We Interrupt Our Regularly-Scheduled Programming....

....for this:

Congratulations to my beloved Phillies for clinching the NL East Division title.

The Sleeve That Ate Momogus Knits

Sleeves have always been my nemesis. Top down, cuff up, back and forth, in the round, picked up or knit separately - it just doesn't matter. I don't like doing them.

I've been working on the Child's version of the Chestnut Hill Gansey, and the sleeves have been kicking my butt. I wanted the gansey patterning on the yoke to continue on the sleeves. First I had the patterning going vertically down the sleeve, like so:

This was confusing and hard to figure out where to stop, so Matthew suggested that I make the Child's version the same as the American Girl doll version, where the patterning runs horizontally down the sleeve, like so:

All fine and good, so I ripped out the 3/4s of the sleeve I had knit and started over. I picked up the stitches around the sleeve opening and started knitting down. Well, after a few inches I realized that it was the worst picking up of stitches job ever done in the history of sleeves. Brace yourself:

Yeah, that's one unfortunate bump right at the shoulder. Look how long I lived in denial and just kept knitting and knitting! Oof. So finally I faced facts and ripped it out and started over once again. Now we're cooking:

Phew - much better. However, I've been at that point in this sleeve for a week. I just can't make myself work on it! Waaaahhhh......

And when I finally finish this sleeve.....I have to do it all over again on the other side.

Finished Customer Project

This is beautiful Jamar, in her lovely V-Neck Shell (#ES22). I believe the yarn she used was Waikiki by Crystal Palace. It's great to see the shell done in a variegated, textured yarn - the simple shape lends itself to an interesting yarn.

PLUS, Jamar looks fantastic! When she came into the store wearing this, I got all emotional. It was the first finished adult garment I had seen from a customer, and it was just thrilling to see how lovely she looked in it and what a great job she did.

Thank you, Jamar.

I'm Back! (With Another Free Pattern!)

Just returned from a glorious week in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom. Oh how I love that Vermont. Here's a snapshot (an enormous field of sunflowers we just happened to drive by):



Anyway, it's back in the saddle for the Momogus Knits crew. I'm putting together a little tutorial on adding beads to your knitting, but that requires more brain power than I have now, so instead I'm posting another free pattern.

This is the no-brainer pattern of all time, but it's one of my favorites. I had a lot of Sugar N Cream left over from the mighty Soap Sock, and the frugal old lady in me would not allow me to just throw it away, so I decided to make a matching washcloth, like so:

And so:

Diana's No-Brainer, Soap-Sock Matching, Sugar N Cream-Using-Up Washcloth:

Materials required
Lily Sugar N Cream yarn from your Soap Sock (or about 75 yds of heavy worsted weight cotton)
Size 7 needle

Cast on 3 sts.

Increase Row: Knit 2, yo (yarnover - bring yarn forward between the needles), knit to end of row. (The yarnover makes a pretty decorative hole and is also an increase, so your washcloth will grow....)

Repeat that row until you have approximately 44 stitches on the needle (depending on how you knit and how big you want your washcloth, but 44 will make a washcloth about 6" across)

Now you will decrease.

Decrease Row: Knit 1, knit 2 together, yo, knit 2 together, knit to end of row.

Repeat this row until you have 3 sts left. Bind off. You could make a little I-cord loop, or a little crochet chain loop with these last stitches, but I find that the washcloth hangs perfectly well on the little yarnover holes, so I don't bother with anything else.

So there you go. You can knock one of these out in an evening. The Soap Sock, this washcloth, and a little bar of nice smelly soap - a great useful handmade gift!!

Samples for Sales Reps

My sales reps have requested a couple of samples to take on sales calls. I love knitting for the sales reps. It often gives me a chance to try out a new yarn or think about a pattern in a different way.

This is Momogus Knits Easy Baby Hat in Kollage Yarns Corntastic yarn (100% corn fiber!) for Erica, who also reps for Kollage Yarn. The Corntastic (love the name) is soft and cottony to knit with. Nice stitch definition too. I love pink and green:


This is a reduced-in-size sample of the Momogus Knits Easy Mosaic Pillow for Andrea, who tells me that store owners like the idea of this pattern for a class, which I can vouch for having taught this at the Tangled Web for years. The pattern calls for bulky-weight yarn, but I did this sample in some sport weight merino (Lana Grossa Cool Wool) that I had in the stash. It turned out about 6" across (as opposed to the 14" of the bulky-weight version). It knit up quickly and it made me think that knit in fingering weight yarn (so that it would turn out about 3-4"), it would make a really nice sachet:

I'm always on the lookout for quick giftee projects, so I'm going to keep that in mind.

Free Pattern!

What is this curious object??

It is a Marina's Soap Sock, of course! This idea comes to you courtesy of wonderful knittergal Marina, who took my Double-Knitted Felted Clutch Class and then went home and ran with the whole concept of double-knitting. Double-Knitting is a super-cool technique that allows you to knit a tube on straight needles. It's great for small diameter objects (like a Soap Sock!) that wouldn't fit around a circular needle. Marina made Soap Socks for her husband and one for me.

Here she is, displaying her handiwork:


That was the nicest thing a student's ever done for me! It works wonderfully! How did I live my life without Soap Socks for so long? Anyway, serendipitously, my husband suddenly mentioned the other day that he needed something to corral his soap and I immediately thought, Marina's Soap Sock! So I purchased some lovely lime green Lily Sugar 'n' Cream cotton yarn (which was surprisingly nice to knit with!) and knocked out a Soap Sock for him. I added a little I-cord loop so he could hang it up thusly:



You probably need to make a bunch of them - one for yourself, of course and then one for every loved one you can think of. You'll be very popular. It took me about a half an hour to knit this. And hey, here's a thought! A couple of years ago, Gus and I made soap. It's so easy you can't believe it - you can buy glycerin in solid form at your local craft store, plus molds and fragrance and dye. You just melt the glycerin in the microwave, stir in some dye and fragrance (if you want) and then pour it into the mold. Voila! You've made soap! Wouldn't some handmade soap and a handknit Soap Sock make a nice gift??!!! You know it would!


Marina's Soap Sock
(fits most bars of soap)

25 yards of worsted weight cotton
#7 needle
spare circular needle size #7 (or any size close)

Gauge: approximately 4.5 sts/1"

Cast on 20 sts. You will now be double-knitting the Sock as follows:
*Knit 1, bring yarn forward between needles, slip next stitch as if to purl, bring yarn to back between needles; repeat from * across the row.

Repeat this row until Sock measures approximately 4" long (or a smidgeon longer than your particular bar of soap). Now you are ready to bind off. Take your spare circular needle and slip the first stitch on the #7 off onto one point of the circular needle (Point A). Slip the next stitch from the #7 needle onto the other point of the circular needle (Point B). Slip the next stitch onto Point A, then the next one onto Point B, etc. Continue this until all of the stitches are now on the circular needle. Bind off until there are 2 stitches left. Work a 4" I-cord, knit last 2 stitches together, leaving a 6" tail. Fold I-Cord in half and sew or knot onto Sock at the base of the I-Cord. Insert soap, give to loved one.

One Ball Wonder? Or not...

I've been trying to come up with a one ball Kureyon scarf. If you are anything like me, you will succumb to the siren song of Kureyon's colory goodness every time it crosses your path. I have an unfortunate tendency to buy only one ball, which isn't good for much. I thought if I came up with the ultimate one-ball scarf, knitters everywhere would shout my name from the rooftops. Not much luck, though.

I wanted to do a lengthwise scarf that would take advantage of Kureyon's stripey goodness. This was my first attempt.

It actually looks better in the photo than it does in real life. The pattern is Seafoam from Barbara Walker's Second Treasury. It's a little narrow, only about 3" wide after blocking, but the length is right, about 60". I may have to sacrifice some length to make it a little more substantial and wider. The pattern is great for a horizontal scarf, but it needs more than one repeat to really look effective and I just can't squeeze that out of one ball. It was a fun process though. Back to the drawing board.