The Sweatshop of Love Blog

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.

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.

I’m proud to bring you my pattern for a knitted toilet lid cover! This pattern is based on the Knit Picks ‘Glub Glub Goldfish Toilet Lid Cover’ pattern designed by Knit Picks Design Team. This pattern uses worsted weight yarn instead of DK weight, because a knitted toilet lid cover should be a quick and easy weekend project.

The Sweatshop of Love Toilet Lid Cover Pattern

Finished Measurements:
One size fits most lids
Length: approximately 15 in
Width: approximately 12 ½ in

Materials:
Any worsted weight yarn, about 100 grams.
Various scraps of worsted weight yarn for your duplicate stitch pattern.
Size 5 needles.
About 2 feet of ¼ inch elastic.

W&T (Wrap and Turn) Directions:
On the knit side, when you get to a W&T direction, you sl the next st purl wise from your left needle to your right needle. Bring your yarn to the front, then sl the st back to your left needle. Turn your work to the purl side and bring your yarn to the front to purl next sts.

On the purl side, when you get to a W&T direction, you sl the next st purl wise from your left needle to your right needle. Bring your yarn to the back, then sl the st back to your left needle. Turn work to the knit side and bring your yarn to the back to knit next sts.

Directions:
CO 43 sts

Row 1 (RS): Knit all stitches
Row 2 and all WS rows: K5, P to last 5 sts, K5.

Inc Row: K5, KFB, K to last 5 sts, KFB, K4

Rep this Inc Row every 4 rows 10 times total (63 sts), then every 10th row 4 times (71 sts), ending with a WS row.

Short Row Sequence:
K5, K57, W&T
P53, W&T
K49, W&T
P45, W&T
K41, W&T
P37, W&T

K to end, picking up wraps and working them with their st as you come to them.
K5, P to last 5 sts, picking up wraps and working them with their sts as you come to them, K5.

These 8 rows make up the Short Row Sequence. Repeat this sequence 4 more times. BO all sts.

Knit Picks Duplicate Stitch Fish Pattern

Finishing:
Duplicate Stitching is like cross stitch! You just follow the stitches of your knitted project with a tapestry needle and the color of your choice. For a really great Duplicate Stitch tutorial, check out this Purl Bee Duplicate Stitch Tutorial.

Find a duplicate stitch pattern or make your own using graph paper! The original Knit Picks Toilet Lid Cover used a fish pattern you can find on their pattern, but I had trouble making it actually look like a fish. When I knit this again I’m going to make my own pattern. Try to find the center of your Toilet Lid Cover and the center of your design, and have at it! Make sure your Toilet Lid Cover’s BO edge is facing down, as that is the bottom of your Cover, so your pattern will be facing the correct way.

To attach the elastic, eyeball a circle with the elastic that is about 30% smaller than the outside edge of your Toilet Lid Cover, cut elastic to that size, and pin both ends together and to the top of your Toilet Lid Cover. Stretch the center of the elastic opposite of where you already pinned to the bottom of your Cover. Pin each center side of elastic to each center side of your Cover.

Using a sewing machine, start sewing around, attaching the elastic to the Cover by stretching the elastic to the size of the Cover, and not stretching the Cover. This will make the elastic pull the Cover in so it sits snuggly over the toilet lid.

Throw it over your toilet! Repeat pattern for everyone you know.