The Sweatshop of Love Blog

Target!

You know something is wrong when it is 12:30pm and you’ve been awake for 9 hours.

6AM!

Or something is amazingly RIGHT! I can’t really see the keyboard right now and I’ve lost track of how many cups of coffee I’ve had (Biggby!), but I totally snagged $1.50 towels, a $25 microwave, and $14 flannel sheets this morning.

Don’t judge. Black Friday is awesome. When I’m wearing my $4 tights I’ll be thinking of you sleeping, and me WINNING!

Meijer at 5AM

The only time I felt a little silly was when we got to Meijer and people are standing in line for TVs and PS3s and I make a beeline for…

Beets in Bulk!

I’m pretty sure I’m the only person to buy beets on Black Friday. My mom needs her beet risotto!

Pudge Rodriguez Loves Books

PT and I made it safely to Michigan yesterday during the most amazing game the Lions have played in … three years? Four? EVER? Even my mom got into it, losing radio coverage as time was expiring, moments before Matt Stafford threw his FIFTH touchdown of the game to win it!

Sorry.

Look at Pudge Rodriguez! She loves Coop, our book club book for December 7th. Can you believe I left her in Chicago?

I slept a ton yesterday and have finally recovered from the Yarn Crawl. And knit these!

Hand Warmers!

I bought some beautiful cashmere merino wool blend yarn on the Yarn Crawl Saturday specifically to whip these up as a birthday present for my friend Rachel. (Rachel doesn’t celebrate Christmas AND they are her birthday present, so the title of the post is completely off, but I wanted to keep the gift format. Silly? Oh yes.)

YO Lacy Diagnals

The pattern is CreativeYarn’s Diagonal Eyelet Hand Warmers. It was very easy to follow, clearly written, free, and they turned out super cute!

The Perfect Size

I made no modifications to the pattern other than I used size 7 needles. The Ravelry Project Page is here.

Buttons

I was on the fence about the buttons. Everyone is randomly adding buttons to things for no reason and I don’t know why. These buttons serve no purpose other than to CUTE!

Yeah... It's Cute

And they do cute. I get it! I’m ok with it! The gray and the pink are really cute together. I hope Rachel likes them!

Warm Hands

Does the lighting and background look familiar? That is right! I’m sitting in Biggby Coffee in Allendale, Michigan, using their free internet and sipping their Cinnamon-Toffee flavored coffee. When I finish up here I’m going to pick up my grandparents and head to Perkins for brunch. Then we are going to the mall! It’s a good old fashioned day off in West Michigan!

Back from a long weekend in Michigan and I’m feeling big/tired/groggy/just totally out of it.

I don’t sleep much when I’m at my mom’s house. I stay up late watching TV and hanging with my mom (I blame the Tivo – it’s just too amazing to stop watching at a reasonable hour), and I get up early so I don’t miss anything. My mom is an early riser, so by 7, or 6 central time, I’m up and at ‘em! And then it’s go go go all day long.

Cropped Jacket at Biggby

And I ate very poorly. Lots of sweets and pizza and cheesy potatoes. My body is so mad at me. I’m sore with no reason for it! It’s not like I got any exercise at all.

And I didn’t do a very good job of taking pictures, either! I pulled the camera out at Biggby because I was wearing the Vogue Cropped Jacket I worked so hard on while I was home and working away on at Biggby every day a few weeks ago.

Notice how my buttons are a little floppy? I need to reinforce them with some more yarn in the backs of them. Otherwise, I love this sweater! I wore it at least a little bit every day I was home.

PT Loves Biggby!

While PT checked his email (and celebrated the delicious Biggby coffee!)…

Early Stocking

… I worked on my stocking. I started it Saturday because I couldn’t work on anything else, with my mom being around all the time, and PT’s present would be a no go.

Moving Right Along!

Aren’t they coming out so well? That light green was exactly what I was looking for. The contrast between that light green and the red is perfect! Christmas-y, but not hit you in the face Christmas-y.

Oat Bowl!

Tomato Sandwich and Cheesy Potato Leftovers

In Michigan PT and I shopped like people going into hiding for the winter. I’m pretty sure we won’t have to go grocery shopping for months! The combination of Michigan prices, fresh Michigan produce, and having a car are just too much for us to handle.

Let the detox begin! It was so nice to have an oat bowl this morning with fresh Michigan peaches and grapes!

My lunch today was a tomato sandwich with my mom’s tomato, romaine, a little miracle whip and a pickle, with a side of leftover cheesy potatoes.

I’ve got so many veggies in my fridge my brain is exploding trying to think of what to make for dinner! Best problem ever.

Velma

Pudge

Kitties say, ‘Please come home so PT will stop torturing us.’

I leave tomorrow for Chicago. Have I done anything I set out to do? Absolutely not. I kept up with my blogging. I didn’t gain any weight, which leads me to believe that I have a tape worm.

Sleeves!

I knit the whole body and sleeves of my Vogue Cropped Jacket that I wasn’t supposed to be knitting.

Mommy

Zucchini, Green Pepper, Carrot Pasta

And I made my mom some veggie pasta with the tomatoes, like I’ve been making myself at home. As you can see, she liked it!

So I’m just wrapping some things up here at Biggby for the last time. It’s treated me well! Creme Brule coffee this morning again, which I think is my favorite.

On my way out tomorrow I’ll stop by and get some fresh produce, a few more groceries, then hit the road. This trip has flown by, like most vacations.

The party continues, though! My friend Elizabeth from my year at Adrian College is coming to Chicago and it’s going to be crazy! I can use a little craziness after this easy breezy Allendale visit.

Chicago, here I come!

I woke up this morning at 6. I made pickles. I still smell like pickles; you can’t get that smell out of your hands. Like garlic. Or lemon.

Pickles are not something you  make by yourself. Making pickles is ridiculous, and Oliver and Batley just didn’t appreciate the ridiculousness of making pickles at 6am to the extent I needed them to.

And I did something stupid.

Work? No Thanks, I'll Start A Sweater

I started the Vogue Cropped Jacket. Yesterday. As you can see, I made some progress, because I don’t want to do anything but knit this sweater. I didn’t even turn my computer on at all yesterday. Get this! I READ THE PAPER to get scores. I felt like such an old dude.

Seed St Bottom, Bell St Body

My mom and I ran to Hobby Lobby yesterday morning, through torrential rain, to pick up Lion Brand Fishermen’s Wool in the dark tweed, and of course I can’t just sit and do some actual work, like I’m supposed to be doing, I have to start my sweater, and not stop working on it for one moment.

Isn’t it pretty?

I’m at Biggby this morning. Made pickles, came to Biggby. I’ve been sitting here for about an hour and a half now; I’m the only one sitting, and I 3 couples have come and gone. Sunday morning in Allendale is not a big morning for coffee, apparently. And everyone has said the exact same thing:

Coffee Guy: Morning!

Man: It’s a hot one out there!

Coffee Guy: Iced coffee? Haha!

Man and Woman: Haha!

Woman: Iced ___________

(Coffee Guy makes drink): This will help you stay cool!

Man: We’ll need it! Haha!

Woman and Coffee Guy: Haha!

Have I mentioned how much I love it here? I got a small coffee, and when I moseyed over to the self serve area I found the Michigan Cherry medium roast. Halla! It is delightful.

'Sunday' Dinner

I’m extraordinarily lucky to have grandparents I’m very close to and that live 15 minutes away from my parents. They have been coming over on Sunday afternoons to eat a huge meal and play cards for as long as I can remember. We moved our Sunday meal up a day this weekend because today is supposed to be 95 degrees and my parents don’t have air conditioning in the cabin. The ‘Sunday’ dinner spread was my papa’s potato salad, which is the best potato salad in the entire world and has spoiled me away from every other potato salad there is, that huge fruit salad, grilled potatoes, and grilled lemon pepper chicken.

And please take a moment to stare with amazement at my mom’s table runner! She knit that with her yarn scraps. The contrast of that table runner on the dark wood immediately catches your eye and lights up the entire room.

My Plate

Here is a closer look at her work! And my plate. I had a heeping serving of both potato salad and potatoes, with ketchup, and a few pieces of the grilled chicken. And a lot of fruit salad! The fruit salad had watermelon, blueberries, nectarines, early apples, and apricots all from Michigan, and grapes, but I’m not sure where the grapes came from.

I whipped up the marinate from the chicken with the zest of four lemons, the juice of 6 lemons, maybe a tablespoon of olive oil, and a whole lot of pepper.

(And my mom is going to kill me, but I have to point out that the woman uses paper plates, paper bowls, and beautiful hand made by her cloth napkins. The ridiculousness of that is exactly why I love my mother so much. Of course she would use the napkins she made because they are beautiful and look great with the table runner she made, but she doesn’t want to wash all those dishes. It’s logical and ridiculous.)

I also finished my second Two Texture Mitten in 24 hours, because today is my grandma’s birthday and I wanted to give them to her. Unfortunately my camera ran out of batteries and the battery charger is at home, so I won’t be able to take a picture of them, of her, or of the brunch we are about to have at The Peppermill Grill, (Papa: The Butter Wagon, The Butterball. Dad: The Buttermill. Matthew: The Butterbutt – I don’t know where they all got butter from) which has a yelp page now! But no reviews. (cough, PT, cough)

Church Wear: A dude in his early 20s just walked into Biggby wearing tan flip flops, white cargo shorts with a newspaper sticking out of his back pocket, a tan fabric belt, a black button down with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and a silver tie. Oh! And he ordered an iced peanut butter cup latte.

I’ve got to pack up quick if I’m going to catch him before he jumps back into the Jeep Grand Cherokee he took the time to back into a parking spot for a 30 second stop at the coffee shop!