Opening Day!

For the past 4 years my son has played baseball in the local community league (GYAC). Last year he was part of an informal all-star team that took on the girls' softball all-stars. The game was fantastic, and I was so moved and impressed with the girls. They played hard, and they played well. It made me so happy to see girls with an outlet to be active and competent and powerful.

Anyway, a germ of an idea was born - we had joked about me sponsoring Gus's team and how embarrassing that would be. But what if I sponsored a girls' team? Well, I called the commissioner and filled out the forms and the result was seeing this lovely lady on Saturday:

I almost burst into crazy-lady tears when I saw her. I'm so proud of my girls! May they grow up to be strong and powerful women!

Gansey Giveaway!

First of all, a grateful shout-out to The Tangled Web (I'm talking about you, Mary and Annie!) for all their support for the Momogus Trunk Show last week! It was a great evening - we had about 40 people - it was really touching! Love you crazy knitters!!

Second of all, welcome to following stores: The Needlesmith in Grand Haven, Michigan, Adirondack Yarns in Lake Placid, New York, and Slip Knot in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. If you're in the neighborhood of any of these fine yarn stores, pop in and give them some love. We have to support our local yarn stores, folks, or they'll all disappear!

The Ganseys are all done and will be up on Ravelry ("Momogus") and Etsy ("Momogusknits") by the end of the day, if you need to buy one RIGHT NOW (you do, don't you?????) and will be up on the website by this weekend, maybe, depending on how much I can flog my dear webmaster. In the meantime, if you email me through the contact form on the website, I will send you the American Girl Chestnut Hill Gansey and Hat pattern FREE FREE FREE!

It's adorable! And quick! (Boy, I thought baby sweaters knit up fast - doll sweaters are done in 2 minutes!) And it matches the Child's Gansey! You must know some deserving little girl who would like one of these:



These will only be available for free for a limited time, so contact me now!

Reversible Cable Scarf Class

I taught a Reversible Cable Scarf Class this weekend at the Tangled Web. My students were extra-great this time! They all buckled down, and even the ones that had never cabled before tried cabling without a cable needle (gratuitous promotional note: all MK cable patterns include instructions for cabling without a cable needle). After knitting all those cable pattern samples and making approximately 12 billion cables in the process, I am a BIG believer in cabling without a cable needle. I highly recommend it.

Here are my great students, concentrating hard:

You guys rock!

Gansey Madness!

It occurred to me the other day that not everyone knows what a gansey is. I've been throwing the word around for months to non-knitters who politely nod when I tell them how many ganseys I've been working on. I assumed they knew what I was talking about, but they probably didn't and maybe didn't want to know! Anyway, a gansey or guernsey, is a fisherman's knitted woollen sweater, similar to a jersey, which originated in the Channel Island of the same name. (thank you, wikipedia) Ganseys usually have a textured pattern on the yoke and upper sleeves alone.

And now (drumroll please) here is what I have been working on for the past six months. PHEW. Welcome Chesnut Hill Ganseys!

In ascending size, American Girl Doll Chestnut Hill Gansey:


Baby Chestnut Hill Gansey:


Child's Chestnut Hill Gansey:


Adult Chestnut Hill Gansey:


Baby Chestnut Hill Gansey Hat:


Adult Chestnut Hill Gansey Hat (worsted weight):


Adult Chestnut Hill Gansey Hat (chunky weight):


There's also a child's hat, which I couldn't find (aren't you sorry??) and another baby hat. Yes, I have that cobblestones-and-trolley-tracks pattern burned into my brain forever. We took the pattern pictures for these samples this past weekend and now the patterns are being put into final graphic form. Boy howdy, will I be glad when they're ready to go! It's like giving birth!

Stay tuned, they'll be ready for purchase next week. And if you're not already a member of my Facebook Group, go join! I'm thinking I'll have something special going on for the debut of these patterns. Just sayin'....

And because I'm nuts, I'm also work on this because I realized there should be CH Gansey Cardigans too:

That's the back of the Baby Chestnut Hill Gansey Cardigan. Madness!!

Braces rule!

Welcome to Infinite Yarns in Farmingdale, New York and Knit Witz in Jacksonville, Florida! Phew! It took me a while to get ahead of the welcoming-new-stores business, but I am now officially caught up. And it's a nice problem to have, so I'm not complaining!

My Tendinitis Brace and Wrist Brace are my new best friends! I went to the very nice orthopedist (thank you, Ted Feldman!) last week, and he recommended doing everything I had already been doing (rest, ice, ibuprophen), but to also start wearing these braces - the TB during the day and the WB at night (because we all have a tendency to sleep with our arms and hands all curled up, which is bad for tendinitis - who knew?) Well, the braces have made a huge difference! I've been able to knit again!

I had farmed out the remaining Chestnut Hill Gansey samples to my test knitter, Maureen, to finish, so I was left with nothing Momogus-y to knit. So of course I started a Olympics cardigan and some mittens and a blanket for a friend who was just diagnosed with cancer. I had a lot of knitting backed up in me after the last couple of months! But the wheels are turning about some new patterns, so expect to see a lot coming down the pike in the next couple of months. Tomorrow I will post some pictures.

Shameless plug: I'm hosting a Momogus Knits Patterns Trunk Show and Party at The Tangled Web on March 26 from 6-8 pm. That will be the official unveiling of the Chestnut Hill Gansey patterns, plus I'll have lots of samples of all of my other patterns, plus wine! Yeah! Stop by if you're in the neighborhood! We always have a lot of fun!

Finally, the Gus of Momogus just turned 10. Happy Birthday, my beloved boy:

This and That (new pattern preview too!)

First of all, a warm welcome to the latest additions to the Momogus Knits family: The Knitting Connection in Syracuse, NY, Keeping Ewe in Stitches in Bradford, PA, Have Ewe Any Wool? in Snyder, NY, Mission Rose Quiltery in North Syracuse, NY, Yarn Cottage at Red Brick Farm (wouldn't you like to live there? In a yarn cottage?!) in Mayville, NY, and Infinite Yarns in Farmingdale, NY. As always, if you're ever in the neighborhood of any of these fine stores, go in and force yourself to buy some beautiful yarn and maybe a pattern or two! We have to support our local yarn stores, folks!!

In other Momogus Knits news, who's this adorable lady? It's Kathleen, with her gorgeous Easy Cable Scarf!


This appeared as well this week, courtesy of customer Helen. This is Easy Baby Cardigan - I lurve the beauteous Merino 2000. Great job, Helen!


Finally, I have a preview of the next Momogus Knits pattern! Finally! It's the Totally Twisty Toe-Up Tube Sock!

Here it is being modeled by a grumpy almost-10-yr-old:


Close-up of the Totally Twisty rib pattern (worsted weight):


Here it is in sportweight variegated yarn:


The pattern is written for fingering, sport and worsted weight yarns and sizes from baby up to large adult. I LOVE a tube sock because there is no heel. Yippee! And the ribbed pattern makes them fit in a nice way. I will keep you all posted, but I expect to have this pattern out in the next week or so.

We're Back!

We're back from a beautiful week out at the end of Long Island. Many walks on a beach that looks like this are very refreshing for the soul!

Unfortunately, I didn't get to knit much, but my arm is feeling better after doing nothing more strenuous than lifting spoonfuls of local clam chowder, so I'm hoping that I will be able to dislodge the logjam of pending Momogus Knits samples and get all those new patterns out!

Now, back to business! Welcome to The Blue Purl in Madison, New Jersey; Mountain Knits and Pearls in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania; Twisted in Millerton, New York; and PK Yarn Over Knit in Clarkson, Michigan. Remember to support your local yarn store!! If you're ever in the neighborhood of any of these delightful stores, drop in and contribute to the local economy!!

Here is customer Elaine, who came into the store the other day and showed me these:

Yowzah! She had made six Momogus Knits Cable Ear Flap Hats for the whole family! And what really knocked my socks off was this (knitting nerd alert!):

There is a definite front and back to these hats which is a little difficult to determine when you pick them up (there is an additional cable repeat in the front to make the hat sit properly on your head - your ears sit more than halfway back on your head, which I didn't realize until I started making samples for this pattern. The things you learn.) Anyway, Elaine very cleverly sewed a little knot of yarn in the back of these hats to show which was the back. You would have thought she discovered the meaning of life the way I carried on when I saw this! I thought that was so clever! It made me so happy!

Yes, that is my life.