The Sweatshop of Lovers Blog

I realize how annoying it is to see CHRISTMAS in the title of a blog post over Labor Day weekend. I’m kind of annoyed with myself for sitting here, in shorts, with all the windows open, talking about Christmas, but I’m trying to set a good example!

When you are knitting sweaters for people for Christmas, you have to start early. Even when you are knitting smaller projects for people for Christmas you have to start early!

PT's Soon To Be Sweater

Let me take a moment to address The Sweater Curse. The Sweater Curse states that if you start knitting a sweater for your boyfriend, you will break up before you finish it. It also states that if you do finish it and give it to him while you are still together, he won’t react like you want him to, he won’t wear it as much as you would want him to, and, thus, you will break up because he doesn’t appreciate you and takes you for granted and can’t even wear the sweater you spent HUNDREDS OF HOURS KNITTING?!

I think there is legitimacy to The Sweater Curse. I have never knit a sweater for a boy before. So why start now? Especially since PT and I recently broke up and got back together? Why am I pressing my luck?

Because I like knitting sweaters. And I like PT. And if any boy would properly appreciate a hand knit sweater it’s PT.

Jalapeno Wool of the Andes

After doing some research on ravelry about the Cambridge Jacket from Interweave Knits, I ordered Wool of the Andes from Knit Picks in Jalapeno. The green is perfect!

I also decided that I’m going to change the jacket into a pull over. I love the ribbing, I love the collar, I love the shape of this sweater, I’m just not a fan of the zipper! So I’m going to knit it in the round and put a button closure in at the neck.

I’m a little nervous. I’ve knit sweaters for my mom before, but this is for a boy! Am I nuts? Am I dooming my relationship?

My to do list this weekend:

1. Make entire fall schedule – check! It rocks, if I do say so myself.

2. Knit a cabled cowl – check!

LOVE!

Pretty Cables

I used some of the Lion Brand Fishermen’s Wool that will be left over from the Vogue Cropped Jacket I put on hold all weekend though I’m SO close to being done with it!

I love this cowl, and it knit up with size 15s in like 4 hours.

3. Knit a Turkey Finger Puppet – check!

Holy Cute

I wanted to put some kind of toy in the fall schedule, so I was searching around when I stumbled upon a really cute knitting blog called Team Knit, and this pattern for a turkey finger puppet. I instantly fell in love and knit it up and put it together in about 3 hours. The time consuming part is the tail. But EVERYONE should sign up for this class because not only is this little guy adorable but the class is free! November 11th, 7-9pm. Happy Thanksgiving from me to you.

4. Write fall schedule newsletter – check! Mostly written while knitting, which is a trick I’ve needed to teach myself that comes in handy almost every day.

5. Update website – check! Full list of classes looking hot. More Sweatshop love looking hot, too. The class list was a huge job since it was so empty this month.

6. Knit a Goldfish Toilet Lid Cover – not check.

Saturday Morning

Friday afternoon I thought it would be a great idea to put the Knit Pick’s Goldfish Toilet Lid Cover in my fall class schedule, meaning, ideally, I would need to knit one before my newsletter went out to make sure the pattern was good and I had a picture of it. Yeah. I’m a crazy person.

The problem was that the pattern calls for size 6s and DK weight yarn. I had size 4s and worsted weight, but that still didn’t do it, so I had to take 25 stitches off the pattern, basically rewriting the entire thing.

PT and Po' Boy

My Shrimp Po' Boy

By Sunday evening, after spending 11 hours knitting and writing frantically, PT suggested I leave the house. We walked over to Street Side and got po’ boys and fries. We were both very happy with how delicious they were! It was my first po’ boy and I would order this sandwich again in a heartbeat.

Toilet Lid In Lap

By Sunday night I had finished knitting the lid itself and just needed to duplicate stitch on the fish. When I looked at the picture of the lid on the pattern I thought it was intarsia; I had never even heard of duplicate stitching. It’s basically cross-stitching over the stitches of the body of your project, which is genius I think, since I get annoyed with a lot of intarsia. I’ve always loved cross stitch so this has been really fun.

But, notice a problem?

Don't Look Like No Fish!

I had that big orange skein of yarn I got at a garage sale I thought would be fun to use, and I started duplicate stitching the fish in whatever colors I had laying around in the goldfish family. PT says it looks like Pikachu. I think it kind of looks like Wilson. Whatever it looks like, it doesn’t look like a goldfish. It’s still going on my toilet, though!

I’m almost finished, not by deadline obviously, but still. Knitting an entire toilet lid with Pikachu/Wilson/Goldfish duplicate stitching in like 72 hours? Still impressive/ridiculous.

7. Blog – absolutely not. Lukily for me PT was free for some guest blogging so I got out of that one. He did such a great job! He also made sure I ate and drank enough water and that my legs didn’t atrophy all weekend, too.

8. Update Ravelry – absolutely not. I didn’t even look at it.

9. Update Sweatshop Facebook Page and Myspace Page – check! I don’t remember doing it, but it’s done so I’m not asking any questions.

Overall pretty good! I love being mostly self employed because if I worked for anyone else as much as I work for myself for as little as I make I would kill someone. But because everything I do is for myself I get up at 6:30 on a Sunday morning to knit a toilet seat cover and when I finally close my computer at 11pm Sunday night I’m so tired I could cry, but I’m happy because I love it.

Cotton Washcloths

Next up? Minnesota! PT and I are headed there Thursday, and I’m knitting up these cute washcloths from Purl Bee  as a present to PT’s mom. At least I’ve got a couple days to punch two of these out.  It should be a breeze after the knitting fiasco that was this weekend.

I’m determind to finish my toilet seat cover, though, and I miss my Vogue Cropped Jacket!

Man, I’ve caught fall knitting fever way early this season. Could that mean I will successfully knit everyone I know a present this year?

Only if I can keep my new issue of Interweave Knits closed!

Well it was bound to happen. And I know that I almost did it before, but…

but…

But it might be time for me to knit a dress.

I blame my mother, actually. She got me looking through all these old magazines I’ve collected over the years; I’ve got stacks and stacks of Interweave Knits and Vogue Knitting Magazines and Knit Simples. She wants to knit a vest after her first sweater success. (I don’t make this shit up! My mom wanted to kick me out of her house when I wouldn’t her knit anything but a sweater. She yelled. She hit me a few times. And now? Now the woman can’t get enough. Pictures to come.)

So I’m glancing threw magazines and I come across this cute little dress. I flip by it because it is a dress and not a vest, but I keep thinking about it. I go back to it. I look at the pattern. I have my reservations – the skirt part of the dress is knit in a very annoying K1P1. Not as annoying as seed stitch, but you know. But the cowl is pretty. The sleeves are pretty. It would look really cute with tights. I could knit it in Carron Simply Soft.

But it is a dress? Who knits dresses?

The Sweatshop of Love knits dresses. So bring it on. As soon as I’m done with this:

Bottom Done!

I’m about to bind off the bottom section! I think I need one more skein of the Homespun and one more skein of the Carron Simply Soft in Blue, but I can get that this weekend and then see where we are. Its cute, right? I like how the Homespun stripped subtly. I love the blue with it! It is going to be a cute one.

This weekend PT and I are jetting off to Michigan for the weekend, before my weekends are spent sweater knitting with you all on Sunday mornings and my mom starts calling me to say that she forgets what I look like. I hope to get some good car knitting done. Because, and I hate to say it! but I’m excited about the dress. Gah!

Oat A Licious Bowl O Fun

And you know when I’m getting anxious for warm weather because I start throwing fruit into everything. Here is oatmeal with frozen peaches, grapes and cherries, oranges, raisins, almond slices and a sprinkle of brown sugar. If I squint I can’t see the snow on the ground and can imagine eating this fruity bowl on the back porch in my sweater dress.

I’m really excited about Sweater Club! Starting Thursday, March 5th, every Thursday night and Sunday morning will be dedicated to sweater knitting! When you sign up for this class you get two months worth of classes – the full Sweater Club is $120, Thursday nights and Sunday mornings, the half Sweater Club is $75, one day a week.

So far three people have signed up! As added motivation for you to join us, here are their sweaters:

Brijeet's Sweater

Brijeet has chosen this cute cabled tunic-y sweater knit in a round tube, then picking up the sleves seperately.

Laura's Sweater

Laura is knitting this cute tunic sweater which also has picked up sleeves and bottom panels, with button sleeves.

Lori's Sweater

And Lori’s sweater is this beautiful patterned cardigan. She wants a hood so we are going to extend the neckline up for a big, roomy hood.

We are picking out more inexpensive yarn to use as well. Brijeet’s sweater calls for baby alpaca, for instance, and god knows she isn’t buying 14 skeins of that. Laura found a great yarn on Knitpicks.com that is less than half the price of the yarn her sweater calls for and is very close to the same blend.

My sweater for sweater club?

My Sweater

Also out of Fitted Knits (where Laura found her sweater, and one of my favorite knit pattern books), this fun cardigan just has to be mine. I’m probably going to end up starting it early, since my lace and colorwork sweater is almost finished! I’m seaming the arms today! I’m going to use Lionbrand Homespun Yarn for the fuzzy inside, I think two strands held together, and Carron Simply Soft for the contrast yarn. I’m going to take advantage of the 50 degree weather tomorrow by walking over to Joanns and picking it all up! I’m excited to get started.

I also came to a realization yesterday. I’ve been trying to eat my pasta and veggie meals out of my biggest bowl, and it just doesn’t work anymore. I put in too many vegetables. I finally gave up.

Mixing Bowl

I used my smallest mixing bowl for my lunch. Normally I think it is bad to have to eat out of a mixing bowl, but when the problem is that I can’t decide which vegetable to mix with my pasta so I chose all of them – carrot, broccoli, green pepper – not to mention black beans. Maybe I need bigger bowls? Just so I don’t have to say I eat out of a mixing bowl.

Breakfast for Dinner!

And my favorite thing, breakfast for dinner, happened last night! I mixed up some amazing veggie filled omelets – corn, tomato, green pepper, onion, and black beans – with very crispy, onion and garlicy potatos. My mommy sent me home with a dozen eggs after our Michigan trip last week, and it was about time we used some up.

So sign up for Sweater Club! I’ll help you pick out a sweater and the less-expensive version of the yarn you need and we will knit it in two months. Email me with questions!