The Sweatshop of Love Blog http://www.thesweatshopoflove.com/blog The Sweatshop of Love Blog celebrates every aspect of knitting - from finding a pattern to finishing a project. I publish my own patterns, share everything on my needles, and help knitters of all skill levels get excited about knitting. Never snobby, I use creativity and ingenuity to create finished projects for less. More than anything, The Sweatshop of Lover's Blog LOVES knitting and wants to make you love it, too. Wed, 16 May 2012 13:28:20 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 FO: Lace Striped Summer Sweater http://www.thesweatshopoflove.com/blog/2012/05/16/fo-lace-striped-summer-sweater/ http://www.thesweatshopoflove.com/blog/2012/05/16/fo-lace-striped-summer-sweater/#comments Wed, 16 May 2012 13:28:17 +0000 Allyson http://www.thesweatshopoflove.com/blog/?p=7993

I finished this sweater weeks ago and have been wearing it pretty much every time I leave the house, just never when I also have my camera on me. Until this weekend!

Stash Buster!

I blogged about starting this sweater almost a month ago, and it’s such a ridiculously quick knit I’ve had it finished for almost that long. If I didn’t have a lot of projects lined up right now I’d knit more in different colors. It’s so fun and easy to wear.

From the Back

I changed colors while working the last lace row of each section, not the St st row, and I love the way this looks. You can see that it looks like the colors are tied together. This fun detail makes me wish I could make one with stripes of different colors for all sections. Someday!

Three Stripes Will Have To Do

For now I’m just happy to have this tee, now in desperate need of a wash, to wear all summer long.

Pattern: WORK+SHELTER Lace Striped Tee by Allyson Dykhuizen

Yarn: Knit Picks Comfy Worsted in Sea Foam and Ivory, and Knit Picks CotLin in Tomato

Needles: Size 9 24″ and 16″ circulars

Ravelry Project Page

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]]> http://www.thesweatshopoflove.com/blog/2012/05/16/fo-lace-striped-summer-sweater/feed/ 3 Shepherd’s Harvest http://www.thesweatshopoflove.com/blog/2012/05/14/shepherds-harvest/ http://www.thesweatshopoflove.com/blog/2012/05/14/shepherds-harvest/#comments Mon, 14 May 2012 13:43:23 +0000 Allyson http://www.thesweatshopoflove.com/blog/?p=7985

Saturday Lily, Courtney, and I got up early and found our way through the Minnesota farmland out to Lake Elmo to check out Shepherd’s Harvest, a fiber festival so close to Minneapolis we couldn’t help but check out.

shepherds harvest yarn

Lily and LOTS of Yarn!

It was a ton of fun. There was yarn everywhere, really beautiful yarn, and a ton of people really excited about talking to you about their really beautiful yarn. However, this is the only picture of yarn I took the entire day.

BUNNY!

Nothing holds a candle to cuddly animals, and Shepherd’s Harvest was full of them.

SHEEP!

It was a perfect storm: cute animals, beautiful yarn, fair foods, all on a sunny warm day. We had an awesome time to say the least.

Courtney and the Naked Llama

I’ve got projects lined up through October so I was not shopping for yarn, but I did pick up a long purse handle from Homestead Heirlooms, and can’t wait to work up a purse to attach it to.

This was my first ever fiber festival and I can’t wait to go to more! There aren’t a ton of them near me in the Midwest, but I’ll be making a point to seek them out from now on.

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]]> http://www.thesweatshopoflove.com/blog/2012/05/14/shepherds-harvest/feed/ 1 Getting Desperate http://www.thesweatshopoflove.com/blog/2012/05/11/getting-desperate/ http://www.thesweatshopoflove.com/blog/2012/05/11/getting-desperate/#comments Fri, 11 May 2012 12:54:45 +0000 Allyson http://www.thesweatshopoflove.com/blog/?p=7979

That awkward moment when the only place left to store yarn is in and around the toilet paper in the closet.

Yarn and Toilet Paper

Yeah it looks like a mess, but there is a method to the madness in there somewhere. It’s been a little quiet around here, but things are brewing!

And please note that we keep the Twins hat next to the toilet paper, too. FOR A REASON!

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]]> http://www.thesweatshopoflove.com/blog/2012/05/11/getting-desperate/feed/ 3 Handmade MN http://www.thesweatshopoflove.com/blog/2012/05/07/handmade-mn/ http://www.thesweatshopoflove.com/blog/2012/05/07/handmade-mn/#comments Mon, 07 May 2012 15:46:44 +0000 Allyson http://www.thesweatshopoflove.com/blog/?p=7974

This weekend I swung by Handmade MN, a handmade market just a few blocks away from my apartment in Minneapolis. My friend Kate of Knits in Class, who supplied yarn for my Umbre Lovre Holla Knits tee, had a booth there, and I helped her out at the beginning of the day.

Kate's Beautiful Yarn

It was really fun to be at a show, buy some stuff from other vendors, and then go home. The show had great variety and a ton of enthusiastic vendors and shoppers, which made being there even more fun.

Mini Skeins

Find Knits in Class online, Kate’s blog, and on twitter.

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]]> http://www.thesweatshopoflove.com/blog/2012/05/07/handmade-mn/feed/ 3 Knit Picks Podcast and Holla Knits Giveaway http://www.thesweatshopoflove.com/blog/2012/05/03/knit-picks-podcast-and-holla-knits-giveaway/ http://www.thesweatshopoflove.com/blog/2012/05/03/knit-picks-podcast-and-holla-knits-giveaway/#comments Thu, 03 May 2012 17:41:55 +0000 Allyson http://www.thesweatshopoflove.com/blog/?p=7971

I’ve loved Knit Picks since the very first day I discovered them because they are all about bringing knitting to the masses by making quality yarns affordable. I use Knit Picks yarn in most of my independent designs because when you knit as much as I do your yarn needs to be easy to get and easy on the wallet. I became a part of the Knit Picks Independent Designer Program a while back, and in doing that became friends with Stacey Winklepleck, the Knit Picks Relationship Manager. Today’s blog stop hits both the Knit Picks blog Stash complete with Holla Knits ebook giveaway and the Knit Picks podcast, where I get to chat with Stacey about The Sweatshop of Love and Holla Knits!

Hit the Holla Knits ebook giveaway on Stash here.

Listen to me and Stacey chat at the Knit Picks Podcast here.

And huge thank you to Knit Picks and Stacey for being so supportive and enthusiastic about me and Holla Knits!

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