The Winner and Useful Information!

Thanks everyone for your input. Button "A" was the winner by a nose. Though the sweater is unabashedly peachy-pink, it's ostensibly a unisex design, so the anchor buttons may induce people to knit the little thing for their baby boys too.

The winner of the free pattern was Shirley, who also left this valuable information in her comment: For buttonholes: After placement of top and bottom buttons. The remaining buttonholes are evenly spaced between, measure the distance and divide by the number of buttons left plus 1. If 3 buttons are left, divide the distance say 12. 3+1=4 divide by 12 = 3 so you would center a button every 3 inches
Brilliant. Thank you, Shirley. I'm including this on the blog not only to share it with everyone out there, but also so I know where to look the next time I have a buttonhole band coming down the pike.

Here is the finished Baby Chestnut Hill Gansey Cardigan, with Buttons A and errant buttonhole discreetly (I hope) sewn up. We've taken pictures, so the pattern should be available soon. I will keep you posted. I've also finished the backs of the Child and Adult versions of this cardigan, so they're in the pipeline now too.

Help me!

Okay, I need help. Button help. Also buttonhole help, as evidenced by the photo below. I just finished the sample for the Baby Chestnut Hill Gansey Cardigan (which I am thrilled about - can't wait to make one for me - an adult-sized one, that is) and need to pick out buttons. That's where YOU come in. Help me choose which buttons by voting on the choices below.

But first, because you are all my dear understanding friends out there, I will share my shame. I am possibly the worst buttonhole distance estimator on the planet. No matter how scientific or mathematical or non-scientific or organic or holistic an approach I take, this is what I end up with:

Say what? What was I thinking? The second button from the top is where the buttonhole should be, but unfortunately is not. Go ahead and laugh. And this is like the 10 zillionth cardigan I've made, so I really should know better. If anyone has any tried and true methods for buttonhole distance estimation I'd love to hear them. [By the way, my patterns don't direct you to do this - it's just my wonkiness. The patterns say to space 3 buttonholes evenly on the band. I can't even follow my own pattern!!]

Now on to more pleasant subjects. Let's choose a button! Here is CHOICE A:

These are medium-sized goldtone anchor buttons. Classic and one of my all-time favorites.

Here is CHOICE B:

Teeny gold dome buttons. Small and tasteful, but too small?

Here is CHOICE C:

Medium peachy-pink flat buttons. Non-confrontational, but too boring?

Leave your vote in the Comments below! I'll also pick someone at random and email them the Momogus Knits pattern of their choice, just for being helpful!

Yarn Made From Plastic Bottles?!

I came across this yarn in a catalog recently. I try to be super-conscious about reducing plastic in my life - glass storage containers, reusable shopping bags - so I was thrilled to see that recycled plastic bottles were being made into yarn! It will still never biodegrade, but at least it will be sweet baby sweaters or warm hats that might get more use than bottles in a landfill. What a world.

Congrats!

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in the latest Giveaway! Reading everyone's memories of their favorite teachers was awesome! Go read the comments right now! It'll make your day! Thank you, teachers!

And now, without further ado, the winners!

Andrea, whose favorite teacher was Miss Steinmiller, won ES5 Easy Child's Hat and the blue yarn.

Diane, whose favorite teacher was Ms. Jones , won NS4 Child's Cable Hat and the green yarn.

Stephen, whose favorite teacher was Mr. Frank, won ES8 Easy Adult Hat and the black yarn.

And Maureen, whose favorite teacher was Sister Marie, won NS3 Adult Cable Hat and the gold yarn.

Now go forth and knit some great hats! And don't forget you can post any and all of your Momogus Knits project pictures on our Facebook page! Stay tuned for more giveaways in the future!

It's Giveaway Time!

My boy went back to school last week, and I've been a little bit blue. I love having him around during the summer. I also like not having to get up at 6:30 am. But now he's back, and I decided the only thing to do to lift my spirits would be a Back To School Giveaway!

Because all I can focus on right now is little projects, I thought a hat pattern and yarn giveaway would be just right. So here's the deal: I'm giving away TWO children's hat patterns and yarn and TWO adult hat patterns and yarn.

You can choose

ES5 - Easy Children's Hat

OR

NS4 Easy Child's Cable Hat

Your choices with these patterns are 2 balls of beautiful soft machine-washable Mission Falls 1824 Wool in either lovely leaf green or soft cobalt blue (the top row below). These children's patterns are written for ages 2-10 yrs old.


OR if you don't have any young folks to knit for, you can choose one of two adult hat patterns:

ES8 - Easy Adult Hat


OR

NS3 Easy Adult Cable Hat

Your choice of yarn is either classic black or rich harvest gold Mission Falls 1824 Wool (the lower row below).


So, in order to qualify for the giveaway, leave a comment below telling who your favorite teacher was and why. Also let me know which prize you would like - pattern and yarn color. Please include either your full name (so I can contact you on FB) or your email address in your comment (you can do that infoATmomogusknitsDOTcom thing to avoid it getting farmed for spam) [spam farming...that's a weird thought....]; if you don't, I can't get in touch with you to send you your prize!

My favorite teacher was Miss Leopold, my 4th grade teacher at Jenkintown Elementary School. She taught us all of the world capitals (I still remember that Sofia is the capital of Bulgaria!), and told a story about an uncle of hers that stepped on a nail and his mother immediately knocked out his front teeth so he could drink through a straw because he got lockjaw (this made quite an impression on me). She also had us put on "The Taming of the Shrew" for our 4th grade play. It seemed normal at the time, but I can't imagine what an undertaking this was. She was awesome!

As always, my official 10-yr-old arbiter will take time from his busy schedule of Lego-building and grumpily-doing-homework to choose the winners randomly. Good luck!

Welcome New Stores!

A mighty Momogus Knits Patterns welcome to the latest (and particularly geographically diverse) wonderful yarn stores to join the family: The Knitting Cottage in Hagerstown, MD; Dog House Yarns & More in Culpeper, VA; Yarn Envy in Ottawa Lake, MI; Asheville NC Home Crafts in Asheville, NC; Brooklyn Yarn Cafe in Brooklyn, NY; The Knitting Den in South Lyon, MI; Atkinson's Farm Yarns in Vincennes, IN; North Woods Farm & Fiber in Campobello, SC; and Yarn Dance in Bemidgi, MN. I had two cousins who went to college in Bemidgi; when Patty the owner called me I got all excited when she said her store was located in Bemidgi because that name is so evocative in my family. I also might have scared her a little with my crazy excitement.

If you're in the neighborhood of any of these wonderful stores, stop by and buy some delicious yarn and hang out with the friendly folks. We have to support our local yarn stores or they'll all disappear!