The Sweatshop of Lovers Blog

The Dykhuizen family is counting down the days till Baby Nolan arrives. He will be the first of the next generation for our family, so he is bound to get a lot of shit.

So far Nolan has racked up a DinoSweater, Baby Bobbie Bear, Sheldon the Turtle, and a Socktopus, all before he is even born.

What else does he need? Onesies! But you know me. I can’t just give the kid some onesies. And you know I’m not going to buy fancy onesies I know are just going to be puked on a million times.

Solution? Buy cheap-o onesies ($8.99 for a pack of 5 at Target) and snazz them up.

Ready To Start!

How To Make Personalized Onesies

1. Get some fabric paint in basic colors. They are between 45 and 99 cents a tube and can be found at any craft store. Make sure you don’t buy the puffy kind! It’s really ugly.

Fabric Paint

2. Cut a piece of cardboard to slide inside the onesie. You want it to be snug so it’s holds the fabric taunt to make an easy painting surface.

3. Find an image to copy! Do a google image search for anything. I like searching ‘cartoon’ or ‘coloring book’ along with the object I’m looking for so I get a clean, easy image.

Dinosaur!

Dinosaurs are fun and a great way to use silly colors. You can see I searched ‘dinosaur coloring page’ to find this little guy.

4. Print the image and trace it onto your onesie, or just eyeball it.

Image Outline on Onesie

My printer is really annoying to hook up, so I just eyeball it. I like to start in the center of the image and built it out from there.

5. Start painting with your main color. If you are right handed, start at the top left and work your way down diagonally.

Start in Top Left Corner

This way you won’t be laying your hand in paint! If you are left handed, start in the top right corner.

Taking Shape!

It's Almost a Dinosaur!

6. Let the paint dry a little before adding any additional colors.

Dino Spikes!

7. Let the paint dry to the touch before adding any while or outlines. White paint blends everything and is really hard to use! Your outline colors will look a lot better on dry paint as well.

Dino Face!

8. Let the onesie dry for 24 hours before giving it away or packing it up!

Finished!

Some fabric paint instructs you to iron it once dry, so be sure to read the bottle.

9. Make four more onesies!

Old English D

Nolan will be a Tigers fan. I resisted the urge to paint ‘Yankees Suck’.

Go Blue!

My original design was a buckeye with an X through it.

Lion Fan?

Subtle Lions fan. Like the rest of us.

I Heart Aunt Allyson!

Too much?

10. Add up your savings! Dinosaur Onesie = $15.99. UofM Onesie = $17.99. Tigers Onesie = $9 ($17.99 for 2). Lion Onesie = $15. I Heart Aunt Allyson Onesie = $12.

Bought Onesies = $69.98.

My Onesies = $8.99 (onesies) + $5 (paint) = $13.99

Total Savings = $55.99! Holla!

So get out there and make some adorable, personalized onesies! I can’t wait to see Baby Nolan rocking these cute outfits.

Remember a few months ago when I tackled the making the super cute Charley Harper needlepoint canvas myself? I graphed it myself, marked it out, got my own floss and dug in, saving myself about 50 bucks.

With Colleen’s wedding on Saturday already I thought it was high time I finished her present!

I ended up giving it a little background color. I took Julie’s advice and just did a half stitch around the little birds.

Charley Harper Needlepoint, Ready for Framing!

I thought it added a lot! I went to JoAnn and got some framing supplies.

Charley Harper Needlepoint, Framed?

Lackluster, right?

Charley Harper+Water Color

So I decided I would try to give it a water color wash. I dug around and found some old paints with a yellow and orange I thought would work. I was a little scared!

Testing... testing...

I tested the colors in the corner of the fabric to see how much running there was and what the colors would really look like. Then I just dug in! The half stitches made it easy to not get the paint on the birds and I could play with actually painting the stitches and including those colors in the wash.

Water Color Drying in the Sun

I let the wash dry in the sun when I was finished. The water color adds a fun dimension to the piece! I’ve never seen water color and needlepoint and I love the look of it.

Voila! Charley Harper Needlepoint Finished!

Quite a difference! I love these little birds, I love the half stitch outline, and I love the water color wash. The green frame mat adds focus and the dark brown frame isn’t too harsh for the colors in the needlepoint. I hope Colleen feels the same way!

Total cost of project? Less than $15. Of course this project wasn’t about saving money, and lord knows I spent HOURS AND HOURS needle-pointing that damn thing. I might as well have knit her a damn plane they can use to fly to Italy for their honeymoon.

Never. Again.

But I love how it turned out and I hope Colleen does, too!

Man Cowl

PT has been joking for a few weeks now that he wants a Man Cowl. I’ve been telling him for a few weeks that he really doesn’t want a Man Cowl. He isn’t really the Man Cowl type. What would he do with a Man Cowl? He would just look at it and not know what to do with it.

Man Cowl? For PT?

I made PT a Man Cowl about a month ago for his birthday.

It’s just a double moss stitch rectangle seamed together off center so it folds a little.

Ready to Fold

Will he wear it? I’m still not sure. He says he likes it and he was wearing it around the house after I gave it to him.

Does this translate into a knitting joke gone right? Only time, with the help of falling Chicago temps, will tell.

Cute Boy

It seems like years ago when I started knitting PT’s Modified Cambridge Jacket. It kind of was! My first update about this sweater was on September 6th.

I just reread that post hoping to know what I was wearing while knitting it. Probably a tank and a skirt. I miss you, September.

By September 12th I had it cast on and the rewrite was on.

Because I only worked on it while PT was at work and if he went out and left me home it was another month before I had any real progress on the thing.

And another month after that, November 12th to be exact, before I was finished with the body and stupid sleeves, which I was terrified were going to be too long. I added buttons on December 9th, boxed it, and put it under the tree.

No Monkey Sleeves?

It fits! It fits and looks good. The sleeves aren’t ridiculously long, the buttons look good, the sides look seriously great. I’m some kind of boy sweater knitting genius!

Good for Napping

It is also functional! PT was very happy and kept kissing it throughout the day. Overkill? Yes. But I was surprisingly self conscious about this gift! If he didn’t like it, it would be a huge failure, December 23rd, and no present. And what does that say about me? I don’t know what kind of knitwear my own boyfriend would like? I look through Interweave Knits and name students who would love each sweater!

It was a lot of pressure. I can see validity in this sweater curse, for real. So if you are going to knit a sweater for any boy, knit one for PT, because he was the perfect hand knit sweater recipient.

Now I just have to wait for him to dump me.

The Lot

Top Row, Left to Right:

1. Wine Cozy for PT’s Mom

2. Elephants for Grandma, three total

3. Three Pairs of Granny Square Slippers, one for Tara, Grandma, and Mom

4. Three Cabled Jar Covers for Rachel

Middle Row, Left to Right:

1. Crocheted Bib Necklace for Tara, my Sweatshop Secret Santa

2. Knitting Needle Knitting Bag for Mom

3. Lace Hand Warmers for Rachel

4. U of M Toilet Lid Cover for my brother Adam

Bottom Row, Left to Right:

1. Eric Man-Beanie for my brother Matthew

2. Glorified Necklace for Mom

3. Eric Man-Stocking Cap for Dad

Not Pictured:

1. Knitting Needle Knitting Bag for my friend Colleen, already gifted

2. PT’s Modified Cambridge Jacket, wrapped and under the tree

3. Two Slouchy Berets for Blog Giveaway Winners, in Green and Pink, shipped off

I don’t know whether to think that is a lot or a little. I have been knitting since September for the holidays. I did knit myself a sweater in there somewhere, too. And wrote a few patterns. And taught a lot of classes.

But with it all laid out there like that, it is weird to think I did all that in just over three months.

Just Pudge being Pudge

I wrapped it all up, no thanks to Pudge Rodriguez,  and most of it is ready for the trip up to Michigan.

I hope you got all your holiday knitting done in time! Is there something you will be giving half finished?

Slouchy Beret, Try #2

Words can not describe how happy I am to be finished knitting this hat.

It probably has some ill will knit into it, along with the few kitty hairs, but it is done and cute, if I do say so myself.

It took three whole days to dry without the help of the radiator. I kept this little guy very far away from any heat after the disaster last time.

But, it is in the mail to Heather, completing my blog giveaway knitting and my holiday knitting at the same time!

No Burning!

I’m not frantically knitting at all hours of the night to finish anything. So, August 1st is a completely acceptable time to start your holiday knitting.

Maybe it is because all the snow that fell in Chicago last week has melted, and it is about 40 degrees out, but I am not reveling in this accomplishment because I don’t feel like Christmas is next week. I’m sitting about 2 feet away from my Christmas tree, sure, but that is the only evidence I’ve got that Christmas is looming.

Cookies!

Not even the baking I’m doing is triggering Christmasy feelings, since I kind of bake a lot.

Cookie Logs

You know when you see a recipe that combines two things you don’t think should go together, dismiss, but then can’t get out of your mind?

Ok, yes, that sounds a little extreme. But if I said that about a pair of shoes it might not sound so wacky. And cookie baking is a much less expensive thing to get obsessive about.

Ready to Bake!

I saw the recipe for Earl Grey Cookies on Food Loves Writing and Kate in the Kitchen before I was sold. I love cookies. I love Earl Grey. But together?

Together they work. These cookies are light and buttery. I followed the recipe almost exactly, too, which never happens. I traded oranges for tangerines, and I wish I would have given it a squeeze into the batter before I ate it because a little more citrus would be welcome.

Roasted Eggplant Pasta

I love to eat them after meals like this; roasted eggplant, broccoli, and carrot pasta with white wine sauce and Parmesan cheese.

Roast the veggies in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes, meanwhile cook the pasta as directed, heat garlic and seasonings in oil, add white wine, add drained pasta and veggies, toss. Cover in cheese. Eat.

How fancy do I sound? Following up a meal like that with Earl Grey cookies. This is one fancy girl over here. One with no more presents to knit and a whole house full of yarn.

Look out.

My only real goal this past weekend was to finish my second Slouchy Beret for the Heather, the second blog giveaway winner. I mailed the first one out Saturday morning, well ahead of schedule, so I was confident I could knock the other one out.

I got some Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick N Quick and knit it all afternoon. I blocked it on a plate, put it on the radiator so it would dry faster, and in the morning I had a cute pink hat!

Pink Slouchy Beret

Or, that was how it was supposed to go. Sunday morning I checked on it and about died.

BURNED!

It got torched on the radiator!

My Poor Hat!

I have put projects on the radiator to dry since the beginning of time and this has never happened before! I throw my wet mittens, socks, hats, and scarves on the radiator when I come in from a snow storm. So what the hell happened?!

I told my mom, who said, ‘Oh man, the woman you are sending it to is going to be so disappointed to see that.’

New Hat

Don’t think I didn’t think of it! But of course I can’t send someone a hat that looks like I used it to clean up cat puke. The second hat, however, is going a little slower. Once you finish a project it is hard to get the motivation to start the same exact thing over again.

Have you ever had a similar knitting disaster?

But I’ll finish it this afternoon, NOT block it on the radiator, and hopefully it will be dry by Thursday.

Breakfast Makes it Better

I always turn to pancakes when I’m feeling sad/sick/like I want to kill someone, and these pancakes with my mom’s apple  butter and potatoes made me feel better.

Homemade Tuna Helper

So does Homemade Tuna Helper. I don’t know what it is about shell shaped pasta. It just makes me feel so good. And I love when my food pictures have yarn in them.

Cabled Belt

The yarn next to dinner is from the Cabled Belt from the 2008 Winter issue of Vogue Knitting.

Picture in the Magazine

I have been lazily knitting it because I don’t plan on wearing it until New Years Eve. How fun is it to plan an outfit around a belt?!

The only people on Ravelry to knit it have used gold or grey yarn, but when I saw the picture I knew it had to be in a bright color. The cable pattern is very intuitive and it is knitting up quickly despite the size 5 needles I’m using.

And yes, I’m keeping this belt as far away from the radiator as I possibly can!

Somewhere in the haze of crippling migraine, neck and shoulder pain, I knit this hat!

Kinda Want to Keep It!

Yesterday didn’t even exist for me. It was like a blip on the radar of the week that shouldn’t have amounted to a real day, other than this hat.

Tuesday night I had a bad headache that I thought was the result of my favorite Detroit Tiger being traded to the dirty Yankees on top of a lingering cold/flu thing that I’ve had since Thanksgiving weekend, but it got progressively worse overnight. Every time I moved in my sleep I would be jarred away by throbbing head pain. It was terrible! I woke up for real Wednesday morning hardly able to look outside, my head hurt so bad. And I never get headaches! Well, other than when I accidentally concussed myself a few weeks ago. That sucked. But that was nothing compared to this pain!

Right? You would want to keep it, too!

So I watched most Undeclared, The Series and knit this hat for Kate, one of the winners of my Custom Knit Gift Giveaway.  I already had the yarn she wanted so it worked out great!

Slouchy and Adorable!

And you can see my new hair color! I like to darken it a little in the winter, to make me look even paler than you would think humanly possible. And I’ve got insane gray hair I need to manage before holiday parties start!

I followed my Slouchy Beret Pattern, making the large size because my gauge with this yarn was a little small. I have no idea what this yarn is! I bought it ages ago for a project that never got made and it has no tag. I’m pretty sure it is wool, and probably some hybrid of the Lion Brand Wool-Ease Bulky and Wool-Ease Worsted, but it isn’t as thick as the bulky that exists now.

It is an oldie and a goodie, and a Christmas miracle it turned out so perfectly! I’m mailing it out this weekend for you, Katie. Hope you enjoy it!

Like I mentioned when I finished her cute hand warmers, Rachel doesn’t celebrate Christmas, which should have registered with me in the grand knitting time line. Hanukkah starts tomorrow! A full two weeks before Christmas. And five days before her birthday. I should have been on her Hanukkah present well before this past weekend.

Cabled Glass Covers

Luckily these knit up really quick!

I started with the white one, a 24 oz salsa jar, and this Design*Sponge entry. The original pattern is part of One More Skein: 30 Quick Projects to Knit by Leigh Radford. If you click on the Design*Sponge link you will find three patterns for these glass covers. Kinda.

From Published Pattern, copied from Design*Sponge:

Change to US 8 needles

Rnd 35-38: *P2, k6; rep to end.

Rnd 39: BO all sts.

Change to US 8 needle and work St st for six rnds (approx. 1 1/4″).

Dec rnd: *k4, k2tog; rep from * to end of rnd.

Work even in St st for 12 rnds (approx. 2″)

So, you bind off all stitches then change to size 8 needles and work in St st?

I ended up just kind of winging it. I thought the increases were oddly and unnecessarily complicated, too.

Fun Cables!

So after finishing the white cover with size 8 needles and worsted weight yarn, I pulled out my size 4s and knit the red one in a tighter gauge. The white and red covers have the same number of stitches. Fancy, right? The red jar is a 28 oz salsa jar.

For the brown cover I stuck with the size 4s, increased to the same number of stitches (48), but only did one cable. The jar is a little yeast jar with a more gradual decrease for the lip, so I decreased gradually so the cover fit snuggly.

I think they turned out great! I was keeping my needles in the white jar as I was working on other project this week. And wouldn’t the small one be great for buttons and paper clips? I also like how they were used in the Design*Sponge post as vases. I think Rachel will use at least one of them for flowers, torso.

PT always says to write a lot about nothing at the beginning of these posts because he follows this blog on his Google Reader, so he gets a few sentences fed to him before he has a chance to mark the entry as read. The problem is that I don’t have a lot more to say about PT’s sweater!

When we last visited PT’s Modified Cambridge Jacket I had finished it but I was very worried about the potential monkey-like length of the sleeves.

Oh no.

Remember?

To take my mind off that I attached the toggle buttons!

Buttons!

I’m glad I decided to go with buttons and not the half zipper. While out shopping with PT a couple weeks ago he went on a rampage about how half zippers have no point. ‘If it is going to be a pullover, be a pullover! If it is going to be a zip up, be a zip up. Half zippers are like the worst of both worlds.’

Dodged a bullet with that one.

However when I slyly pointed out a similar sweater to this Modified Cambridge Jacket, he said, ‘I just don’t know if I could pull that off.’ I never really know what people mean when they say that, but I don’t think it is good.

Well, the sweater is wrapped and under the tree, so we can only wait and see for the final decision. Damn you, sweater curse. Damn you.