The Sweatshop of Love Blog

Pudge Rodriguez Loves Books

PT and I made it safely to Michigan yesterday during the most amazing game the Lions have played in … three years? Four? EVER? Even my mom got into it, losing radio coverage as time was expiring, moments before Matt Stafford threw his FIFTH touchdown of the game to win it!

Sorry.

Look at Pudge Rodriguez! She loves Coop, our book club book for December 7th. Can you believe I left her in Chicago?

I slept a ton yesterday and have finally recovered from the Yarn Crawl. And knit these!

Hand Warmers!

I bought some beautiful cashmere merino wool blend yarn on the Yarn Crawl Saturday specifically to whip these up as a birthday present for my friend Rachel. (Rachel doesn’t celebrate Christmas AND they are her birthday present, so the title of the post is completely off, but I wanted to keep the gift format. Silly? Oh yes.)

YO Lacy Diagnals

The pattern is CreativeYarn’s Diagonal Eyelet Hand Warmers. It was very easy to follow, clearly written, free, and they turned out super cute!

The Perfect Size

I made no modifications to the pattern other than I used size 7 needles. The Ravelry Project Page is here.

Buttons

I was on the fence about the buttons. Everyone is randomly adding buttons to things for no reason and I don’t know why. These buttons serve no purpose other than to CUTE!

Yeah... It's Cute

And they do cute. I get it! I’m ok with it! The gray and the pink are really cute together. I hope Rachel likes them!

Warm Hands

Does the lighting and background look familiar? That is right! I’m sitting in Biggby Coffee in Allendale, Michigan, using their free internet and sipping their Cinnamon-Toffee flavored coffee. When I finish up here I’m going to pick up my grandparents and head to Perkins for brunch. Then we are going to the mall! It’s a good old fashioned day off in West Michigan!

PT unexpectedly left town last night for the weekend (nothing bad! He just got an unexpected vacation from work) leaving Velma, Pudge Rodreguez, and I to our own devices. In my case, ‘devices’ means being ridiculously productive.

I’m usually really productive; when you are a one woman show you have no choice. What you don’t do just doesn’t get done. But when you live with someone there is more downtime:  Discussing potential Saturday afternoon activities. Taking long lunches. Snuggling.

Wine Cozy

So now that PT is out of town it’s like I’m on speed. He left last night and I’ve already  done a lot of reading, finished this wine cozy for PT’s mom’s Christmas present, and crocheted 8.25 granny squares.

Granny!

I forgot how fun it is to make granny squares! It has been so long that I had to look up instructions to remind myself.

I’ll be making a lot of granny squares today for an undisclosed project. I’ll tell you soon.

I got up this morning at 6:30, played with the kitties, cleaned up a little, made some tea, and am now trying to organize my weekend. MY weekend.

I’m a relationship kinda girl. I’ve been in one pretty nonstop since I was 17. I’ve had a live in boyfriend pretty nonstop since I was 21. I love it, it is how I am. Even when I say to myself after a break up, ‘Allyson, chill for a while and be single,’ that resolve never lasts long.

So, I appreciate this time. This fake single time. I know he is out there, surely sleeping at this time, in the little bed in the upstairs of his mom’s house in Minnesota, but here I am with a nice long to-do list full of crafty and Sweatshop-related things and two entire days to myself.

Sewing Pile

-A Crafty and Sweatshop-Related To-Do List-

Three Granny Square Projects (36 granny squares!)

Write a newsletter for Monday

Go to the gym

Go to Target

Pre-write some blogs

Tackle sewing pile

Finally make message board

Read more

-Maybe-

Get started on Turtle Shell Legwarmers <- oh yes I did

It’s kind of like writers who think they need to be drunk and miserable to write, or artists who think they need to be depressed to paint. Do I get more done when I’m single? Yes. But luckily I’m smart enough to recognize the fact that I like having a boyfriend. I’m happier when I’ve got someone who is ridiculously supportive of all the silliness. The piles of yarn everywhere. The long gchat explanations of what a swift is. The long blog entries full of pros and cons about our relationship (sorry, PT!).

That to-do list isn’t going to finish itself! I love when I look at the clock in the morning, think about everything I’ve already accomplished, and think, ‘And I’ve still got 13 1/2 hours until I’m meeting Rachel for a drink!’ I can get a lot accomplished in 13 1/2 hours.

I was all talking big about cutting calories, eating well, trying to lose my three winter pounds.

Margie's Disaster

Yikes. That is the ‘Astronaught’, described in the menu at Margie’s Candies as something like, ‘Blast off with this delicious treat! You won’t regret it! It is amazing and delicious!’ So we had no idea we would get to pick four different ice cream flavors and two different toppings, all dumped in a very large vase. PT might still be sick, actually. I could eat it by myself right now. But I won’t! We are back on the wagon!

Sweater Dress!

As you can see I have been a hard working lady. Last night I finally seperated for the sleeves and I need a break.

Entrelac Socks

An entrelac sock break! I’m teaching this coming up in April and I’ve got to get working if I want a set by class time. I was looking at the pattern this morning before leaving for work and I don’t know what I’ve gotten myself into. The pattern calls for size 1 needles, which you know isn’t happening. I’m using four 4s and one 5 and Simply Soft. I just need a tiny sweater break.

Knitting Book Club!

And I got my book club book in the mail yesterday! It is a slim 269 pages so it should take no time at all. I think I’ll go out on my porch and get some reading done now, before it is 20 degrees again.

I finished Grandma’s hat!

And I had maybe 10 yards of yarn to spare. I was cutting it close and getting nervous.

Cable Crazy

I changed my mind about it, too. I think she will really like it! She has a very smiliar hat that she has been wearing for years, only ribbed and not cabled. Cables are so much better than ribs. So, it isn’t baige. But it is a similar tint… oh who knows. I like it. I might even knit myself one of these with the left over blue yarn from my sweater jacket I put on hold for this hat.

I caught up with my friend Shannon who is about to give birth to her second child and I got inspired to Amigurumi her first child Natalie a duck.

Duck Parts

I knit a blanket for the new baby back in October for my Baby Class. I was getting ready to mail it out but figured I should throw something in the box for the unsuspecting big sister. I’ll finish him up this weekend and mail the hat to Grandma, the blanket and Duck to Shannon, and then finally get back to my sweater. It has been sitting on my work tablel for five days now, patiently waiting for another sleeve. Sleeve number two is just one duck away!

And just a little reminder to you reading procrastinators: Book Club meets Monday at 7pm! Take the weekend to finish our book! I can’t wait to talk to you all about it.