The Sweatshop of Love Blog

The Lot

Top Row, Left to Right:

1. Wine Cozy for PT’s Mom

2. Elephants for Grandma, three total

3. Three Pairs of Granny Square Slippers, one for Tara, Grandma, and Mom

4. Three Cabled Jar Covers for Rachel

Middle Row, Left to Right:

1. Crocheted Bib Necklace for Tara, my Sweatshop Secret Santa

2. Knitting Needle Knitting Bag for Mom

3. Lace Hand Warmers for Rachel

4. U of M Toilet Lid Cover for my brother Adam

Bottom Row, Left to Right:

1. Eric Man-Beanie for my brother Matthew

2. Glorified Necklace for Mom

3. Eric Man-Stocking Cap for Dad

Not Pictured:

1. Knitting Needle Knitting Bag for my friend Colleen, already gifted

2. PT’s Modified Cambridge Jacket, wrapped and under the tree

3. Two Slouchy Berets for Blog Giveaway Winners, in Green and Pink, shipped off

I don’t know whether to think that is a lot or a little. I have been knitting since September for the holidays. I did knit myself a sweater in there somewhere, too. And wrote a few patterns. And taught a lot of classes.

But with it all laid out there like that, it is weird to think I did all that in just over three months.

Just Pudge being Pudge

I wrapped it all up, no thanks to Pudge Rodriguez,  and most of it is ready for the trip up to Michigan.

I hope you got all your holiday knitting done in time! Is there something you will be giving half finished?

As of this moment I’ve got four tiny gifts to make to complete my holiday knitting. We are talking one weekend’s worth of knitting time. And it’s December 3rd! Holiday knitting success!

Based on the emails and texts, facebook and twitter comments I’ve been getting, not everyone is as close to being finished as I am. So what better way to ease some holiday stress than helping you check someone off your to-knit-for list?

I’m giving away custom knit gifts!

Win this giveaway and you will win the chance to pick a project from one of my patterns and the yarn color of your choice. I will knit it up and mail it to your mom/uncle/wife/best friend/step dad by December 18th! Plenty of time to get to your loved one before Christmas.

Your Hand Knit Present Choices Are:

Cabled Cowl

Cabled Change Purse

Slouchy Beret

Eric Man-Beanie or Eric Man-Stocking Cap

Even better? I’m giving away TWO custom made gifts! So you have two chances to win!

To enter: Leave a comment on this post about which gift you would choose and who the hand knit would be for. Extra points for following me on twitter if you don’t already and tweeting this giveaway and becoming a fan of The Sweatshop of Love on facebook if you aren’t already and saying hi on our wall.

You have until Sunday, December 6th to enter! I will contact the winners Monday to get any final instructions before I get materials and get knitting.

The Sweatshop of Love is here to ease some holiday stress! And I can’t wait to read your responses.

The best thing about working from home?

Pasta Lunch

All I could think about all morning was a mushroom and broccoli pasta lunch. So I made it! And am eating it right now.

I don’t know if it was the amazing weather we had here in Chicago this weekend or if I was just a girl on a mission, but I rocked this weekend so hard.

Costa Rican Fiest

It all started when PT and I couldn’t stop talking about Irazu. For some reason our solution was not to just go to Irazu but to try to replicate Costa Rican food at home.

The problem is that we think the burritos we make are way better than any burrito out there. That is funny, I know, living in Logan Square where there is a dude on every corner making burritos from his family recipe.

(Note to self: Write up burrito recipe to post on blog.)

So we started with a regular burrito I always make and set out to make some Gallo Pinto and Cabbage Salad.

Gallo Pinto and Cabbage Salad

This recipe for the Cabbage Salad is dead on. It is exactly like Irazu’s amazing salad! We halved the recipe and we still had salad left over for Saturday. This recipe for the Gallo Pinto is close, and I think with a little tweaking we could get it. We made about a third of the recipe, it still made a ton. And there is a critical flavor missing from this recipe that Irazu’s rice has and I’m determined to figure it out.

Amazing!

We had to have fried plantains, too, naturally. My favorite part of this meal was plating it! I love when there are many aspects to a meal that you can chose from. I’ve got a dinner party in the works for Friday, so stay tuned for try #2.

Sunday Pizza

Mushroom, Artichoke Heart, Caramelized Onions

And our Sunday pizzas were amazing! Mine was fresh mushrooms from the Logan Square Farmers Market, artichoke hearts, and caramelized onions.

PT's Pizza, with Bacon

Bacon-licious

PT’s pizza was the same as mine, only with bacon.

I was productive on the knitting front, too! I knit the two (Eric) Man-Hats, wrote the pattern up for them and posted it on Ravelry. I knit two elephant bodies and finished knitting PT’s Christmas Present (pics later). I know I haven’t done a Christmas Present Update for PT in a long time because, while I was working on it, it was painfully boring. I didn’t want to subject myself to it, much less you.

The Black Tape!

OMG!

And I managed to leave the house! We went to see The Black Tape Saturday night. I’m going to be writing their press kit so we had to go get the live experience. I’m an old lady and didn’t even realize it was possible to start doing anything at 12:30am, but I made it somehow!

I think I earned a little time to relax, but I’ve got some elephants to finish and some seeming to do. (And probably a trip to the gym to make!)

(Eric) Man-Beanie

(Eric) Man-Beanie

(Eric) Man-Stocking Cap

Finished Measurements:
(Eric) Man-Stocking Cap – Length: 10 inches Width: 10 inches
(Eric) Man-Beanie – Length: 7 1/2 inches Width: 10 inches

Materials:
Any worsted or bulky weight yarn
Set of 5 size 11 double pointed needles

(Eric) Man-Stocking Cap

Directions:
With two strands of worsted weight yarn or one strand of bulky weight yarn, CO 50 sts. If knitting the beanie, skip down to (Eric) Man-Beanie.

(Eric) Man-Stocking Cap Only:
Round 1: P3, [K1, P4] to last 2 sts, K1, P1
Round 2: [P2, K1, P1, K1] around

Repeat both rounds 5 times total. Purl 1 round. Continue following (Eric) Man-Beanie instructions.

(Eric) Man-Beanie (both hats):
Round 1: K3, [P1, K4] to last 2 sts, P1, K1
Round 2: [K2, P1, K1, P1] around

Repeat both rounds for 5 inches, ending with a round 2.

Begin Cap Decrease Rounds

(Eric) Man-Stocking Cap

Round 1: [K2, P2tog, K1] around – 40 sts total
Round 2: [K3, P1] around
Round 3: K2, [P1, K3] around
Round 4: [K2, K2tog] around – 30 sts total
Round 5: [K2, P1] around
Round 6: K all sts
Round 7: [K2tog, P1] around – 20 sts total
Round 8: K all sts
Round 9: [K1, P1] around
Round 10: [K2tog, P2tog] around – 10 sts total
Round 11: K all sts

Cut yarn, pull through remaining sts and secure.

Finishing:
Weave in ends. Make sure to give this hat to a winner!

(Eric) Man-Beanie

(Eric) Man-Stocking Cap, Brim Up

(Eric) Man-Stocking Cap, Brim Down