The Sweatshop of Love Blog

When we last saw DinoSweater, he was just some bottom ribbing and a couple body rows.

Real Live Normal Sweater!

Then he turned into a normal baby sweater! Complete with PU button hole and button bands. I’m seaming as I’m going because there are a ton of pieces to this sweater! If I waited to the end this sweater would languish in a pile of pieces forever.

On With The Hood!

I knit this hood separately and attached it.

Baby Sweater+Hood=CUTE!

I’m not around babies very much. My friends who have babies don’t live in Chicago. And when there is a baby around I’m not one of the first to jump up to hold it. I just figure I’d let the baby loving girls hold the babies while I just keep knitting. So the idea of something fitting into this sweater blows my mind.

Bear Sweater?!

Like, my teddy bear from when I was three fits into this sweater. Very well, actually. He looks quite dashing!

But yeah. Someone fitting into this sweater makes me nervous. It seems like it would be easily kicked or squashed, like my cats are constantly.

What Now?

This also makes me nervous. Stegosaurus spikes, why you gotta? So much seaming. So much crap! If I were to make this sweater again I would change the entire pattern.

… Yeah I said it. And I know you are all going to hold me to it. I’m ok with it.

Also! Anyone reading this living in Portland?! I’d love to meet you! If you are in the Portland area send me an email at allyson[at]thesweatshopoflove[dot]com so we can have a knitting coffee meet up this Sunday, February 28th.

I’ll be there avoiding snow, so we should get our knit on together for sure!

So I’ve had my Ravelympics plan for quite a while. Hoodie Devoted, which is just waiting for some lining, (pictures soon), and the Bella’s Mittens, which I was going to switch to be hand warmers.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned this on the blog before, probably because I’ve got some reservations about it and am trying to focus my attention on the good as opposed to all the issues, but my little brother and his girlfriend are having a baby.

As a sister of course I want my brother to be happy, and he is, and despite his age, etc etc etc, etc. etc. etc. He and his girlfriend are really excited about having a baby, and I, of course, have to follow suit.

DinoSweater!

I’ve had this sweater in my brain since seeing it in the Holiday 2003 Family Circle Easy Knitting Magazine. That is right. For SEVEN YEARS.

I Mean, SERIOUSLY?!

Adam was huge into dinosaurs when he was little, and even if he wasn’t, this would still be one of the cutest sweaters ever!

DINOSWEATER!

I accidentally bought yarn for it yesterday. Lion Brand Wool Ease Worsted in Avocado. And it was staring at me. I put it in a bag and hid it in the closet and I could hear it yelling, ‘DINOSWEATER! DINOSWEATER!’

What’s a girl to do?

And this is seriously throwing off my Knit a Sweater a Month Challenge! I’ve still got Dollar and a Half sitting on my work table like 90% finished. So I might just make this my February sweater, finish up Dollar and a Half as a bonus sweater, then knit something else for March.

You know what? I don’t even really care. LOOK AT THAT DINOSWEATER! It’s got stegosaurus spikes down the back! Come on, now.

Hoodie Devoted!

(You ever see a picture of yourself and not really believe that is you?)

Hoodie Devoted, my first Ravelympics project, is complete! Started Friday night, finished Thursday afternoon. How is that for devotion?

Hoodie in the Sun

I’m in love. The stitch pattern was fun and interesting and the bobbles weren’t annoying. That is all you can really ask of a pattern, right? Ravelympics Project #1 Finished!

I made some serious modifications. I didn’t check my gauge, because it’s a hood, who cares?, but it was HUGE a gusset time so I changed that all up. I also changed it from being a pullover hood to being more of a cape.

Finished Hood!

Mods:

Gusset: Beg with Row 5, work even in cable pattern for 6 more row. BO all sts.

Attach Gusset to Sides: Fit gusset in to top, seam sides of hood together around gusset and down center of hood.

Rib Yoke: Not so much! PU 120 sts around bottom of hood, do not join. Starting with a RS row, work in K2, P1 to end, ending with K2. Cont in pattern for 4 rows.

Dec Rows -  Work 2 sts, dec1 st, work in pattern to 4 sts from end, dec1 st, work 2 sts.

Work Dec Row every row till ribbed section measures 5 inches. Loosely BO all stitches.

The... BACK!

I had a hell of a time figuring out what was going on with the back of this hood. There are only two pictures in the book and one of them is specifically to show the lining. The pattern calls for a gusset to be worked down from the center of the hood, and the sides to be seamed to the gusset. My hood was already HUGE, so I modified the gusset and just seamed the sides together.

It was seriously the right call to use my Caron One Pounder I had left over from a slipper project. I was worried it would be stiff and scratchy, but no part of your skin touches the yarn. My lining is this beautiful silk material I found in a remnant bin and feels like you have a seriously warm cloud wrapped around your head.

Spend money on what counts! For this project it was definitely the lining.

Pre-Lining

Of course I had to go out and buy ANOTHER pound of brown yarn because I ran out right as I was finishing the ribbed section. So I’ve got about 98% of that pound left. Again. This will be in my stash forever.

What did I do this weekend?

Lotta Hood

I barely left my house. Barely left my TV. I didn’t miss a ski jump, a cross country race, a mogul, and, most importantly, a pairs ice skating performance.

Yesterday I had Sweater Club in the morning, returned home around noon, then at 10pm when the Olympics ended I looked down at my knitting and thought, well shit!

I knit like 13 inches of my Hoodie Devoted. Since the opening ceremonies.

I even went out Saturday night! I brought my knitting to game night and happily knit while vampires and dinosaurs were fighting in Heroscape while listening to the Lord of the Rings soundtrack.

Take a second to let just how cool I am truly sink in.

Pudge Approves!

Pudge has grown very fond of this hood, probably because she has been laying under it for two days while I was knitting. I put it on the floor to take these pictures and she was so confused.

She was mainly confused that I was standing, and walking around.

The stitch pattern is fun and interesting, the bobbles aren’t annoying and every other cable is different. Thus, this is pretty much the best pattern to work on 12 hours a day two days in a row.

Yikes.

Well, what am I supposed to be doing on a February weekend in Chicago? It’s cold, bro. And it isn’t like I should be out celebrating a holiday or anything.

Last night’s 2010 Winter Olympic opening ceremonies were a little bizarre. Between the punk fiddlers and tap dancers, the huge Coke polar bear, an anorexic Brian Adams, and a huge torch lighting malfunction, there was a lot to take in.

Hoodie Devoted

I can safely say, however, that I have never looked forward to an Opening Ceremonies as much as I was looking forward to these, because of the start of the Ravelympics!

I’ve been getting a few questions about what the Ravelympics are. They are like the Olympics for knitting! You enter into different competitions with different projects and you have to get them done by the closing ceremonies.

I’m on Team Buttercream hosted by the lovely Julie at Knitted Bliss. I cast on Hoodie Devoted, out of Boutique Knits, last night.

Cables and Bobbles

This is a little more project than I was expecting! I’ve got a good start on my needles, but that is 215 stitches I’m working! 17 days? And I’ve got other projects on the docket?

Well, it wouldn’t be like me not to try to do a million things at once.

I tagged my ravelry project page with the official Ravelympics tag, my team name: teambuttercream!, and the event I’m entering with this project: Hat Halfpipe!

I was tweeting like a crazy person last night! Keeping up with other Ravelympians and Olympic Opening Ceremonies watchers. It was easily the most fun I’ve had on twitter to date.

Highlights:

rocketslide: Olympic drinking game! Drink for every cable knit, turtleneck, & hat with a pompom! RT @sweatshopoflove: Loving the Olympic knits!

jmgehrke: @sweatshopoflove Wait, which one was Michael and which one was Janet in that “We are the world” montage?

actifblue: Maybe we could start one… RT @sweatshopoflove NO JAMAICAN BOBSLED TEAM?!?!

adamfairholm: The dancers on each side of the athletes coming it is making it feel like a sad Wii Mii fashion show.

modeknit: Dang we gots some good lookin’ hats on our atheletes! ravelympics! MOOSE!

WaterlooWools: Loving all the live tweets of the ceremonies–but aren’t you people supposed to be knitting?!

acmevalley: If Sum 41 doesn’t make a showing here, I will be FLOORED. YOU HEAR ME DAVID ATKINS?!?!

adamfairholm: Leave it to the French Canadians to turn the Olympics opening ceremony into a bad student art show with gothic fiddlers and riverdance.

CaryWhitt: These dudes are like the ambian and Nyquil of Olympic speech readers.

rocketslide: This is what you get for using the metricsystem!

modeknit: RT @ebertchicago: U.S. tweeters snarky about Canadian Olympics ceremony. Canuck reply: If you’re so smart, why don’t you have health care?