The Sweatshop of Love Blog

Big Box o' Yarn!

I wish I was a tiny person, like Thimbelina, so I could swim in this box I just got from Knit Picks!

Woodland Sage Gloss

I ordered this pile of fingering weight Gloss to knit this sweater:

Minimalist Cardigan

Only I have to make it hard on myself. The cardigan calls for worsted weight yarn. But I’m going to wait to worry about that.

CotLin Planetarium

I ordered this pile of cotton linen blend in Planetarium to knit this sweater:

Dollar and a Half Cardigan

Which is actually close to the correct gauge! So that is exciting. You can see that half of the cardigan is cabled, and the other half is a stitch pattern rib.

So what am I doing lining up all these sweaters to knit for myself? 2010 is going to be The Year of the Sweater! I’m going to knit a sweater a month.

(plus that will keep me from starting any of these sweaters once I finish Girl Friday)

Want to knit a sweater a month with me next year?! I know you want to. Think about it. You’ve got some time to plan. I’ve got three sweaters already picked out! Three down, nine to go.

… might have to knit a sweater or two for other people. But, can you really ever have enough sweaters? I guess I’ll find out!

Before

After

I was hoping it was not going to come to this.

I was using some leftover Knit Picks Gloss from a sweater I knit a few years ago for my Twilight/Gloaming Shawl. The sweater is Thermal on Knitty.com, and I liked it, but then I lost 30 pounds so it didn’t fit anymore. It’s been sitting in the back of my closet in a pile of stuff I can’t get rid of but will eventually figure out how to fix.

SOOO Close

I was within four rows of finishing the shawl without tearing up my sweater. But, alas, it needed to be done. And that fatty sweater in the bottom of my closet wasn’t doing me any favors. So I tried not to think about it, un-seemed a sleeve, and ripped!

Pretty!

And I finished my shawl! And I’m not even sad that I had to amputate my sweater because I couldn’t wear it. No matter how many hours I spent on that sweater, it’s unwearable.

LOVE

LOVE LOVE

But this shawl is ridiculously wearable! I’ve pretty much been wearing it since it dried after blocking. And you have to seriously block the crap out of this shawl. I made the big size, and after I bound it off I was seriously underwhelmed. It was tiny!

Pudge Makes Blocking Difficult

But I blocked it, with the help of Pudge Rodriguez, and it is stunning. I mean, I’m wearing it right now in a wife beater and pajama pants. I’m in love with this little shawl.

PT Biked Up an Appetite

Empanadas!

Shrimp and Veggie Special

I finished my shawl, PT finished some fancy producer work, so we thought it would be a great night to celebrate with a trip to Irazu. We went to Irazu once before and were totally in love, and trip two didn’t disappoint!

We ordered empanadas to start: beef and potato for PT, and a black bean and a spinach and cheese to share. They were outstanding! We split the shrimp and veggie dinner special with the amazing Costa Rican rice, cabbage salad, and sweet fried plantains. The entire meal, then the entire rest of the night, we kept saying, ‘Man that was a great meal!’

Man, was that a great meal! I’m still not over it.

Lacey Shawl Thing

I am finally giving in and knitting one of those lacy shawls that everyone is knitting. This project has been on my radar for a while because every time I jump on ravelry.com, every time I read a blog, someone is working on one!

I haven’t seen a lot of patterns I’ve liked, though. They all look pretty basic and, while cute, I couldn’t picture myself wearing any of them. Shawls are nice, but when they are knit with sock yarn they don’t keep you warm. They are basically glorified necklaces, and when you are talking jewelry you can’t mess around.

Then I saw this finished shawl on Team Knit, a blog I’m liking more and more! It’s the Twilight/Gloaming Shawl by Phoe M White. The finished shawl is beautiful, and Julie’s write-up totally sold me. I even BOUGHT the pattern, if you can believe it. Here is the ravelry.com page.

I’m using Knit Picks Gloss yarn, which is 70% merino wool and 30% silk, in Concord Grape. I had some of this yarn left over from a sweater I knit ages ago that is now too big for me and the perfect example of why knitters can’t lose or gain weight. It’s going to have to be pulled out at some point, but I don’t have the heart for it yet.

So far so good! I’m in the easy beginner part and have yet to start the lacy edging. Weekend football project!!

Carrot Fries, Pre-Baking

Sandwich With Fries

Last night I cooked up some carrot fries to have with a cheese and veggie sandwich!

Carrot Fries (for 2)

3 big carrots

1 tbsp oil

BBQ seasoning

Preheat over to 450

Drizzle oil (olive, vegetable, whatever!) in the bottom of a baking pan. Slice carrots to look like fries and put in pan. I sprinkle mine with some BBQ seasoning, but you can use whatever you want to. Just salt and pepper is even good!

Bake for 10 minutes, stir, bake for 10 minutes longer. Done! If you slice your carrots thicker they might take more than 20 minutes.

Carrot fries taste just like sweet potato fries but are healthier and take a shorter time to bake. And they help dress up a sandwich dinner!