The Sweatshop of Love Blog

Governors Island is a tiny island between Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Staten Island that use to be a military base but is now just full of empty buildings, walking and biking paths, a few stores, and lots of park.

PT and I took the free ferry from Brooklyn over there on Saturday and it was awesome.

If there was nothing on the island but views of New York City it would be worth going.

We walked the 5 miles around the island seeing what there was to see: TONS of bikers and picnic-ers, empty dorm-like military housing, artist take overs of empty fields, and food carts.

We packed our lunch.

And enjoyed our seaside picnic!

A few of the old mansions that housed the important military families were open for walkthroughs and turned into museums and stores.

Including this surprising Etsy store in one of the houses!

And Fort Jay still sits waiting for an attack by sea.

The entire island is screaming for a reality show if you ask me. Throw some people in those haunted military housing buildings or costume people and have them live like they did in 1890 or something.

Tear down the feral houses and build some billion dollar condos! Or tear them down and make the entire island a huge park. It’s very strange that most of this prime New York City real estate has been left exactly like it was when the coast guard left like 15 years ago, and some even before that when the military base closed in the 60s.

Pack some sandwiches and check out Governors Island before someone gets wise and stops letting the NYC peasants like me and PT get there for free, have an amazing afternoon of Statue of Liberty gazing for free, and then get home for free.

Seriously, Governors Island, I’m going to start thinking I’m back in the Midwest if you keep this up.

I’m not a shopper, really. When I go to a store I go with a list of things I need and I don’t mess around. I thought I was like this because I budget well, I’m very determined to spend wisely, I try to be very practical, and don’t buy things I don’t need.

I found out Thursday that I have just been going to the wrong stores my whole life.

Grisel, a friend of mine from Chicago, is in New York City for a while and she was my perfect excuse to finally make it to a bunch of crafty stores I’ve been wanting to go to since I started knitting. She knits, sews, and even has a interest in cross stitch, AND she lived in New York for years so she knows her way around.

It was the perfect storm!

We started at Tender Buttons because Grisel needed buttons for her finished Baby Sweater Buffet and I lost the button off my red skirt. I didn’t pack a lot of clothes so loosing that skirt was a big hit to the wardrobe.

Once our buttons were obtained we were off to the Lion Brand Yarn Studio, which had the most amazing window display I’ve ever seen! A big beach and carnival display and, of course, everything was knit or crocheted.

So yeah, I was kind of sold on the place before I even got through the door.

The Lion Brand Studio has every kind of Lion Brand yarn displayed beautifully and priced reasonably. They have yarn that isn’t available anywhere else, too! I picked up a skein of their Superwash Merino in Dijon, a color I’m going to be obsessed with this fall.

Next up was Purl SoHo, the store portion of the blog I absolutely love.

I have never been to a store that had something I’m passionately interested in occupying every inch of it until now. Every book, ever bolt of fabric, every skein of yarn I loved.

I could easily pack up one of everything at Purl SoHo and be happy rolling over it all laying in a big pile for the rest of my life.

We spent an embarrassing amount of time looking at everything EVERYTHING everything in this store.

One of the fun parts of being in the store was finding all of the projects she has featured on her blog placed around the shop. Like this needlepoint canvas!

She had a lot of them displayed in bookcases around the shop.

Our final destination was Brooklyn General Store and, I’m sad to say, this is the only picture I took. I was still in store shock from Purl, I think, and we had been running around shopping for like seven hours at this point.

I will be back, though! They had these cute turtle buttons I haven’t stopped thinking about and an amazing price on Cascade 220 I want to take advantage of.

Sadly, just because I visited these places doesn’t mean I had a ton of money to burn or, more importantly, any space whatsoever in either PT’s apartment or my suitcases. But I did pick up some essentials. That skein of dijon at Lion Brand, my skirt button from Tender Buttons, needles and thread from Purl SoHo to attach the button and do a couple other mending jobs I’ve developed since living here, and one of those fancy tiny measuring tapes I’ve always wanted, also from Purl.

A HUGE thanks to Grisel for being the best crafty shopping partner an out of town girl could ask for. I had the best time and could do it again tomorrow. And the next day. And the day after that!

~~~

PS: I totally got accepted into the DIY Trunk Show this year! Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 20th because not only is the DIY Trunk Show really fun and full of amazing crafty vendors, this year I get to be one of them!

Do you want a chance to win a Sweatshop knitting pattern? The lovely Amy at @threadpanda is hosting a giveaway! Go show her some love!

Without getting into the exact definition of what  hipster is, and assuming that pretty much anyone between the ages of 18-40 living in Chicago and Brooklyn is a hipster, I bring to you seven specific terrible hipster fashion observations I’ve made after living in Chicago for seven years and Brooklyn this week.

Please understand, also, that based on these very liberal perimeters I am a Chicago hipster through and through. I love us hipsters, however fashionably misguided.

1. Hipster Boys are Generally the Same Everywhere, except for

a. Shorts

You will never see a respectable Chicago hipster in short plaid shorts. Or, god forbid, SHORT SHORTS. I don’t have the stomach to post a picture of the short short clad hipster men rolling around Williamsburg. It’s not that hot, y’all. I can see your balls.

b. Newsboy Pants

It’s like male Brooklyn hipsters decided skinny girl jeans were cool around their ankles, but their junk needed A LOT more room. These pants are sometimes jean, sometimes like sweatpants, sometimes (god help us) PLAID, but always ugly. They are belted high. No one in Chicago will ever wear these, thank you very much.

2. While Female Chicago Hipsters Try to Look Attractive, Female Brooklyn Hipsters Try to Look as Unattractive as Possible.

Every girl in Brooklyn looks like this. Or, more accurately, this, plus 20-60 pounds. These twig girls don’t look good in this. I weigh 134 pounds at 5′ 6 1/2″ and I wouldn’t look good in this.

Hipsters in Chicago love high waisted skirts and vintage dresses. We like being cute. Hipsters in Brooklyn love looking like they are wearing underwear and their fat father’s dirty t-shirts.

Brooklyn Hipsters: If you flip it and reverse it, and put this big on the bottom and the tiny on the top, it works MUCH BETTER! Every girl in Chicago looks like this. Because it’s cute.

3. Hipsters in Brooklyn are VERY worried about ankle safety.

I’ve seen these in Chicago worn by fancy hipsters, yes. In Brooklyn EVERY hipster wears these.

I don’t think I could wear anything indicating my feet need a collar. Because my feet don’t need a collar.

Ignore the diaper shorts for now. ::shudder:: Just… ignore this girl totally. We’ll come back to her. Often. Somebody explain to me how these sandals are cute. They cut your legs off in the WORST place, making you look short. If it’s cold enough that you want your ankles covered, wear boots. Or socks! If it’s hot enough that you need your entire food exposed, you don’t…

Never mind. Just. Forget it. I’m chalking this one up to woman can’t be explained and moving on.

4. Female Brooklyn Hipsters LOVE Airing Out Their Junk.

a. The Harem Pant

So you look the same coming and going! These, along with the ankle collar sandals, are in Chicago but worn by fancy hipsters and fancy people. Which, almost makes it worse.

Everyone here wears these! Fancy rich people, hipsters, and tourists. I’ve seen more harem pants this week in NYC than in the entirety of the rest of life.

b. The Harem Short

(Also See Above Ankle Collar Picture)

I didn’t even know these existed before coming to Brooklyn. I have one statement: IF IT MAKES THE 80 POUND MODEL LOOK LIKE SHE’S WEARING A DIAPER, JUST IMAGINE WHAT IT WILL DO FOR YOU! Again, have never seen these in Chicago. And believe me, I would have noticed.

c. The Granny Harem Pant

Because harem pants aren’t big enough! These are everywhere in Brooklyn.

Imagine this pant as a skirt. Cute, right? Still a little heavy, but wearable. But this is not a skirt. This is pants. This. Is pants. Only in Brooklyn. And on Disney’s Aladdin.

d. The Dress Harem Pant

How can you wear sweat pants on a date or in the office? Call them DRESS HAREM PANTS. Again, all over NYC. Fancy hipsters, bum hipsters, fancy NYC ladies.

See that look on her face? That is the same look I have on my face looking at this picture! Camaraderie.

e. The Military Style Harem Pant

Because your hips can never get enough room. .. ? What?! You look like Napoleon. Or a German WWI soldier. In a bad way. Again, never in Chicago. Unless we are participating in some kind of battle reenactment.

5. Chicago Hipsters Love Rompers! Not So Much in Brooklyn.

I’m not big into rompers but they are on every hipster in Chicago. Maybe Brooklyn already went through their romper stage and every hipster here is over them, but I haven’t seen a single romper around these parts.

To this I’m going to have to say point to Chicago. If I was forced by gunpoint to wear a romper or harem pants I would chose the romper. Please don’t tell anyone I wouldn’t choose death.

6. Hipsters Psychotically Love Fedora Style Hats in Brooklyn.

Every hipster in Brooklyn owns this hat. You can see Ed Westwick in the top picture wearing one, and Diaper Harem Pant with Ankle Collar Sandal’s girl has one on, too.

I have so many other beefs with Brooklyn hipsters that I’m going to let this one slide. They are fine, as far as hats go, and I can see Chicago hipsters embracing this hat, too.

7. Brooklyn Hipsters Love Bras/Boobs

Maybe it’s just because it’s super hot here now, but I’ve seen so many bras this week! Very loose tank tops worn over short shorts or leggings and a bra is real big in Brooklyn. Call it my Midwestern sensibilities, but I’m positive tank tops in your size work just the same as really big tank tops.

Chicago hipsters show their bras off, too. But usually it’s a shoulder strap here, a back strap there, never full on cup showing in the armhole of your tank top. Chicago hipsters might run into their mothers, or bosses. Or, neighbors. Or brothers. Or an old college professor. A good Midwesterner doesn’t want strangers seeing their bra! It’s inappropriate!

The major difference here is simple: Chicago hipsters want to be cute. We are freaking cutesy, many times to a fault. Like, how are you going to explain that hamster tattoo to your grandkids? Where Chicago hipsters over-cute, Brooklyn hipsters under-cute. It’s like everyone in Brooklyn wears costumes for my amusement. And they are in a costume contest to see who can look the worst. And they are all winning.

I could, and probably will, write about how cute everyone is here, too. This is a summary of the worst Brooklyn hipsters have to offer. There is a lot of it. And I’m enjoying every minute of it.

As it’s my first time in NYC there are just a lot of things I need to see. I’ve had 26 years of hearing about this city and forming my own ideas of it in my head, so I’ve got a lot of catching up to do.

Most of those ideas are about food and very well dressed women. So far the food has not let me down. NYC has the best bagels in the whole world? Confirmed. I want to live inside this bagel, and just might figure out a way how.

And this picture is what I was expecting on every corner. I only saw a spraying fire hydrant with graffiti background and children playing once this weekend, though. I was pretty geeked when I saw it though. ‘Look! It’s New York!’

I’ve been here for 5 days, but from what I can tell, New York has big majestic parks but no other green spaces. Chicago tries to work in trees and boulevards all over, and lots of tiny parks, and a few very big parks. Grass is not big here, but there are lots of weird spots of weeds.

We visited some big buildings, too, like Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, the largest Gothic style church in the United States.

And Grand Central Station, where I kept trying to think of all the times I saw this place get destroyed. I kept envisioning meteoroids/aliens/water coming through the windows.

PT and I are having a lovely time exploring. I still have no idea what way is north and the stupid streets come in all directions (I miss my grid, dammit!) AND the subway system is really challenging. For instance, PT lives off one train stop, which has two trains go through it, but each train has a different name. One station. Two names. It’s like they want me to fail!

I’m sitting in Second Stop Cafe right now, determined to get lots of work done, as I have barely done anything since last Friday. This city is one seriously huge distraction! But real vacation stops today and working vacation starts. No more messing around!

I need a bagel first, though.

I’m save and sound and sweating my balls off here in Brooklyn. Not only is it actually super hot here, PT lives in a tiny converted garage. Ground level. Tiny windows. One overworked fan.

But y’all will get a tour later.

Yesterday I woke up in Allendale and went to sleep in Brooklyn with a stop over in Chicago in between. I took pictures.

Cheers Thai Restaurant was the perfect way to end a very long day of 1000+ miles of travel! Now down to business. I’ve got a website to update! I’ll let you know how it goes!