Category Archives: momogus knits

New Pattern Developing….

knitting, momogus knits, scarf/shawl

Full disclosure – I am addicted to stripes. Striped sweaters, striped scarves, striped hats – you name it.   So recently, when I was up in Vermont, I stopped by Handknits in Brattleboro and picked up some colors of Fibre Company’s Acadia for a pattern I had brought with me for vacation knitting.  But it turned out too fussy, and after 1400 froggings, I said, hrmph, I’ll come up with one of my own.

I had some particulars in mind:

  1.  garter stitch – stockinette is too much trouble with its ding-dang curling
  2.  4-row stripes.  Two-row stripes are too fussy, and working yarn gets too tangled
  3.   a chevron shape – I see the herringbone and rick-rack patterns, and they’re cool, but I wanted a more streamlined look
  4.   multiple colors – because a generous-size scarf with just 2 colors was going to be a slog.  I took inspiration from DreaKnits’ Find Your Fade and had the colors gently transition

Here’s with three colors going (missed taking a picture with just two):

Here’s with four colors going:

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here’s where I am today (five colors going):

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have one more color to add – an ivory that will finish with the lightest brown that’s going now.   I’m happy with it, and it’s a fun knit.  More updates to come.

My Olympics

knitting, momogus knits, scarf/shawl, socks, spinning, ,

Every two years there is a frenzy on Ravelry to organize or join an Olympics “team” and participate by choosing projects to knit. Remember when the US Olympic Committee brought down the hammer on Ravelry to stop calling this event “Ravelympics”? Seriously.  Remember how demoralizing it was to serious Olympic athletes that knitters were co-opting the Olympics name? No, neither do I.  End of rant.

Anyway, though I love a bandwagon as much as the next knitter, I’m not organized enough to join a team. Plus I don’t need any added pressure when I’m knitting.  So I didn’t join any Ravelry team, but I did choose some projects to knit while I watched many happy hours of cross-country skiing and speed skating and ice dancing. I love the Winter Olympics.

Here’s what I completed (I seemed to need some sort of colorwork fix):
Snowflake Hat by Jenny Kostka (heavily modified – I basically just used the snowflake chart and threw it on a Shrek Hat. 80 sts on a #7 needle, Cascade 220 worsted weight wool. But it is a beautiful simple pattern, Jenny! I love grey and yellow almost as much as I love grey and red):
IMG_1960

Speaking of grey, I also love grey and grey! This is Little Scallops Hat by Maria Carlander. The pattern is in Swedish, but there’s an English translation at the bottom of the page.  It’s written as a child’s hat, but once again, I really just threw the colorwork chart (which I am cuckoo-crazy about!) on a Shrek Hat. 80 sts on a #7 needle, more Cascade 220.
IMG_1952

I love love LURVE this sock yarn – it’s Schoeller +Stahl Limbo Color, sadly discontinued. It’s a beefy dk-weight sock yarn that knits up in these amazing wide stripes that please me. 44 sts on #4 needle, magic-looped. The pattern is my Easy Toe-Up Sock pattern, which not coincidentally, is my go-to sock pattern.
IMG_0653
I used up some handspun! This is Age of Brass and Steam, one of my alltime favorite shawl patterns (this is my third go-around), using Painted Tiger silk and merino fiber which I spun carried with a strand of sparkly white KidSilk Haze.  This isn’t blocked (I am still not 100% confident about blocking KSH and also yarn that has a heavy silk content) and is also not a great photo. But you get the idea.
IMG_1922
I’m tired of buying dumb pillows! It came to me like a lightning bolt (DOH!) that I could use my own pattern, the Easy Mosaic Pillow, to make some nice colorful new pillows for our couch. I used some leftover bulky weight big box yarn. I love how it turned out. Cat is optional.
IMG_0646

Finally, there is one project that I specifically started for the Olympics, which I am still working on (and will probably not be done until the next Olympics). This is Welsh Blanket Boomerang – a 45-row mosaic pattern shawl triangle in fingering weight yarn. The green is handspun fiber of unknown origin (well, I spun it, but I don’t know what the fiber is); the blue is Ball and Skein fingering. It will be gorgeous when it’s done, but it’s slow knitting.  Also, mosaic knitting needs to be blocked with a heavy hand, so it bothers me that it’s so scrunchy and not-beautiful as I knit it. I want to steam-iron it as I go, but that is the road to Crazy Town. Here’s what it’s supposed to look like:
welsh_blanket_mediumHere’s what mine looks like:
image_medium2I’m always sad when the Olympics end, especially the WInter Olympics. It was nice to have an excuse to start a billion new projects, and it was nice to knit them while watching all the skiing and skating and shooting.

 

Free Shrek Hat Pattern!

knitting, momogus knits, ,

Do you happen to need a Shrek Hat? Well, I’ve got a pattern for you!
shrekI was contacted by the costume designer for the school play at my son’s school, asking if I could knock out a pattern for Shrek hats for “Shrek The Musical”, which is happening at school next month.

We found a pattern on Ravelry, but it was in super-bulky yarn (first problem: it’s not easy to find super-bulky yarn, let alone in an appropriate shade of Shrek green), featured a spiral rib pattern (second problem: keeping track of the pattern, especially at the top where it decreases), and the ears were crocheted (third problem: I have only rudimentary crochet skills).

So here’s my pattern, which avoids all that. It’s written for bulky-weight yarn, is plain stockinette except for a smidge of ribbing to stabilize the brim, and the ears are I-cord.

FREE SHREK HAT PATTERNShrek Hat

Materials:
50 (75, 75, 100, 100) yards of bulky-weight yarn in appropriately Shrek-y green color
Size 10 needle – 16″ circular and double-points or 32″ or 40″ circular for Magic Loop

Gauge: 3 sts/1” in stockinette stitch

Finished Size: approximately 16″ (18″, 20″, 21″, 23″)
Baby (Childs,  Small Adult, Medium Adult, Large Adult)

Cast on 48 (56, 60, 64, 68) sts. Place marker and join into round, being careful not to twist stitches. Work 1.5″ of knit 2, purl 2 rib. Continue in stockinette (knit every row) until piece measures 5.5″ (6.5″, 7″, 7.25″, 7.25″) from cast-on. Begin decreases as follows (switch to double-points when it gets too tight):

Round 1: *Knit 4, knit 2 together; repeat from * to end of round, knit any remaining sts.
Round 2 (and all even rounds): Knit across round
Round 3: *Knit 3, k2tog; repeat from * to end of round, knit any remaining sts.
Round 5: *Knit 2, k2tog; repeat from * to end of round, knit any remaining sts.
Round 7: *Knit 1, k2tog; repeat from * to end of round, knit any remaining sts.
Round 9: *Knit 2 tog; repeat from * to end of round.

Break yarn, leaving 6″ tail, thread onto yarn needle, draw through remaining stitches on needles and draw tight. Weave in end on underside.

Ears (make 2)

(Note: The ears are knit in I-cord.  If you don’t know I-cord, see below for instructions.)

Cast on 7 sts. Work in I-cord (remember to pull yarn tightly behind your work at the end of each row) for 9 rows. Increase Row: k1, kfb [knit in front and back of stitch] in next 5 sts, k1. Turn your work and purl back. Bind off, leaving a 8″ tail.  Use the tail to make the bound-off edge a nice round circle. Then thread the tail down through the ear to the bottom.

Attach the ears on opposite sides of the hat about 2″ down (I sewed them down where the decreases begin.  You’re done!

I-Cord Instructions
I-cord is easiest to work on double-points, but you can work it on straight needles or circulars as well.  Note: If you are using double-points, you will be sliding the sts from one end of the needle to the other without turning. If you are using straight needles or circulars, you will need to move your sts from the right hand needle to the left hand needle without turning at the end of each row.

Cast on 7 sts and knit one row.  The working yarn is now coming from behind on the left-hand end of stitches. DO NOT TURN. Slide the stitches back to the right-hand end of the needle, WITHOUT TURNING, so that the working yarn is coming from behind on the left-hand end of the stitches. Knit the stitches (it is okay that the yarn is coming from the “wrong end” of the work. You are making a tiny tube.) This is I-Cord. Continue with directions above to complete ears.

And now, because this makes me laugh harder than anything else in these movies:
puss

 

 

Snow Day Knitting

knitting, momogus knits, scarf/shawl, socks

Like everybody in the Northeast, we are experiencing a seemingly never-ending cycle of snow storms, school delays, snow days and power outages. I work at a school, which is not the same one my son attends, so there is a whole other layer of excitement when school closings are announced. Today I had a snow day and my son did not. That is weird.

Now of course any knitter worth his or her salt will seize the opportunity to have some snuggly snow-day knitting projects lined up, and I am no exception. In keeping with my New Year’s Re-Energization to knit up my handspun, I knocked this out:
Quaker Yarn Stretcher

Quaker Yarn Stretcher by Susan Ashcroft. Easy and perfect for handspun. This allowed me to use every inch of 220 yards of superwash Corriedale from Spunky Eclectic Fiber Club. This colorway was “Sundown”, and the fiber was fractal spun (I split the fiber in half lengthwise, then spun one half from end to end, and broke the other half into 4 parts and spun them end to end in the same color order, then plied the two halves together).

I love this pattern – honestly, these are not my colors in any way, shape or form (the double-edged sword of the automatic shipment of a fiber club), so I think this fiber was languishing because it didn’t appeal to me visually.  But I love this scarf – I would definitely wear this. Highly recommend. Thank you, Susan Ashcroft!

My other snow day project was a pair of cozy socks. This is my Easy Toe-Up Sock pattern, in Limbo Color yarn, on size 4 magic loop needles. I love dk weight sock yarn – still very wearable as socks, but it knits up so much more quickly. I am in serious love with this yarn, as evidenced by these, which are my favorite handknit socks.
IMG_0568

Introducing Our Newest Pattern!

knitting, momogus knits, sweater, ,

Hello, Baby Chestnut Hill Gansey Cardigan!

Baby CH Gardigan partial

Some background – for 12 wonderful years I worked at The Tangled Web, a delightful yarn store in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia.  Chestnut Hill’s main street is Germantown Avenue, which until recently had trolley tracks embedded in cobblestones as its pavement. Inspired by that and by my deep deep love of textured knitting, I designed a series of sweaters and matching hats called The Chestnut Hill Ganseys*. The stockinette lines and seed stitch sections of the yoke pattern echoed the tracks and stones of Germantown Avenue. Like so:
IMG_0556

Anyway, I knocked out pullovers from American Girl Doll size:
AG CH Gansey Pullover

to adult and hats to match:
IMG_0555

Eventually, there will be Gansey cardigans in all sizes because I love a cardigan with a textured yoke! Here is the first in that series, the Baby size:

Baby CH Gansey Cardigan

Simple knit/purl patterned yoke, nice wide neck opening, and very little shaping all make for a pleasing knitting experience. This one was a fun knit. I wish I had more babies to knit for!

The pattern is available here. And if you’d like to make a matching hat (why wouldn’t you?!), go here for that pattern.

Baby CH Gansey Hat

*History of the word “gansey” (or “guernsey) here.

 

 

 

Cozy Wrap Poncho – New Pattern!

knitting, momogus knits

I love a nice poncho or wrap, but I haven’t wanted to look like Marcia Brady since 1971.  Enter the Cozy Wrap Poncho, the newest pattern from Momogus Knits! It’s one rectangle with one seam – easy-peasy! You can wear it with the point in front, a la Marcia, but I like to wear it with the point off to one side, oh so casually!

Adult Textured Rib in grey, Child’s Garter Stitch in red

The pattern is written for two weights of yarn, bulky and super-bulky, so it’s perfect outerwear on a late winter afternoon or an early spring morning. I have been known to wear the grey sample in the photo (knit in yummy superbulky Ushya yarn) all day long in my drafty old house.

Back View

There are two stitch pattern options – a simple textured rib and good old garter stitch, and there are two size options – Adult and Older Child. The shape of the poncho is so flexible it really fits a wide range of people shapes and sizes. And though I like the openness of the neck opening, I’ve included instructions on how to modify it to make it more close-fitting or higher or even into a turtle-neck.

Go here to purchase yours today. It’s a great-looking, easy knit perfect for this time of year!

Fun Gifts to Make – New Free Pattern – Sparkly Little Drawstring Bag!

knitting, momogus knits,

Sometimes a particular yarn sings a siren song too strong for me to resist. Such was the case when I came across Katia’s Gatsby – I am a sucker for sparkle, and this yarn is sparkly and fun. I was seized with the idea of knitting a little drawstring bag from it (why? I do not know…) and poked around Ravelry and everywhere else looking for a pattern I liked. Alas, I couldn’t find exactly what I wanted, so I decided to make one up myself! Here’s what resulted:

Exactly what I wanted! Small, but not too small. A little bit of seed stitch at the top for interest, a row of eyelets for a drawstring I-cord. It’s worked in dk weight, but you don’t have to go for sparkle if you don’t want. It would be equally pretty in some soft baby alpaca or crisp merino. Done and done. Free pattern is here! This knits up quickly on double-points or Magic Loop, and makes a great gift for a teen or a teacher or a great container for a gift card or other present. Enjoy!

Happy Holidays – All Hat Patterns 50% Off Until Dec 31!

holidays, knitting, momogus knits,

Happy holidays! All Momogus Knits hat patterns are 50% off (that’s a mere $2.50 apiece) through December 31. Knit up a quick present or make one for yourself! Go here to see all 18 patterns.

The sale includes our newest pattern, the Easy Colorwork Hat! It’s a great way to introduce a little color into your knitting – the Fair Isle band makes a cozy double layer of fabric right around your forehead. And it’s sized for teen up to manly man.

NS37 – Easy Colorwork Hats!

Hats make great quick presents! We have styles and sizes from baby to adult, classic to cable. And all patterns are only $2.50 now through December 31. Buy one to make for a gift and then buy one to make for yourself! Stock up on basics!

ES4 – Easy Baby Caps
NS24 – Child’s Cable Earflap Hats
NS10 – Adult Chestnut Hill Gansey Hats
NS23 – Adult Cable Ear Flap Hats
ES15 – Easy Adult Caps
ES5 – Easy Child’s Caps

That’s just a sampling, folks! Go here to see all 18 patterns – only $2.50 apiece from now through December 31. Happy Holidays from Momogus Knits!!