The Sweatshop of Lovers Blog

Irrational: Solving the ‘what to wear?’ issue by dressing as if it were still very cold, just without pants. Walking down the street this afternoon were many girls wearing large sweaters, coats, scarves, and winter boots. No pants.

Rational: Going to Home Depot!

Soil and Impulse Buy

I needed soil (of course they only had this huge heavy bag that I had to carry from Elston and Logan to California and Armitage), and then I saw the Topsy Turvy! Grow plants hanging from your porch! Or, in my case, over your dinning room table. It was $10. I really couldn’t resist.

Irrational: Digging to the very bottom of your drawer and putting on whatever is buried down there. Walking down the street this afternoon were a lot of animal print leggings.

Rational: Seeds!

(soon to be) Tea A Plenty!

Soon these little seed packets will be mint and camomile and flowers and catnip and tomatoes! Ok I’m not counting on the tomatoes.

Irrational: Being in warm denial. Walking down the street this afternoon were lots of winter coats and hats. Can you not feel?!

Rational: Being excited about your sweater dress!

Yoke Start

Isn’t it pretty? The sweater dress is knit top down, starting with the shoulder yoke. The moss stitch that I was worried about is actually really fun! It is a million times better than that bitch seed stitch, and it makes it easy to figure out which side of the dress you are on.

Moss Stitch:

Row 1: K1P1

Row 2: Knit the knits and purl the purls.

Row 3: P1K1

Row 4: Purl the purls and knit the knits.

Irrational: Dressing like it is 90 degrees. Walking down the street this afternoon were lots of short shorts, tank tops, and flip flops. It is 55.

Rational: Wearing a sweater.

Done, Buttons and All

I’m in love. I wore it last night to the first Sweater Club class (which was great!), wore it today to Home Depot, will be wearing it every day until I die and then will be buried in it. I’m in love. Soon I will be Mrs Fitted Knits Sweater Jacket, and I will have little Fitted Knits Sweater Jacket babies.

Wonk-Bread

I don’t know how to fit this in, but look at this loaf of bread I baked! I baked the perfect loaf of bread last time, and I thought it was because I lost track of how much flour I put in and accidentally added a 1/2 cup too much, and then put in a 1/2 cup more water to compensate, but apparently I only added an extra 1/2 cup of water because the extra flour just ended up all over my bread maker, and contributed to this mushroom bread. Still tastes good, miraculously.

And as you can see The Sweatshop of Lover’s Blog got a makeover thanks to Brijeet, who I pouty faced into html/ftp whatever this thing together. It looks great and I couldn’t be any happier with it!

Irrational: Being inside on an afternoon like this! I’ve got pots to soil and a tomato thingy to turn upside down.

I know I’ve already posted a picture of the Amigurumi duck, but I finished the one I’m sending as a baby gift and it was too cute to not post again.

I Love This Duck

I also love the Target brand Tums bottle in the background of this picture. Behold:

Potpie Genius! The Crumble Top

Friday night potpie dinner!

It was enjoyed all weekend, as opposed to last time when it was enjoyed in one sitting. That was painful.

Speaking of pain, though, the Dykhuizen household is now the proud owner of a pasta maker. And it worked very hard Saturday afternoon.

Pasta Explosion

Manicotti, spinach and mushroom ravioli, squash ravioli, and linguine. Whew. It hurts to remember.

What Better Way to Start a Pasta Dinner?

Egg rolls, of course! Or spring rolls? I don’t know. But they were delicious. And now I have to stop talking about food because my tummy is still recovering.

Back At It!

After the Grandma’s Hat break I got back to working on the sweater jacket. I finished the second sleeve and am working on the neck now. It is hard to pick up stitches with the Homespun yarn because you pick up the big stitches and then knit front and back and front in the stitch with the smaller needles and yarn. It is looking even so far so I’m going to go with it. After this I’m just knitting the button bands! This sweater has knit up so quickly! I love it.

Time to review Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close for book club tonight! And eat some pasta.

Well it was bound to happen. And I know that I almost did it before, but…

but…

But it might be time for me to knit a dress.

I blame my mother, actually. She got me looking through all these old magazines I’ve collected over the years; I’ve got stacks and stacks of Interweave Knits and Vogue Knitting Magazines and Knit Simples. She wants to knit a vest after her first sweater success. (I don’t make this shit up! My mom wanted to kick me out of her house when I wouldn’t her knit anything but a sweater. She yelled. She hit me a few times. And now? Now the woman can’t get enough. Pictures to come.)

So I’m glancing threw magazines and I come across this cute little dress. I flip by it because it is a dress and not a vest, but I keep thinking about it. I go back to it. I look at the pattern. I have my reservations – the skirt part of the dress is knit in a very annoying K1P1. Not as annoying as seed stitch, but you know. But the cowl is pretty. The sleeves are pretty. It would look really cute with tights. I could knit it in Carron Simply Soft.

But it is a dress? Who knits dresses?

The Sweatshop of Love knits dresses. So bring it on. As soon as I’m done with this:

Bottom Done!

I’m about to bind off the bottom section! I think I need one more skein of the Homespun and one more skein of the Carron Simply Soft in Blue, but I can get that this weekend and then see where we are. Its cute, right? I like how the Homespun stripped subtly. I love the blue with it! It is going to be a cute one.

This weekend PT and I are jetting off to Michigan for the weekend, before my weekends are spent sweater knitting with you all on Sunday mornings and my mom starts calling me to say that she forgets what I look like. I hope to get some good car knitting done. Because, and I hate to say it! but I’m excited about the dress. Gah!

Oat A Licious Bowl O Fun

And you know when I’m getting anxious for warm weather because I start throwing fruit into everything. Here is oatmeal with frozen peaches, grapes and cherries, oranges, raisins, almond slices and a sprinkle of brown sugar. If I squint I can’t see the snow on the ground and can imagine eating this fruity bowl on the back porch in my sweater dress.

Wednesday night at toy class I got started on my Fitted Knits Sweater Jacket!

Lionbrand Homespun and Carron Simply Soft

It is knit yoke down! Which is interesting and something I’ve never tried before. I originally wanted to use two strands of the Homespun held together to get the fuzzy yarn look of the original yarn, but it was expensive. It is a little hole-ier than I would like it to be, so maybe I’ll knit more and decide to spring for the extra 3ish skeins of yarn. I’m going to keep going this weekend and see how it looks.

I mailed out the Valentine’s Day presents yesterday morning, of course forgetting to take a picture of Grandma’s bears. I think it is safe to post my mom’s duck!

Mommy's Duck

She doesn’t check the internet at home and that is where she is for Valentine’s weekend! I hope the packages get there tomorrow! Its cute, right?

Fried Rice

I made some fried rice for lunch this afternoon. SOMEHOW I had a lot of broccoli stalk. SOMEONE doesn’t like the stalk and I’m too crazy to throw it away. Thus, veggie fried rice with carrots, broccoli stalk, and tomato. Thanks, Lori, for the hot tip! Use cold rice! I put it in some butter and stir fry sauce and it was a great lunch. It gets me looking forward to summer when all I do is stir fry huge mixes of vegetables and eat them on my porch. Sigh.

PT and I, despite our apathy towards Valentine’s Day, have some special food on the menu for tomorrow that I will share with you soon. I don’t know how good it is going to look…(hint!)… but it will taste amazing and that is all that matters, even if you have a blog half dedicated to food.