The Sweatshop of Love Blog

Slouchy Beret, Try #2

Words can not describe how happy I am to be finished knitting this hat.

It probably has some ill will knit into it, along with the few kitty hairs, but it is done and cute, if I do say so myself.

It took three whole days to dry without the help of the radiator. I kept this little guy very far away from any heat after the disaster last time.

But, it is in the mail to Heather, completing my blog giveaway knitting and my holiday knitting at the same time!

No Burning!

I’m not frantically knitting at all hours of the night to finish anything. So, August 1st is a completely acceptable time to start your holiday knitting.

Maybe it is because all the snow that fell in Chicago last week has melted, and it is about 40 degrees out, but I am not reveling in this accomplishment because I don’t feel like Christmas is next week. I’m sitting about 2 feet away from my Christmas tree, sure, but that is the only evidence I’ve got that Christmas is looming.

Cookies!

Not even the baking I’m doing is triggering Christmasy feelings, since I kind of bake a lot.

Cookie Logs

You know when you see a recipe that combines two things you don’t think should go together, dismiss, but then can’t get out of your mind?

Ok, yes, that sounds a little extreme. But if I said that about a pair of shoes it might not sound so wacky. And cookie baking is a much less expensive thing to get obsessive about.

Ready to Bake!

I saw the recipe for Earl Grey Cookies on Food Loves Writing and Kate in the Kitchen before I was sold. I love cookies. I love Earl Grey. But together?

Together they work. These cookies are light and buttery. I followed the recipe almost exactly, too, which never happens. I traded oranges for tangerines, and I wish I would have given it a squeeze into the batter before I ate it because a little more citrus would be welcome.

Roasted Eggplant Pasta

I love to eat them after meals like this; roasted eggplant, broccoli, and carrot pasta with white wine sauce and Parmesan cheese.

Roast the veggies in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes, meanwhile cook the pasta as directed, heat garlic and seasonings in oil, add white wine, add drained pasta and veggies, toss. Cover in cheese. Eat.

How fancy do I sound? Following up a meal like that with Earl Grey cookies. This is one fancy girl over here. One with no more presents to knit and a whole house full of yarn.

Look out.

My only real goal this past weekend was to finish my second Slouchy Beret for the Heather, the second blog giveaway winner. I mailed the first one out Saturday morning, well ahead of schedule, so I was confident I could knock the other one out.

I got some Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick N Quick and knit it all afternoon. I blocked it on a plate, put it on the radiator so it would dry faster, and in the morning I had a cute pink hat!

Pink Slouchy Beret

Or, that was how it was supposed to go. Sunday morning I checked on it and about died.

BURNED!

It got torched on the radiator!

My Poor Hat!

I have put projects on the radiator to dry since the beginning of time and this has never happened before! I throw my wet mittens, socks, hats, and scarves on the radiator when I come in from a snow storm. So what the hell happened?!

I told my mom, who said, ‘Oh man, the woman you are sending it to is going to be so disappointed to see that.’

New Hat

Don’t think I didn’t think of it! But of course I can’t send someone a hat that looks like I used it to clean up cat puke. The second hat, however, is going a little slower. Once you finish a project it is hard to get the motivation to start the same exact thing over again.

Have you ever had a similar knitting disaster?

But I’ll finish it this afternoon, NOT block it on the radiator, and hopefully it will be dry by Thursday.

Breakfast Makes it Better

I always turn to pancakes when I’m feeling sad/sick/like I want to kill someone, and these pancakes with my mom’s apple  butter and potatoes made me feel better.

Homemade Tuna Helper

So does Homemade Tuna Helper. I don’t know what it is about shell shaped pasta. It just makes me feel so good. And I love when my food pictures have yarn in them.

Cabled Belt

The yarn next to dinner is from the Cabled Belt from the 2008 Winter issue of Vogue Knitting.

Picture in the Magazine

I have been lazily knitting it because I don’t plan on wearing it until New Years Eve. How fun is it to plan an outfit around a belt?!

The only people on Ravelry to knit it have used gold or grey yarn, but when I saw the picture I knew it had to be in a bright color. The cable pattern is very intuitive and it is knitting up quickly despite the size 5 needles I’m using.

And yes, I’m keeping this belt as far away from the radiator as I possibly can!

Somewhere in the haze of crippling migraine, neck and shoulder pain, I knit this hat!

Kinda Want to Keep It!

Yesterday didn’t even exist for me. It was like a blip on the radar of the week that shouldn’t have amounted to a real day, other than this hat.

Tuesday night I had a bad headache that I thought was the result of my favorite Detroit Tiger being traded to the dirty Yankees on top of a lingering cold/flu thing that I’ve had since Thanksgiving weekend, but it got progressively worse overnight. Every time I moved in my sleep I would be jarred away by throbbing head pain. It was terrible! I woke up for real Wednesday morning hardly able to look outside, my head hurt so bad. And I never get headaches! Well, other than when I accidentally concussed myself a few weeks ago. That sucked. But that was nothing compared to this pain!

Right? You would want to keep it, too!

So I watched most Undeclared, The Series and knit this hat for Kate, one of the winners of my Custom Knit Gift Giveaway.  I already had the yarn she wanted so it worked out great!

Slouchy and Adorable!

And you can see my new hair color! I like to darken it a little in the winter, to make me look even paler than you would think humanly possible. And I’ve got insane gray hair I need to manage before holiday parties start!

I followed my Slouchy Beret Pattern, making the large size because my gauge with this yarn was a little small. I have no idea what this yarn is! I bought it ages ago for a project that never got made and it has no tag. I’m pretty sure it is wool, and probably some hybrid of the Lion Brand Wool-Ease Bulky and Wool-Ease Worsted, but it isn’t as thick as the bulky that exists now.

It is an oldie and a goodie, and a Christmas miracle it turned out so perfectly! I’m mailing it out this weekend for you, Katie. Hope you enjoy it!

As of this moment I’ve got four tiny gifts to make to complete my holiday knitting. We are talking one weekend’s worth of knitting time. And it’s December 3rd! Holiday knitting success!

Based on the emails and texts, facebook and twitter comments I’ve been getting, not everyone is as close to being finished as I am. So what better way to ease some holiday stress than helping you check someone off your to-knit-for list?

I’m giving away custom knit gifts!

Win this giveaway and you will win the chance to pick a project from one of my patterns and the yarn color of your choice. I will knit it up and mail it to your mom/uncle/wife/best friend/step dad by December 18th! Plenty of time to get to your loved one before Christmas.

Your Hand Knit Present Choices Are:

Cabled Cowl

Cabled Change Purse

Slouchy Beret

Eric Man-Beanie or Eric Man-Stocking Cap

Even better? I’m giving away TWO custom made gifts! So you have two chances to win!

To enter: Leave a comment on this post about which gift you would choose and who the hand knit would be for. Extra points for following me on twitter if you don’t already and tweeting this giveaway and becoming a fan of The Sweatshop of Love on facebook if you aren’t already and saying hi on our wall.

You have until Sunday, December 6th to enter! I will contact the winners Monday to get any final instructions before I get materials and get knitting.

The Sweatshop of Love is here to ease some holiday stress! And I can’t wait to read your responses.

There was a time when all I wanted to do was change my last name and get the hell out of the Midwest as fast as I possibly could, but that time has passed. I’m keeping Dykhuizen come marriage or high water, and I can’t see leaving the Midwest anytime soon.

I like cheese. And potatoes. And corn. And livestock. I’d rather deal with tornadoes than hurricanes or earthquakes.

And I’d much rather rock a potluck than a dinner party:

Brijeet, Laura, and Kirsten

Tara and I

Wednesday night The Sweatshop of Love had a little potluck! We worked on some knitting projects while sipping wine instead of coffee.

I made foccacia, Brijeet made brownies and blondies, Laura made pigs in a blanket and some little ham and cheesy things (MIDWEST!), Gil, our hostess, made some killer pumpkin soup and a lovely salad, and Tara and Kirsten kept us more than supplied in the wine department.

It's AWESOME!

I had to convince Tara how awesome her Quant headband was looking.

Brijeet LOVES Bacon.

And Brijeet totally hogged the candied bacon. I’m pretty sure she put it on everything available. Brownies. Foccacia. In the soup. On the salad.

At least she looks sexy while eating it!

One of the main reasons we had the potluck was because we wanted to pick names for The Sweatshop of Love’s Secret Santa. And what did we forget to do? Pick names for The Sweatshop of Love’s Secret Santa. And Secret Santa is totally Midwest, right?

So, as Pudge Rodriguez and Velma are my witnesses, I have put all the names of the interested Sweatshoppers into my Slouchy Beret and am going to pick for everyone.

Ready to Pick!

I’m going to email everyone the results as soon as I’m done posting! We will have until The Sweatshop of Love Holiday Party to knit something cute or put together a knit-themed present.

And no, this will not turn White Elephant like it did for poor Phyllis on The Office. I wish her Knit With Phyllis blog were better!

Two Office references in one week?! That might just require a marathon!