The Sweatshop of Lovers Blog

Governors Island is a tiny island between Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Staten Island that use to be a military base but is now just full of empty buildings, walking and biking paths, a few stores, and lots of park.

Free Ferry to Governors Island!

PT and I took the free ferry from Brooklyn over there on Saturday and it was awesome.

Southern Manhattan from Governors Island

If there was nothing on the island but views of New York City it would be worth going.

Staten Island Ferry and Lady Liberty

The Brooklyn Bridge

Me and PT

We walked the 5 miles around the island seeing what there was to see: TONS of bikers and picnic-ers, empty dorm-like military housing, artist take overs of empty fields, and food carts.

PB & Js, Oreos, and Apples

We packed our lunch.

Sandwich with a View

And enjoyed our seaside picnic!

Inside an Empty Governors Island Mansion

A few of the old mansions that housed the important military families were open for walkthroughs and turned into museums and stores.

Etsy Store!

Including this surprising Etsy store in one of the houses!

Fort Jay at Governors Island

And Fort Jay still sits waiting for an attack by sea.

The entire island is screaming for a reality show if you ask me. Throw some people in those haunted military housing buildings or costume people and have them live like they did in 1890 or something.

Tear down the feral houses and build some billion dollar condos! Or tear them down and make the entire island a huge park. It’s very strange that most of this prime New York City real estate has been left exactly like it was when the coast guard left like 15 years ago, and some even before that when the military base closed in the 60s.

Manhattan from the Ferry back to Brooklyn

Pack some sandwiches and check out Governors Island before someone gets wise and stops letting the NYC peasants like me and PT get there for free, have an amazing afternoon of Statue of Liberty gazing for free, and then get home for free.

Seriously, Governors Island, I’m going to start thinking I’m back in the Midwest if you keep this up.

I’m not a shopper, really. When I go to a store I go with a list of things I need and I don’t mess around. I thought I was like this because I budget well, I’m very determined to spend wisely, I try to be very practical, and don’t buy things I don’t need.

I found out Thursday that I have just been going to the wrong stores my whole life.

Button Store!

Grisel, a friend of mine from Chicago, is in New York City for a while and she was my perfect excuse to finally make it to a bunch of crafty stores I’ve been wanting to go to since I started knitting. She knits, sews, and even has a interest in cross stitch, AND she lived in New York for years so she knows her way around.

It was the perfect storm!

Buttons as Far as the Eye Could See

We started at Tender Buttons because Grisel needed buttons for her finished Baby Sweater Buffet and I lost the button off my red skirt. I didn’t pack a lot of clothes so loosing that skirt was a big hit to the wardrobe.

Button Obtained!

Lion Brand Yarn Studio NYC

Once our buttons were obtained we were off to the Lion Brand Yarn Studio, which had the most amazing window display I’ve ever seen! A big beach and carnival display and, of course, everything was knit or crocheted.

Knitted Elephant!

So yeah, I was kind of sold on the place before I even got through the door.

I Need This in My House

Exclusive Yarn!

The Lion Brand Studio has every kind of Lion Brand yarn displayed beautifully and priced reasonably. They have yarn that isn’t available anywhere else, too! I picked up a skein of their Superwash Merino in Dijon, a color I’m going to be obsessed with this fall.

Purl SoHo!

Next up was Purl SoHo, the store portion of the blog I absolutely love.

Fabric! And Yarn!

I have never been to a store that had something I’m passionately interested in occupying every inch of it until now. Every book, ever bolt of fabric, every skein of yarn I loved.

Yarn Things! Embroidery Floss!

I could easily pack up one of everything at Purl SoHo and be happy rolling over it all laying in a big pile for the rest of my life.

We spent an embarrassing amount of time looking at everything EVERYTHING everything in this store.

Look Familiar?

One of the fun parts of being in the store was finding all of the projects she has featured on her blog placed around the shop. Like this needlepoint canvas!

Wall of Blog Projects!

She had a lot of them displayed in bookcases around the shop.

Final Stop! Brooklyn General

Our final destination was Brooklyn General Store and, I’m sad to say, this is the only picture I took. I was still in store shock from Purl, I think, and we had been running around shopping for like seven hours at this point.

I will be back, though! They had these cute turtle buttons I haven’t stopped thinking about and an amazing price on Cascade 220 I want to take advantage of.

The Days Bounty

Sadly, just because I visited these places doesn’t mean I had a ton of money to burn or, more importantly, any space whatsoever in either PT’s apartment or my suitcases. But I did pick up some essentials. That skein of dijon at Lion Brand, my skirt button from Tender Buttons, needles and thread from Purl SoHo to attach the button and do a couple other mending jobs I’ve developed since living here, and one of those fancy tiny measuring tapes I’ve always wanted, also from Purl.

A HUGE thanks to Grisel for being the best crafty shopping partner an out of town girl could ask for. I had the best time and could do it again tomorrow. And the next day. And the day after that!

~~~

PS: I totally got accepted into the DIY Trunk Show this year! Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 20th because not only is the DIY Trunk Show really fun and full of amazing crafty vendors, this year I get to be one of them!

Do you want a chance to win a Sweatshop knitting pattern? The lovely Amy at @threadpanda is hosting a giveaway! Go show her some love!

I haven’t taught a class since June 29th and I’m excited to hang out with knitters tomorrow! I hope you are planning on joining me at Floyd NY at 131 Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn tomorrow, Thursday August 12th at 7pm for some knitting bar fun!

Can’t make it tomorrow? We’ll be meeting again for:

Knitting in the Park

Picnic knitting is a blast! Can you think of anything sweeter than sipping lemonade in the sunshine while knitting away? Swing by McCarren Park in Brooklyn Saturday, August 28th at 2pm with a blanket and your latest project for some outdoor knitting and sunbathing. We’ll be near the corner of Union and Bayard, just knitting away!

~~~

Both of these events will be opportunities for you to come with your knitting questions; with patterns you need help reading, with techniques you can’t figure out, with projects you are stuck on.

Haven’t knit in years? We’ll get you started again! Knitting expert? Come and make some new knitting friends!

Sound like fun? It will be! Forward this to people you think would be interested. Email me at allyson [at] thesweatshopoflove [dot] com if you are planning on coming or if you’ve got any questions.

I can’t wait to knit with you!

Allyson

Last weekend we celebrated the 4th with my favorite food.

PIE!

This tradition was started last year, and we couldn’t wait to revisit it.

Who wouldn’t want to sit in the park eating nothing but pie and drinking nothing but coordinating alcoholic drinks?

Katie, Rachael, and Brian

I made Bailey’s Chocolate Mousse Pie with Bailey’s Iced Coffee, which both turned out awesome!

Gil, Martin, Andy, Katie, and Tara

Other pie and alcohol combinations included spaghetti pie and beer, chocolate pudding pie and raspberry beer, chocolate cheese cake pie with raspberry vodka and cokes, lemon cream pie and blueberry pie with blueberry vodka and raspberry liquor.

Ann

We moved from Logan Blvd to Palmer Park, just to mix things up. We needed all the shade Palmer Park had to offer because it was HOT that afternoon!

Tara, Rachel, and I; Pic by Brian

See? Brian's Picture!

Big Pieapalooza Mess

Everyone got super full of sugar and happily drunk on sugary drinks and beer!

Table! Hi-Tech Drink Containers! Pic by Brian

We were much higher tech than last year. Ann even brought a TABLE on her BIKE! It was fantastic.

The Second Annual Pieapalooza was a huge success!

I love when successes are measured by how full and drunk everyone gets.

Last week I experienced the best mail day of my life.

I don’t look forward to getting the mail really. Mostly there is just junk mail in there. Or, worse than junk mail, NOTHING. Empty mail box is like a punch in the face.

So when I opened my mailbox to find TWO PACKAGES, you can imagine my surprise.

Ohh!!

First up was a package from Rachel, owner of the yarn and fiber shop On The Round (and fun tweeter!). She held a yarn giveaway on her blog and I was the lucky winner!

Package of Patchwork!

Inside was this beautiful skein of her Patchwork yarn, a lil note, a tea bag, and one of Rachel’s cute cards.

SO PRETTY!

This is not the first time I’ve won yarn in a giveaway. I am just that lucky!

A HUGE huge thank you to Rachel for hosting the giveaway and for sending me this beautiful yarn! I can’t wait to use it!

The second package was from Amy at Things We Make. You remember I made this Icord Friendship Bracelet for Amy’s friendship bracelet swap? Well, I got mine!

Friendship Bracelets!

Melissa at the blog Little Messy Missy made me two bracelets and sent me a cute Barbie postcard!

So Cute!

I’ve been wearing the red and teal one since I got it in the mail. I love red and teal and it was kind of a play on the traditional red, white, and blue Independence Day colors.

Thanks so much Melissa!

I haven’t heard from the woman that received my bracelet, but hopefully she is just a little behind, like me, and not just super disappointed that she didn’t get a more traditional friendship bracelet.

Can you think of a better mail day? Me either!

Saturday, June 12th was World Wide Knit in Public Day, and we over at The Sweatshop of Love celebrated in style.

Celebrating World Wide Knit in Public Day

Ann, Laura (in her Fitted Knits Tunic!), Rachael, and Tara were all hard at work on their projects while sipping iced tea and beers at Street Side Cafe, who were lovely hosts.

Fitted Knits Tunic, Entrelac Scarf

Here is another look at Laura’s cute tunic. And she is rocking out to a Sweatshop Twin Cities Anklet Knit Kit! Rachel is working on a really fun entrelac scarf. Scared of entrelac? The fall class schedule is going to be crazy into entrelac so just wait!

Action Shot!

Grisel is diligently working on the boring part of her toe up sock (post heel turn – gah!), and I dragged Katie along, too. How long can she live with me and not learn to knit? Current count: 8 days.

Gil, Grisel, and Me!

Tara took some pics, too.

Ohh Cute Shirt!

(I rocked out my The Loop Entrelac Top for the occasion!)

As always, World Wide Knit in Public Day was a blast. Any excuse to pull my knitting out at the bar! Thanks to everyone who came out!

It’s been nuts around here! Between Colleen’s Wedding, PT (who skipped town two months ago for work) visiting from NYC, and the Summer Tour 2010 Ebook launch, I haven’t really known which way is up for a few days.

Remember This Guy?

Thanks to all who voted for which dress I should wear to the wedding! As you can see, the blue dress won out. Red ruffles came in a close second, but my concerns about the divorce curse rang true with others as well, and why risk it? And paired with my Detroit Tigers Bow Headband I couldn’t go wrong!

PT Looking at a Menu, Naturally

PT flew in to Chicago Saturday morning and almost immediately we had to start the pilgrimage to St Charles, IL. An overheating car/stranded at Starbucks/very late to wedding/emergency stop to 7-11 for ice cream bars later, we made it to Pheasant Run Resort, where PT quickly busied himself with finding terrible room service pizza deals for later.

Jeff and Shawna

I was not a very good photographer Saturday night.

Chad and Sarah

I took like four pictures, and not a single one with the bride or groom. We ate, we danced, we drank, but mostly PT and I just caught up while chillin’ on the porch overlooking the golf course.

PT+Bloody Mary=Happy PT

And the rest of the weekend was pretty much spent the same way. We ate, we drank, we danced, we ate. And ate. And ate.

My Brain: Ebook? Ebook? Ebook? What? Ebook? What?

PT headed back to NYC Tuesday, and I busied myself with promoting the ebook and getting my apartment ready for my friend Katie, who will be moving in with me Monday for the summer.

Whew. Not a lot on the docket for the next few days and I really couldn’t be more excited about it. Thanks to everyone who has bought/tweeted/commented/faved/geeked out over the patterns in the ebook! It has been a ton of fun checking my email these last few days.

Very rarely do I watch rising temperatures with dread. I love hot weather! But my plan of wearing the Built by Wendy Mini Dress I made a few weeks ago to Colleen’s wedding tomorrow flew out the window when I noticed an 82 degree forecast! Tights and 82 degrees just don’t mix, and that dress is too short to be running around in without tights on underneath.

Luckily I’ve got options. Too many options. That is where you come in! Please help me pick a dress to wear tomorrow!

The Deal: It’s a Catholic wedding with a not super stuffy reception at a country club in the Chicago burbs later in the evening.

1. Vintage Rose Butterfly Top Dress

Vintage Rose Dress

Vintage Rose Dress

I ran across this dress in a thrift store and snagged it for $6. It’s really flattering and fun! I’m not super excited about the color, but I think it grows on you.

From the Back

The back is just as pretty as the front!

Close Up of Front

2. Vintage Red Ruffle Dress

Vintage Red Ruffle Dress

Vintage Red Ruffle Dress

I got this dress years and years ago at Ragstock and pull it out every now and then because it’s so fun! Again, it’s super flattering and I love the bright red.

From the Back

The ruffle continues around the back and the belt ties in the back.

Fun Top Ruffles!

I don’t know what the rules are, but in the interest of full disclosure I wore this dress to a wedding about four years ago and that couple is totally divorced now. I’d hate to blame the dress, but it might have some bad wedding karma?

3. Vintage Navy Belted Dress

Vintage Navy Belted Dress

Vintage Navy Belted Dress

Not as flashy as the first two, this dress is still one of my favorites. I picked it up last year at a yard sale for $5 and it fit so perfectly when I got home that I didn’t take it off for three days.

It’s classy and flattering and silky and simple. And needs a good ironing.

From the Back

It also, apparently, makes my ass look smokin’!

Front Gathers

And there you have it! Three very warm weather appropriate dresses. Which one should I wear?

Adam and Emily

It is hard to wrap my head around the fact that my brother is totally married. Like, MARRIED married; like a real person gets married.

I’m a little slow with changes. I still have a hard time believing I’m an adult, much less that my retarded little brother is one. I’m surprised when I’m allowed in bars, and that I have to buy myself bras. I feel like I’m going to be found out for the 12 year old I am at any moment. But if I’m 12, then Adam is 10, and he for sure shouldn’t be getting married at 10.

But he isn’t 10. He is 24 and the size of a professional wrestler.

So, Adam, congratulations. Way to be an adult. Way to get MARRIED!

Now I’ve got Barbies to go play with. And Full House is on.

I don’t like leaving the house when it’s cold, and if there is football on forget it. So this weekend was the perfect storm: sub 0 temps, college bowl games, and week 17 of the NFL.

I got home New Years Day at about 2am and didn’t leave again until 8 this morning. That is 78 hours! By far a new hermit record for me.

A long standing tradition in the Allyson household is ridiculous amounts of pizza eating and football watching on New Years Day. PT and I continued this tradition in style.

Caramelized Onion and Pineapple

Olives, Bacon, and Pineapple

Artichoke Hearts and White Cheddar

Caramelized Onion and Artichoke Hearts

Am I right?

And somehow Saturday night we were feeling up for more drinking so we invited some friends over for game night!

Caitlin and Keith and Mexican Train Dominoes

Frank and Dan Love Each Other

Jamie and David Love Their Iphones More Than Games

Caitlin is Harnessing the Power of the Deer Leg

PT is Too Fast for the Camera

I got a lot of work done, too. My January Sweater is coming along swimmingly! I had a lot of knitting to do in preparation for my Winter Class Schedule that will be published on Wednesday, and I had a TON of sewing to do. But more about that later.

I better go get working on that schedule. I like to tell people when I’m going to get things done in the hopes of then actually accomplishing them.

And I know the blog has been a little cat heavy lately, but I just spent 78 hours with the little guys so you can’t really blame me for taking pictures, right?

Pudge Rodriguez

Could you die? With the tongue out! Ohh she just kills me.