The Sweatshop of Love Blog

Feet? Check.

HOTT? Check.

I got a sweet idea while I was getting ready to go out Friday night! I know some knitters have trouble styling their knits, I sure did when I first started knitting. So why not show examples of how I wear my knits to help show how easy they are to work into perfectly normal outfits?!

Enter: Style Your Knits!

(I should have thought of this when I was rocking my bow headband on New Years Eve, but better late than never)

OOhhh Belt!

So here we’ve got my cabled party belt that I finished last week worn over an Alternative Apparel tshirt PT won off a blog contest and didn’t like and under a black cardigan.

Full Disclosure: I was worried about the belt slipping off since there was no real way to secure it, since it’s not a belt buckle but a purse handle, so I used some bobby pins to make sure it didn’t go anywhere. This was a great decision! There is no way it would have stayed on all night otherwise.

Also, it was really hard to sit in. When I sat down it would slide up unattractively because the buckle was so big.

Worth it? DUH look how cute I look.

Feet: HOTT

And here we’ve got some purple toe up socks I knit over the summer with purple peep toe heels I bought a million years ago at Target. They are Isaac Mizrahi for Target, that is how long ago I bought them. I went a little crazy because all the snow is melting and it was like 25 degrees Friday night! I love how my long jeans look with these shoes.

There you have it! I styled those hand knits and I can safely say that no one in the world was wearing the same outfit I was wearing on Friday. I love that about making my own clothes.

Shirt: Alternative Apparel deep V

Sweater: Kohls

Belt: Hand knit by me, Vogue Knitting pattern

Jeans: New York & Company low-rise bootcut

Shoes: Isaac Mizrahi for Target

Socks: Hand knit by me, my own toe-up sock pattern

Remember almost a month ago when I started this Vogue Cabled Belt? I finished the knitting part ages ago but hadn’t put it together until this weekend.

A Little Hot Glue Fixes Everything

I needed a purse handle to use as the buckle that I kept forgetting to pick up. I also picked up a little dowel rod, cut it to size, and hot glued it to the back of the purse handle.

And it warranted a little fashion show!

Party Belt in Action

Finishing this belt made me wish I would have pulled it together in time for New Years Eve like I was intending!

It even looks cute with a print.

And From the Back!

It was challenging to wrap the yarn around the purse handle and get it to stay put in the corners. I hot glued it into place and it was still moving around.

But I couldn’t be happier with the final result! It will be a really fun way to jazz up these old dresses I’ve had hanging in my closet for years.

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!