleared up and there were a million people there.

So here I’ve got each knit kit in a different basket with a sign describing what is in each kit and what you’ll need, and a list of color choices. I’ve got the finished products hanging from a close line above them.

Kits in Baskets!

I had the tags out, I tried to keep one of every color on the top, I was replenishing kits as they sold. I think it looked great!

Sunshiney Day Two!

Day two was the most beautiful day ever. It was warm and breezy and so many people came to Renegade that the fire marshal came and kicked people out because there were too many people! It was nuts.

Caitlin's Sweater Toys

I was sharing a booth with Caitlin who was selling these Sweater Toys that people were absolutely loving! I swear not a person walked by our booth without picking up one of her animals.

Renegade was a blast and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Between the two days I sold 35 kits! Mostly the new Hello Sailor Knot Necklaces and Twin Cities Ruffle Headbands. People were digging the bow headbands, too! I made 23 of them and I’ve only got 3 left. Holla!

And added Renegade bonus?

Dinner with Jeanna!

Renegade prompted Jeanna from Do What Now?, who wrote this hilarious guest post for me a few months ago, to get herself up to Chicago for the weekend! We had dinner and talked loudly about really inappropriate things. It was a great way to relax before Renegade the next day.

So until next year (hopefully!) Renegade. You were stressful and exhausting but well worth it and I had a great time.

And thanks to everyone that game out! Every time I saw a familiar face I ran up with a tight hug of death I was so excited! It was great to put faces to blogs and twitter friends and blog readers and to meet new knitters in the area.

So now what? It’s class schedule time! I’ve got the rest of the week to put my life together before knitting classes hit full swing on Monday. Holla!

I got back to Chicago Monday after being out of the city since July 30th, but did I have time to easy me way back into reality? HELLZ NO!

Making My Sign for Renegade!

I set a schedule for myself before I left and got the majority of my Renegade Craft Fair prep done then. I sewed a million project bags, did all my pattern printing, made a million fabric covered buttons, finished stuffing and prepping my new knit kits, and knit a million bow headbands. I wanted to leave as little as possible for this week.

So what’s left? I made my sign today with some muslin I dyed for project bags and some fabric markers.

Finished Knit Kit Inventory

Completely 100% finished knit kits. All of them with buttons and tags and everything each kit needs.

Knit Kits Include:

• 15 Madison Cowl Kits and 13 Hand Warmers Kits
• 14 Twin Cities Headband Kits and 14 Anklet Socks Kits
• 20 Hello Sailor Knot Necklace Kits and 20 Entrelac Clutch Kits

Box of Important Things!

Since I’ve never done a craft fair before it’s hard to know what I’m going to need. So I’m just grabbing everything I can think of.

Yes, that is a glue stick. Why do you ask?

I’ll be selling patterns, fabric covered buttons, Sweatshop pins, bow headbands, the knit kits of course, and an added bonus:

Handmade Baskets

My mom is an amazingly talented basket weaver and made me a ton of baskets to use to display my kits in. They will be for sale along with everything I’ve got going and will add some serious style to my booth. They are stunning and I can’t wait for you guys to see them.

This afternoon I’ll be making copies of some of my patterns and stuffing them in plastic sleeves while catching up on some terrible reality TV (READ: Bachelor Pad) I’ve missed over the past few weeks, and then I might just be completely prepared for Renegade.

If you are planning on coming this weekend be sure you are on my mailing list to get a special coupon. Email me at allyson [at] thesweatshopoflove [dot] com to get one. And I’ll be raffling off a pattern so be sure to swing by Booth 11 to enter!

I’ll give you a full Renegade Craft Fair report on Monday! Wish me luck and I hope to see you this weekend!

The Renegade Craft Fair is the first time I’m ever participating in a craft fair. Talk about starting big! I’m nervous and excited and am going to need a ton of support to get me through this, so to get you to come out this weekend and say hi I’m offering raffling off a free pattern. I’ll be at Booth 11 so stop by anytime September 11th or 12th from 11am-7pm on Division between Damen and Paulina to register to win and give me a big hug! I’ll be selling knit kits, patterns, bow headbands, Sweatshop buttons and other fun things!

TWO SPOTS LEFT! Hello Sailor Entrelac Clutch Kit Class: A companion to your new Hello Sailor Knot Necklace, this clutch will be a staple for fall. Not only is this kit chocked full of everything you need to make this project, the pattern is super adorable! Using entrelac for the body of the bag and short rows for the flap, Part One of this class is knitting the bag. Part Two includes assembly, attaching the zipper, lining, button, and icord handle. Purchase the kit and this class is only $15. Tuesdays September 21 and 28, 7-9pm. $40

Baby Sweater Buffet: Everyone has tons of babies to knit for this holiday season, so your pattern needs to be as quick and easy as it comes. Start with a simple and quick top down cardigan sized for newborns through 18 months and go from there! Make it striped, accented with contrasting colors, add a hood and front pockets, add ears, a tail, and a face to make it into an animal sweater! Add duplicate stitching for an extra pop! Anything you could want in a baby sweater is in this pattern. Part One: Simple top down baby cardigan. Part Two: Adding a hood and front pockets. Part Three: Adding ears and duplicate stitching. Wednesdays September 29, October 6 and 13, 7-9pm. $50

Sheep Mittens: This is a sneak peek project from my upcoming collection of winter knitting patterns, and could these sheep mittens be any cuter?! Sized for children and adults, anyone would be super pumped to get these in their stocking. Using two different sizes of yarn, your pointer and thumb become sheep legs! That free pointer finger is also pretty darn handy. Wednesday November 3rd, 7-9pm. $20 or FREE with purchase of my new ebook! Details coming soon.