The Perfect Gift Set (If I Do Say So Myself...)

(There's a preview of a special Black Friday deal at the end of this post)

Okay, I've posted this pattern before. But I told you I'd post some ideas about great holiday presents and I have to admit that Marina's Soap Sock and Matching Washcloth fit the bill nicely!

Remember this:

And this:

The mighty Marina's Soap Sock (free pattern here)! Double-knit in worsted weight cotton, these can be knocked out in a jiffy! A jiffy, I tell you!

Then, with your leftovers, you can knit this:

The matching washcloth (free pattern here)! Simple garter stitch with a nice eyelet edge. This pattern is great for baby blankets as well, since it's knit corner to corner.

Another beauty shot:

I have to say that these 2 items get the most use of anything I've ever knitted, which is weird since I probably put the least amount of effort and time into knitting them. So be it.

Now, as an extra-special touch, go to your local crafts store and buy some soap-making supplies. All you need is glycerin, a mold and maybe some dye or scent. This will set you back about $10, and I think you can get about dozen bars of soap out of it. And it is so EASY - you'll laugh and quit your job and do nothing all day but make soap! You cut some glycerin from the block, nuke it in the microwave for a minute (I use a 2-cup glass measuring cup), then add some dye (you can use food coloring or cake icing dye) and scent (or go au naturel), then pour it into the molds. It takes about an hour to cool. And then you're done. That's it.

By the way, this is also a great kids activity - my son and I made A LOT of soap when we did it - more than the dirtiest family could use in a lifetime.

Now find a little basket, roll up the washcloth and tie with a ribbon, and put your beautiful handmade soap and your Soap Sock in the basket as well, and you have the prettiest, most thoughtful little gift ever. Perfect for your sister, your daughter, your neighbor, your kid's teacher, a hostess gift, your co-worker.

Two Thanksgivings thoughts: First, I'll be offering several patterns for 50% off on Friday as a special kick-off to the holiday season. They'll be posted on Facebook first, so go join the Facebook group, if you're not already a member!

Second, my heartfelt best wishes to all of you out there for a happy Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for YOU!

Teensy Weensy Sweater Ornaments!

Okay, first a shout-out of appreciation to the newest additions to the Momogus Knits Patterns family - Circle of Friends Yarn Shop in Elkin, North Carolina, The Open Door to Stitchery in Great Neck, New York, Down Cellar in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, Knit A Bit in Westfield, New Jersey, Knit Your Dreams in Quincy, Illinois, and The Knitting Gallery in Colts Neck, New Jersey. If you're in any of their neighborhoods (or the neighborhood of any local yarn store!), pop in and give them your business. Without you, local yarn shops will start to close and you'll be stuck wandering the aisles of A.C. Moore, trying to get someone to show you how to do Kitchener stitch. Scary!!!

Now, on to more holiday knitting stuff. In Berroco's weekly email newsletter this week there was this!

I don't know about you, but I am the original sucker for tiny knitted objects! These are little sweaters that can be holiday ornaments for your tree, or adorn your wonderful holiday present wrappings or just make you squee from their adorable teeniness. The free pattern is here. It takes dk weight yarn and size 4 and 6 needles. The little capelet in the middle kills me! I wish I were 8" tall so I could wear it! If you are certifiably insane, there are two other sets from 2007 and 2008 that you can make as well.

As I said, if you have the inclination (yes!) and the time (well, maybe....), even just one of these ornaments would make a sweet present for a teacher or hostess or your own tree.

Felted Bowls Anyone?

Last year the only knitted gifts I made specially for the holidays were little felted bowls. Unfortunately, because I gave them away I don't have pictures. But they were awesome - trust me!!

Here are some things I like about felted bowls:

1. They're quick - you can knock out a bowl during an episode of "Top Chef" or "Mad Men" (ask me how I know!)

2. They use very little yarn. Over the years of many felting projects I have accumulated a bazillion little balls of leftover Lambs Pride Bulky, my favorite felting yarn. I can't make myself throw them out, and I can't give them away to any of my designated leftover yarn recipients. So they sit in a drawer in my yarn cabinet (yes I have a yarn cabinet - wanna make something of it?!) until it's time to make felted bowls!! Little balls of leftover felting yarn are perfect for felted bowls! If you run out, you just use another little ball of leftover yarn and make a striped bowl.

3. Felted bowls are awesome for containing little giftees. Last year I made felted bowls for a bunch of my school-mom friends and put little felted hearts in them. (Brace yourself if you follow the link - they're mighty cute!!)

I'm linking to a great free pattern from alice*thelma for felted bowls of several sizes. Her pattern calls for worsted weight yarn, but you can also use bulky weight and follow the instructions for the smaller sizes and use #13 or #15 double-points.

Instead of buying another gift bag, why not knock out a little felted bowl? They're great for holding jewelry or potpourri or knitting notions (like stitch markers, etc) or action figures (ask me how I know!) or little felted hearts.

Not to Scare You, But.....

.....the holiday season is creeping up on us, and not in a slow way!! I got sucked up into the vortex of Phillies/Halloween/Boston and was merrily in autumn mode until I got startled by a phone call to my sister in which she said she was finishing her Christmas shopping online. Yesterday. November 8. Yikes. Yeah, I haven't given Thought One to holiday gifts.

So now I've started thinking about the holidays. For knitters this can be a fraught time. I swing back and forth between "Everybody's getting knitted presents this year!" and "Nobody's getting knitted presents this year!" The happy medium between those points is where I'm most comfortable. Last year, in a fit of selfish genius, I knitted every single thing I wanted to knit all year and then went through and gave away most of it during the holidays. Because really, I don't need 8 pairs of fancypants mittens. The only things I made specially were little felted bowls for my school-mom friends.

So, not to scare you and not to urge you to "get going on your holiday knitting" because we all have enough stress this time of year, but I'm going to start a series of posts with suggestions for great quick holiday gifts, but only if you feel like knitting!!! C'mon, enjoy the holidays and reduce the stress!!

First up is.....Fingerless Gloves (Momogus Knits NS1)!

This pattern flies out the door of the Tangled Web this time of year (in fact it's the November special right now). You can make the ribbed, thumbed, gloves on double-points (the gold ones above), BUT the mock-cable, knit-flat-then-seamed, gloves, these:

are easy and fast and look really pretty. They're a great teacher gift (ask me how I know!!) and are also great for that hard-t0-buy-for teenager on your gift list. They look cool and let those teenagers' thumbs fly for maximum texting.

Stay tuned for more easy stress-reducing ideas to make your holidays fun and festive!! Some will be my patterns and some will just be some of my favorite other-people's patterns or ideas.

In the meantime, enjoy the beautiful autumn around you.

Buy Local!

Welcome to the latest additions to the Momogus Knits patterns family! Yarn It in Deal, New Jersey, Yarns R Us (love the name) in Hamburg, Pennsylvania, and Unwound in Blowing Rock, North Carolina (first NC yarn store for MK!) are all now carrying Momogus Knits patterns. Thank you! Remember, it's so important to support your local yarn shop! I know it's easy to go to Michael's or A. C. Moore, but who will help you figure out pattern directions or help you fix a mistake in your knitting or spend an hour picking out the perfect yarn for your first grandbaby's sweater? Your friendly local yarn store helper, that's who! If we don't put our dollars there (and buying local is always a great way to go), they'll close and we'll all be out of luck.


Speaking of spending your dollars locally, are you familiar with The 3/50 Project?

Go ahead and click on the link and poke around and then come back please. It's a great easy way to stimulate the economy and keep our neighborhoods and small businesses vibrant and flourishing. Spend $50 a month at 3 locally-owned businesses and be amazed at how much good you'll do for your neighborhood and small businesses.

I personally support the 3/50 Project by eating lots of cupcakes from The Night Kitchen, which unfortunately for my waistline is now 2 doors up the street from The Tangled Web. I also spend approximately $1,000,000,000 annually at Lewis Paints in Glenside. I get to talk about the Phillies, and debate eggshell vs matte finish and gossip with the local painting contractors whenever I go in. You can't get that at Home Depot. Finally, my third favorite local business is Joe's Meat Market in Ardsley. When we moved into our house, the mover said to us, "You're so lucky! You're only 3 blocks from Joe's!" We had no idea what he was talking about, but soon learned that Joe's is the heart and soul of our neighborhood. It's a father (Heinz)/son (Ralph)/daughter (Monica) business, and it is the best. If I come in without Gus they will ask me where he is, how his baseball team is doing, how school is going. I love them, and I am so thankful that they're near. Nobody at Genuardi's asks me how Gus is doing.

What are your favorite local businesses? Think about what you love about them - how near they are to your house, how friendly the atmosphere is, how high the quality of the product is. That's what we can work on keeping.

Now go buy some cupcakes.

Another Yippee!

Sorry to interrupt my fascinating knitting musings, but it's time for another champagne picture. Congrats to the Phillies for winning the pennant!

Wednesday Musings....

First this:

Beloved Phillies finally (dare I say "phinally"???) beat the Rockies and advance to the NLCS to face the Dodgers. Cross yer fingers!

Then this:

Talk about PHINALLY! The Child's Chestnut Hill Gansey finally got finished this weekend. I can usually knock out a child's sweater in a week or so, but this one kicked me around the block a couple of times. I feel like it took me months to finish it. Oh wait, it DID take me months to finish! Those sleeves..... But it's done! I can get the pattern in final form.

I'm also knitting this:

Because I can't knit enough Chestnut Hill Ganseys! This is the Adult version. The yarn is Cascade 220, which is severely underrated. I think of it just for felting (even though it doesn't really felt very well in my machine), but it's soft and wooly in a very pleasing way. I'm really enjoying this knit. I'm knitting a 38" version, which might fit Gus in a loose way when I'm done. I deliberately chose a denim blue that would not be objectionable to a way cool 9-yr-old boy. I still need to fudge the numbers a little bit, and of course there are the sleeves to knit (sigh), but this pattern should be ready pretty soon as well.

And last, but very much not least, a very warm welcome to the newest member of the Momogus Knits Patterns tribe, Jessica Knits in Scottsdale, Arizona. Seven years ago, when I started working at the Tangled Web, Jessica was already a veteran presence there, and she made me feel so welcome it started my whole career there on a happy note. She left to open her own store back home in Arizona, and I missed her keenly. She is a delightful person - funny, warm, talented and a good businessperson to boot. I'm thrilled that we're working together again, even though we're 2,500 miles apart.