The Sweatshop of Love Blog

Whenever I get a box from Knit Picks in the mail I know it’s got good stuff in it, and it’s especially exciting when it’s unexpected!

Size 7 Interchangeable Sunstruck Needles!

Inside was one of their new Sunstruck interchangeable circular needles! I’ve always wanted one of these sets of interchangeables, especially since so many of my students flaunt them in class and they are so fun!, so being able to try one out myself is pretty much the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Sunstruck Needle Tips

The new Sunstruck needle tips are beautiful – very similar to standard bamboo needles, but with sharper points, and the wood itself feels harder than the bamboo needles I’ve been using for years. They are also extremely light. While I was knitting with them I was thinking that they are the best of both worlds – the sharpness and hardness of metal needles with the lightness of bamboo needles.

Seamless Needle Joins

I cast on enough stitches to try out the needle joins, to make sure there was no catching or hitch there that would make knitting with them in the round annoying. And the join is crazy seamless! And something I hadn’t considered are the cords, which are really flexible and will never get stuck in circle or in a bend.

So yeah, I’m a little in love. But I knew I would be! Knit Picks had a giveaway contest on their blog, where you create an Endless Summer pinterest board for a chance to win a set of these new needles and I jumped on that like it was my job. And you can still enter! The contest closes tomorrow. And check out my Endless Summer board!

If you happened to get your Knit Picks catalog in the mail this weekend you might have stumbled upon a familiar face!

ME!

RIGHT?! It’s ME as the featured designer! My face is HUGE on page seven! And it’s a two page spread about me, WORK+SHELTER, and Holla Knits!

…. I mean, no big deal. It’s cool. I’m really cool and totally haven’t been calling every person I know about it.

If you don’t get the Knit Picks catalog you can flip through it online here.

I’ve loved Knit Picks since the very first day I discovered them because they are all about bringing knitting to the masses by making quality yarns affordable. I use Knit Picks yarn in most of my independent designs because when you knit as much as I do your yarn needs to be easy to get and easy on the wallet. I became a part of the Knit Picks Independent Designer Program a while back, and in doing that became friends with Stacey Winklepleck, the Knit Picks Relationship Manager. Today’s blog stop hits both the Knit Picks blog Stash complete with Holla Knits ebook giveaway and the Knit Picks podcast, where I get to chat with Stacey about The Sweatshop of Love and Holla Knits!

Hit the Holla Knits ebook giveaway on Stash here.

Listen to me and Stacey chat at the Knit Picks Podcast here.

And huge thank you to Knit Picks and Stacey for being so supportive and enthusiastic about me and Holla Knits!

Before we get started with the KAL I want to give a big shout out to my favorite ladies over at Knit Picks for featuring me and my Tinfoil Tiara Brigade Headband pattern on the Knit Picks Blog on Friday!

You Like Me! You Really Like Me!

The headband pattern is now a member of the Knit Picks pattern inventory, as a free download.

Opening up a blog I love and seeing my face gives me butterflies every time. I’ll never get use to that! So a huge thanks to Knit Picks and especially my girl Stacey for being so nice to me and for letting me be a part of your pattern program!

KAL Week 1: Aidez Cast On!

It’s here! The moment we’ve all been waiting for! It’s time to cast on our Aidez Cardigans and start our knit along!

We’re knitting the body of Aidez all together, fronts and back, which means we’re casting on all those stitches right off the bat. Cast on the stitches for the right front, place a marker, cast on stitches for the back, place a marker, and cast on stitches for the left front. We’ll be easing into this whole thing by working back and forth in a K1P1 rib for 3”. Then things get interesting.

This Week’s Make Up Your Mind Goal: Cast on the entire body of the sweater, work 3” of K1P1 rib. There is a line at the end of the Ribbing Row 2 for each section, so make sure you increase as directed for your size.

Follow Right Front Establish Pat Sts Row, then following Back Establish Pat Sts Row, then Left Front Establish Pat Sts Row, and be sure to use different color markers than the ones you used to separate your back and front sections.

Work three additional inches of sweater following all charts as written. I created a chart laying out where each row of each different chart goes when, where each marker is, where the k1tbls are, everything. Take a look here. The Trellis Pattern in the center back of the sweater is a 24 row pattern, so use that as your anchor. Use the chart to make sure you are on the correct row in all other patterns. Following the chart I made back and forth really helped me get a feel for the pattern, and put everything where it needs to be. Let me know if you have questions about it!

You want 6 total inches if sweater at the end of week 1. Good luck!

Ohh Baby!

Just kidding! But seriously, can you imagine? I wonder if this has been done before! I’m guessing at super drunken office holiday party.

I bet Meredith on The Office would rock this look.

It’s a habit of mine to throw a finished project on my dress form, mainly so my terror kitties don’t rip out the yarn strands before I get a chance to weave them in. And so they don’t get a chance to eat my project before I get to wear it or give it away.

Mommy's Stockings

I knit a pair of these Christmas stockings a couple months ago for PT and I and, naturally, my mom had to have them! I used the same yarn, Caron Simply Soft for the red and cream, and Knit Picks Wool of the Andes for the light green.

The pattern is here. The only change I made was when I started the heel flap. With the MC I K11 STS from needle 1, SL remaining STS to needle 2, turn. P22 STS, SL remaining STS from needle 3 to needle 2. This just makes much more sense to me.

As we inch closer to Thanksgiving and Christmas, I’m feeling good about the progress I’m making on my knitting list! I should, right? I started about two months ago.

Veggie Packed Pasta

We’ve got a ton of vegetables in the house and, specifically, a lot of mushrooms to use up. Mushrooms make me think of two things! Veggie packed pasta from my recipe, this time with broccoli and mushrooms, and…

Mushroom and Pumpkin Risotto

Risotto! I still hand pumpkin left over from the ravioli we made last weekend, so I made mushroom and pumpkin risotto. Risotto is pretty much the best thing to eat for dinner on a cold night. It’s like soup for people with more time.

Now that I’ve got those stockings finished the only thing left on my needles is PT’s Christmas Present! I’m shocked myself. I’m going to get an elephant going before I do something stupid like start a new sweater.