The Sweatshop of Love Blog

Hello from Minneapolis! Before I left I used my mom’s beautiful house as a backdrop for my knit along sweater FO shots. I don’t think she’ll mind.

Make Up Your Mind!

How cute is this tank?! It fits well, even though I was going for a larger, looser top. The 4″ I added worked out perfectly – I love the longer length. It will be a really great tank to just throw on to cover up the fact that I’m just wearing a wife beater.

LONG and Pretty!

I added 4 rows of single crochet to the bottom and I love the loop. It’s weighting the top down nicely, as you can see here, and adds yet another texture. You can also see that the neckline bind off is a little loose. I’m going to see how this plays out during a day’s wear and maybe add a line of single crochet along the neckline, too.

Me and Pug Baby Otis

I got a couple visits while I was doing this shoot! Pug Baby Otis needed to get some camera time, and what’s that under my chair?

Arnold Sleeping Away

My mom’s cat Arnold. He hung out on the back deck between squirrel killings the entire time I was in Michigan.

Hot From The Back, Too!

I had to modify the back because I was following two sizes – my stitch count was for size 44 but my inches and sizing was coming from size 36, so I got to the inches I needed before my stitch count was right all the way through making the back, but it all turned out!

YAY!

How much do I love this top? THIS MUCH! We made it through some issues with the armhole shaping, but other than that this top was a total joy to knit and I’m excited to wear it all summer!

Pattern: Julie of Knitted Bliss‘s Make Up Your Mind

Yarn: Knit Picks Comfy Fingering in Hollyberry

Needles: Size 6 circulars

Ravelry Project Page

I know it will be hard to believe, but I managed to put down all the babies around here long enough to keep up with my knit along progress.

A Little Lace Rib!

I headed out to the back deck of my mom’s house and took pics on her picnic table for a little change of scenery and some natural light. This is the truest color of my beautiful Knit Picks Comfy Fingering in Hollyberry that I’ve gotten! And here I’ve got my 4″ (2 extra inches) of my lace rib before we separate for the armholes.

LOTSA Make Up Your Mind!

Have I mentioned how much I love this pattern? Make Up Your Mind is fun and absolutely beautiful and I really can’t wait to wear it. Will this KAL pick up the pace already?!

The Loop Tummy Panel!

My The Loop Entrelac Tank tummy panel is all finished up, too! The Knit Picks Cotton Sport in Bermuda Heather has been staying pretty true to color in every picture I’ve taken of it, but it gets more and more beautiful with every inch I knit. Which is why I’m getting more and more nervous that this top isn’t going to fit! There will be some serious blocking/dieting in my future if this top turns out too small.

I’ve got a weekend full of baby holding, cherry picking, pie baking, and hopefully some knitting in my future! Have a great weekend y’all!

No exclamation points in that blog title! Gauging is the worst. I think that one thing that is awesome about doing these knit alongs is that you order yarn and then have to WAIT and WAIT for the KAL to start. It’s extra motivation to get all your ducks in a row.

Like reading through the entire pattern. Something that is super important but I know I never do. Both KAL patterns, though? READ! I even read my own pattern again. How about that?!

Another necessary evil? Gauging.

The Loop Entrelac Tank Gauge Swatch

To be a good example to all you KAL-ers out there, I did a gauge swatch for The Loop Entrelac Tank, even though I wrote the pattern so the gauge is my own gauge. That is how much I love you guys!

More Loop Gauging

Well, divide that love in half because I only did half a swatch. With my Simply Cotton Sport in Bermuda Heather and size 4 needles I got a perfect 2″x2″ by casting on 12 sts and knitting 12 rows. Holla!

Make Up Your Mind Gauge

The gauge swatch for Make Up Your Mind was a little more difficult.

With my size 6 needles and my Comfy Fingering Weight yarn in Hollyberry I cast on 16 and knit 32 rows in Julie’s checkerboard pattern.

I then did something I’ve never done before: BLOCKED A GAUGE SWATCH! Julie told me to do it so I did it. It’s always a good idea to see how your yarn is going to block with you are using larger needles for your yarn.

As you can see in the pic above, those 32 rows worked out to 4″ perfectly.

AAAaaand Not Wide Enough

Horizontally, however, we’re at about 3 1/8″. That is pretty bad. I’ll be losing almost an inch every 4″ of sweater, so if I need a size 36 that is like 7″ of sweater that won’t be there. I’ve got 2 options:

1. Up my needle size to make a larger, albeit looser fabric.
2. Knit a larger size to get a sweater that actually fits me.

I’m hesitating to up my needle size because I don’t want to lose the integrity of the different patterned stitches in the sweater, so looks like I’m knitting a larger size!

I’m losing 7″ for my own size, so I guess I’ll just add 7 to 36 and round up, to get a 44″ tank size. (no math was used in the execution of this formula)

The bottom line here is that I’d rather have a looser tank, one that hangs pretty and doesn’t stretch across my boobs unflatteringly, so I’d rather knit a larger size than even I think I’ll need.

See why gauging is important?! Take this week to gauge and fiddle around with your sizing. Email me or post gauging questions on our ravelry forum.

We cast on for real in ONE WEEK! I can’t wait! There is still time to get in on our knit along! Get all important KAL information over here, and email me at allyson [at] thesweatshopoflove [dot] com to get on my KAL mailing list.

We sing loudly the praises of Knit Picks around here, and on top of everything their shipping is super fast!

Knit Picks Comfy Fingering Hollyberry

I placed my order for the KAL sweaters on Tuesday and got the yarn on Saturday. Holla!

I’ve never seen Knit Picks Comfy Fingering before, and it is TINY! The color, Hollyberry, is lovely and Make Up Your Mind will look really pretty dressed up or down.

Knit Picks Simply Cotton Sport Bermuda Heather

The real show stopper is the Knit Picks Simply Cotton Sport in Bermuda Heather. It’s bright blue with a little turquoise in it. My The Loop Entrelac Tank is going to be HOTT!

I’ll be gauging this week and sharing my findings a week from today. The only real question for me is the Make Up Your Mind. I want it to hang pretty, not tight over my boobs, so I’ll be upping my sizing to make up for the lack of elastic in the Comfy Fingering. The last thing I want is a pulling tank.

There is still time to join the KAL! Email me at allyson[at]thesweatshopoflove[dot]com to get on my mailing list, including a 50% off coupon for my The Loop Entrelac Tank pattern. Join our ravelry group to talk yarn colors, and tweet the KAL with #solkal.

I can’t wait to cast on for real!

I was SHOCKED so many of you voted for our next Summer KAL Sweaters! Over 120 knitters chimed in on he blog and on facebook and he results are in!

Blog Poll Results

Facebook Poll Results

With 4 more votes than the Rushed Yoke Tee, Make Up Your Mind is our easy KAL winner!

And with 4 more votes than the #03 Multi-Patterned Top, The Loop Entrelac Tank is our harder KAL winner!

Thank you to all who voted! Even if these aren’t the sweaters you voted for, I hope they are sweaters you are interested in knitting along with us.

Now Let’s Talk Yarn!

Make Up Your Mind!

(I’m going to really love having pictures of the lovely Julie on my blog for the next few weeks!)

Download the free Make Up Your Mind pattern from knitty here.

The yarn the pattern calls for is Kollage Luscious, a cotton nylon elastic blend perfect for warm weather knitting. Since there isn’t a lot of fabric in this sweater you will only need between 2 and 5 skeins, so if you’ve ever wanted to knit a sweater with the recommended yarn this would be a great time to pony up for some special yarn. Search your zip code on the Kollage Yarns website for a LYS in your area that carries this yarn.

There are, of course, tons of other options. Any sock yarn will work. If you are going to JoAnn or Michaels you are looking for the number 2 on your yarn tag.

Since this is a tank meant to be worn in the summer you’ll want to steer clear of wool, and finding a cotton or cotton blend at one of these stores will be the hard part. The only sock weight cotton blend you’ll find will be the Patons Stretch Sock Yarn, which still has wool in it.

If you end up with wool or wool blend yarn, make a slightly bigger size so it’s not as tight, or just know your back is going to sweat like the dickens.

I will be using Knit Picks Comfy Fingering Yarn, a cotton acrylic blend, and the only cotton fingering weight yarn Knit Picks carries. It’s smaller than the Kollage yarn and has no elastic in it so I’ll be upping the size I’m knitting from 36″ to 38″, size D, so I’ll need about 1000 yards, which equates to 5 skeins of Comfy Fingering in Hollyberry!

Hollyberry!

How pretty is that?! As always, email me at allyson[at]thesweatshopoflove[dot]com with any specific yarn questions.

The Loop Entrelac Tank

Purchase and download your The Loop Entrelac Tank pattern here.

BUT WAIT! That is MY PATTERN and y’all are MY KALs so let’s have a sale, ok?! Normally a $5.50 pattern, email me to get on my special KAL email list for a coupon code for 50% off.

Already on my KAL email list? You’ll get your coupon code today.

It’s my pattern so this yarn thing is really easy. Y’all know I don’t mess around with a lot of bullshit. You are looking for sport weight cotton.

The pattern calls for Simply Cotton Organic Sport, which use to come in a bunch of earth colors. Now it only comes in white.

Comfy Sport, Shine Sport, and Simply Cotton are all great choices. Simply Cotton has some beautiful heathered color choices for more subtle colors, whereas Shine Sport is going to hit you in the face with color. In a hot way!

If you are upgrading, walk in any LYS and ask to be pointed in the direction of their sport weight cottons. Just like with Make Up Your Mind, you want soft cotton. That being said, we’ve got the same problem with yarn from a big box store. You’ll be able to find worsted soft cotton, which is too heavy for summer and this pattern, and stiff sport cotton that you wouldn’t want against your skin.

Since I’ve already got one of these, I’m going to knit it in 1 color this time. I’m going with Simply Cotton Sport in Bermuda Heather!

Bermuda Heather

I’m going to knit the smallest size to get an extra tight fit, so I’ll be ordering 4 skeins.

So there you have it! Get that yarn ordered because we are casting on our sweaters in 3 weeks, Memorial Day, Monday May 30th. That gives you plenty of time to pick colors, get your gauges checked and needles picked out.

And don’t forget to join our Ravelry Group for instant support from other KAL-ers. We’ll be tweeting, too, with hashtag #solkal.