The Sweatshop of Love Blog

Problems

I mentioned this weekend that, worst case scenario, my Tigers and PT’s Twins would be facing off in a one game playoff to be the champions of the division.

Worst Case Scenario. Hi. How are you? Oh, you are taking place TODAY AT 4:07?!

This is only the 9th time in the history of baseball that a game 163 was required to see who was going to the playoffs. So yeah, it’s kind of a big deal.

And the Tigers have a lot going against them:

1. It’s at the Metrodome. Remember the Metrodome? That place sucks. And it will be filled with screaming Twins fans.

2. The Tigers have the worst road record in baseball.

3. The Twins have won 16 of the last 20 games to tie the Tigers and force this tiebreaker. That’s a lot, and constitutes being on a roll.

I could be here all day listing reasons why the Tigers are going to lose this game. But do I think they are going to lose? No. Well, maybe. GAH! I don’t know, ok?! I’m going to watch this game, and I’m going to be yelling to myself, and hope hope hoping they win, and that is all I can do.

If the Tigers win, the Twins lose, and PT is very sad. If the Tigers lose, the Twins win, and I’m going to be very sad. Either way, I’m glad we don’t have to watch this game together.

Can a relationship survive game 163? Has it ever been done? I’m glad this is almost over.  It’s been a rough ride.

Shrimp Stir Fry with Brown Rice

The cold rain was a nice motivator for PT and I to stay in last night.

(Another untimely Tigers loss and Twins win made it seem like we were both home alone. The Central is still up for grabs. If the Tigers win and Twins lose today the Tigers will win the Central for the first time since 1987. But if the Tigers lose I have to be pissed all day and they have to win tomorrow.)

We made some teriyaki shrimp stir fry with red pepper, broccoli, pineapple, shrimp, and onion, with brown rice. It was so good! I love just throwing things together with some teriyaki stir fry sauce and getting a meal like this.

Cute Packaging!

Note, Pin, and YARN!

I mentioned earlier this week that I won a skein of Kitchen Sink Dyeworks yarn, and it came in yesterday while I was watching The Office!

It was wrapped really cute, came with a handwritten note and a KSD button! It was so sweet, like getting a present from a friend. I will be buying yarn from Kitchen Sink Dyeworks in the future. See what little special touches do?!

And I’m blown away by how beautiful this yarn is! I can’t wait to dive into it.

Any suggestions? I’ve only got 390 yards. I’m thinking lacy shawl? Help!

Workout Fuel

Today was the Michigan/Michigan State game and the Minnesota/Wisconsin game. These are big games; Michigan and Michigan State hate the crap out of each other, and PT was telling me that it’s the same kind of thing with Minnesota and Wisconsin. Neither games were being broadcast on regular TV so we planned to go to the gym to watch them. We made broccoli and onion omelets with pepper jack cheese and a piece of PB&J pumpernickel toast to fuel our workout!

Burritos and Fresh Guacamole

We ran/walked for about two hours while watching Michigan AND Minnesota lose. It was a painful bike ride home! We were tired, sore, and deflated by two close losses. So we made burritos with red pepper, pinto beans, onion, fresh guacamole, black bean and corn salsa, and cabbage.

Girl Friday Started (!)

And I did a bad thing. The Tigers were getting blown out last night, I was sad, it was 8-0, it was rainy and I was cold and baseball sucks and before I knew it I had Girl Friday cast on. Yes, I should be working on presents! But I couldn’t help it.

I figure it’s better to indulge in knitting than, like, a pan of brownies.

And it’s providence because Girl Friday (my Ravelry page) is a Kitchen Sink Dyeworks pattern!

That counts as full circle, right?

I cast on for both front panels and the back, though. I hate knitting a lot of separate pieces. I’m using Lion Brand Fishermen’s Wool, the same yarn I used for the Vogue Cropped Jacket, but in natural.

I checked the gauge at it was so on I creeped myself out. It was exactly exactly exactly on with size 8s. I have never seen a gauge so perfect, even when I used the exact yarn and needles a pattern called for. I can’t wait to start the lace pattern!

… right now!

Yesterday I was the super luckiest girl in the world and won a beautiful skein of yarn from Kitchen Sink Dyeworks! It totally made my day, I can’t wait to get it, and it inspired me to think up my own giveaway!

I’ve never done one of these before! I’ve had it on my mind grapes for a while now, and I figure today would be a wonderful day to kick this off, what with the Tigers and Twins having The Double Header of Doom. 11:05am. 6:05pm. My season has come down to these next three days.

… but enough about my self inflicted baseball torture and onto the giveaway!

Knit Headband!

Cute!

This season The Sweatshop of Love is focusing on quick, cute, easy gifts for the holiday season, and this is one of my favorites.

Based on the knitty pattern Quant, but, you know, easier and quicker, I’ve got quite a few of these puppies in The Sweatshop inventory, waiting for the right moment to pop out.

Entrelac Greens

Love Entrelac!

I love me some entrelac! And this pattern is a great introduction. But, why learn to entrelac when you can just win this cute headband!

The i-cord ties make this headband fit snugly to any head, and will keep your ears warm and hair not so hat-heady. It’s perfect for pony tails (I’ve been told!).

To enter, leave a comment with an idea you have for a  present you plan on making for someone this holiday season.

You get bonus points if you tweet this giveaway! I’m at twitter/sweatshopoflove.

And are you a fan of The Sweatshop on facebook?

I’ll pick a winner on Friday, if I’m not curled up in fetal position because the Tigers blew their shot at the ALCS.

Good luck!

The stupid Tigers have been in first place since May 10th, but that really doesn’t mean they are a good team. That just means they are slightly less sucky than the rest of the teams in their division.

They have been playing AWFUL for the past week and a half, after sweeping the Rays IN FLORIDA two weekends ago, tricking me into thinking they might be a good team. No. Oh no. They are just trickers. Because they have dropped SEVEN OF THE LAST TEN games. And just because they are doing slightly better than the Twins and White Sox still, despite all that losing, doesn’t mean they are a good team.

So after the Tigers gave up 5 runs in 3 innings and having this conversation with PT:

Ingredients!

Ingrediants

COOOOOkies

The Tigers lost 9-2, but I ate 4 cookies so I don’t feel as bad. We are playing the Twins this weekend, but at least I’ve already given up on life so I don’t have to get mad at PT about it.

I woke up this morning with a huge man in my bed.

Me and Arnold

I had to take pictures because it might never happen again.

HEAVY Kitty

Arnold is the loudest purrer I have ever heard. Waking up with all like 20 pounds of him on my chest, purring like a motor boat, I thought I might have somehow been run over by a car in my sleep, only to wake up with it still running and on top of me. But, it was just Arnold, looking for a morning cuddle, which I was more than happy to return. I miss my babies.

Biggby

So here I am at Biggby Coffee, which, after having been sitting here for two hours, is a lot bigger than it needs to be.

Two Dudes, One Fireplace, and Fox News!

It was me and these dudes when I got here at about 8:30. Now there are two other people here with computers, one guy with a broken arm, and two old women drinking mochas. The internet is fast (maybe relatively, everything moves kinda slow up here), and they have six different kinds of self serve coffee. 16 oz for $1.90 and all the internet I could ever want? I’ll take it! I’ve been uploading pictures with reckless abandon all morning.

Breakfast of Nappers

I kinda took yesterday off. I woke up early because it is freaking cold here and the tent was not warm. I moved to the living room with a blanket, a cup of tea, and Chocolat, which I’m loving. But, again, we picked a book for Knitting Book Club that everyone will agree is excellent! I can’t imagine anyone not liking it, it is just universally appealing. I read half the book yesterday, between naps, the Tigers game (on real TV! It was awesome), more naps, and eating. Breakfast was lemon yogurt with fresh raspberries and raisin bran, with an English muffin with peanut butter. I love that my mom has yogurt around all the time! It is nice to mix up oats now and then.

VERY Good Sandwich

I couldn’t have been more excited to see some pumpernickel bread in the bread basket, and I quickly decided on a Swiss, (Mommy) cucumber, and roasted red pepper hummus sandwich on toasted pumpernickel. Amazing! The Swiss and the pumpernickel should be best friends forever.

Matthew's Sandwich

Ok, Look Closely!

My baby brother Matthew and I were watching the Tigers game, and I must have dozed off, because when I looked over at him he was eating this sandwich.

“Shit, dude, when did you make that sandwich?”

“Just now.”

“What’s in it?”

“Two eggs, ham, cheese, and spicy Doritos.”

I love him.

Asparagus Strudel

ASPARAGUS! And Corn

My mom picked up this asparagus strudel  on her road trip around Lake Michigan with my dad last week (yeah, it’s weird), and it was awesome! PT and I had a savory strudel in the winter that his mom gave us, so I was all about it. The asparagus was tender and very juicy and the herb-cheese was perfect. I biked over and picked up some fresh corn sometime when I wasn’t sleeping, and it was a perfect accompaniment.

I also, over the course of the day, had three pieces of cherry pie with ice cream. 4-7 pounds, y’all!

Socks Finished!

Next Sweater!

I also finished my socks yesterday. I guess I wasn’t as big of a bum as I thought I was. They turned out so cute! I even got my mom to start her first pair of toe up socks! She is using size threes instead of size 2s, so I’ll have to keep an eye on her. I would hate for them to be too big when I’m sitting right next to her and could stop them from being too big.

AND I was glancing through my new Vogue Knitting Magazine and found this sweater. How cute is that?! I need to knit it. Yes, I see the seed stitch front, and the seed stitch edging. I’m pretending I don’t. It can’t be that much, right? I don’t care. I must knit this jacket.

I’m going to go buy a cookie, because I’m on vacation. I’m going to chill here at my new favorite coffee shop in Allendale for a couple more hours, then I’m headed over to the g-rents to make some peanut butter pies for the week.

Oh. Oh yes. More about those later.