Happy Earth Day! Giveaway! (Bags and Free Patterns!)

No sermons here. If you’re a breathing human adult, you’re aware of the importance of taking care of our dear planet. To push things along a bit, though, I’m having a giveaway! Some details…..

My personal pet peeve is plastic bags. For the past couple of years I’ve tried to train myself to say, “I don’t need a bag,” as often as I can. It’s difficult at first to remember, but it’s amazing how often you don’t need a bag. Of course, I live in the suburbs and drive a car, so it’s easy to carry things from the store to the car and just plop them on the seat. When I lived in the city and walked everywhere, then you do need a bag, which brings me to…..Giveaway!

I’ll pick 5 people at random and they will each get this bag:

AND the Momogus Knits pattern of their choice emailed to them in PDF form (we’ll save some trees!) I have a lot of reusable shopping bags, but these ChicoBags are my favorite – they fold up small into their attached pouch and have a clip to hold them to your purse.

Leave a comment here (make sure you add your email address in your comment) or on the Facebook page. Share an Earth Day thought, recycling tip, or nature appreciation, and also which pattern you’d like.

Here’s mine: I’m pretty sure I was a tree in my last life. This big old tree in my backyard is like a soulmate for me:

I love looking at it in all seasons, I worry about it in windstorms, I pat it with my hand when I walk by it. Happy Earth Day, tree!

Our Friend, Duplicate Stitch.

As you may or may not know, there are many many ways to introduce colorwork into your knitting. There’s Fair Isle or stranded knitting, which I discussed here. There’s mosaic knitting, which you can try with this pattern:

There’s intarsia, my Lex Luther:

And then there’s my dear, dear friend, mighty duplicate stitch.

Duplicate stitch allows you to create one section of colorwork that you would have to knit in intarsia otherwise. No bobbins, no trillion strands of yarn tangling everywhere. It’s essentially an embroidery stitch that mimics the look of the knit stitch. Here’s how you do it. Start with a graph. You can make your own with graph paper [note: knitter’s graph paper is available, but I just use regular graph paper] or use the colorwork chart that comes with your pattern. Cross-stitch and needlepoint charts will work as well, but keep in mind that they do not compensate for the size of the knitted stitch as a chart written specifically for knitting will.

(that’s a smiling face, folks). Notice that the design is slightly elongated top to bottom, as compared to the finished result below. That’s because regular graph paper is composed of squares, where the knit stitch is more of a rectangle.


Finished result, much shorter vertically than the graphed design.

Here we go. Each block of the graph represents one stitch. Thread some yarn onto a yarn needle. I usually use 12″ lengths of yarn. Bring the yarn up at the bottom of the “V” of the stitch you want to cover:

Next, bring the needle through the tops of the V of the stitch ABOVE the one you want to cover:

Bring the yarn through. Don’t pull tight. You need very little tension on the stitches. You want the duplicate stitch thread to cover the stitch.

Now bring the needle back into the bottom of the V where you first came up.

Done and done.

It’s easy! You can add designs or embellishment after you’re finished your garment. It’s great for putting initials on kids’ sweaters.

Or make up your own motifs – this was for my train-loving son. Please note awesome smoke, which I am very proud of:

I Knit a Chicken

Truth be told, I am a sucker for Fiber Trends’ felted animal patterns. They’re crazy-fussy, but they’re small and over quickly. I saw this one at my local yarn store and snapped it up! This is Henrietta and Family. Someday I will knit Henrietta, but I only did a chick this time. The only yellow yarn I had was some I had bought at a farmer’s market in Vermont and had no label. Unbeknownst to me it must have had some mohair in it, because when I felted it, it came out very fuzzy. Which was appropriate. And adorable. Here’s the chick:

Waaah! I love it! I have a lot of this yarn left; if I get my act together I can maybe knock out a couple more for an Easter centerpiece. Or just gaze lovingly at this one.

Crafty Monday – Make Your Own DELICIOUS Granola!

We eat a lot of granola here, chez Momogus. We consume veritable tanker ships’ worth of fruit, yogurt and granola basically year-round. I had always bought granola from the supermarket, but then my friend Jeanne gave me some homemade granola as a Christmas present, and I saw the light!!

I begged her for the recipe and took it out for a spin this morning. Oh boy. I made two batches, which is approximately 10 cups. I ate about half of that, “testing” it. A friend of mine said, “Oh you’ll never go back to storebought again.” It was SO GOOD I couldn’t believe it. And easy.

This is actually Molly Wizenberg’s recipe from Bon Appetit. Here is the link if you want to read about her granola revelations.

Everyday Granola (a/k/a You’ll Never Go Back To Storebought!)

Ingredients

  • 3 cups old-fashioned oats
  • 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 3 tablespoons (packed) brown sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon (generous) salt
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 cup assorted dried fruit [momogus note: I used dried cranberries and blueberries. I’ve also used chopped up dried apricots]

Preheat oven to 300°F. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Mix first 7 ingredients in large bowl. Stir honey and oil in saucepan over medium-low heat until smooth. Pour honey mixture over oat mixture; toss. Spread on prepared sheet. Bake until golden, stirring every 10 minutes, about 40 minutes [momogus note: mine took about 30 mins]. Mix in fruit after granola cools. Can be made 1 week ahead. Store airtight.

Makes about 5 yuuuummmmmmyyyyy cups!! Now go run to the store and get the ingredients!!

Gansey Madness….

Here are the next sweaters that are coming down the pike, Momogus Knits-wise. They are cardigan versions of the Chestnut Hill Gansey.

Baby version:

Child’s version:

Adult version (this has been on the needle for months – oy vey, these take so long to knit!!!):

Then I decided, as with the original ganseys, that I would make an American Girl Doll version. I loved how the original Gansey turned out. Look how cute!

Well, why wouldn’t the cardigan version be just as cute, right? Here it is:

Looks cute, right?


Uh oh. Fits bad. The back is the same size as in the Pullover version; I think I need to make the fronts a couple of stitches wider. Poor American Girl, she looks uncomfortable in her ill-fitting sweater! Fortunately, it only takes a smidgeon of a moment to knit one of these up, but still….

These patterns will be available soon – have to finish up that Adult sample and re-do poor American Girl Doll’s sample.

(As a sidenote, to keep her decent I had to order this doll a little mock turtleneck (from Lavenderlore on Etsy.com). And let me tell you, I love ordering clothes for this American Girl doll! It’s probably a good thing I didn’t have a girl, because I would be going broke getting a wardrobe for her dolls!!)

Happy St David’s Day!

Today is St. David’s Day, folks! It is to Wales and Welshmen what St. Patrick’s Day is to Ireland and Irishmen. But instead of green hats and green beer, we embrace daffodils and the mighty Welsh Cookie.

When I was growing up, my grandmother (whose father had emigrated from Wales to the Scranton area alone at age 16) used to make Welsh Cookies all the time. Every week, maybe? It seems like they were always in the house. And boy oh boy were they delicious! There are variations of this recipe all over northeastern Pennsylvania, where so many Welshmen settled to work in the coal mines. I’ve made them only a handful of times since my childhood, but the smell, the taste, even the look of them sends me rocketing back to childhood.

Mmmm…..look how pretty…….

Here is my grandmother’s recipe:
Leona James’s Welsh Cookies

Ingredients:
4 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
3 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 tbs baking powder
scant tsp baking soda
1 cup (8 oz) lard (you can use other shortening if you don’t want to use lard, but your cookies will not taste as tasty!)
1 cup currants
3 eggs
milk
1 tsp vanilla

Mix all dry ingredients.Cut in lard and then add currants. Put eggs in a measuring cup and add milk until you get 1 cup. Add vanilla to this mixture. Add to lard/flour mixture. You may need to drizzle a bit of water on dough to get it all mixed together. Let chill for 30 minutes.Roll out flat on a floured surface.Use a 2” round cookie cutter dipped in flour to cut out cookies. Fry on heated (but ungreased) griddle (325 degrees on electric griddle) until cookies are golden brown on both sides. Makes about 3 dozen.

These cookies are best eaten hot off the griddle, or warm, or at room temperature, or refrigerated, or frozen. Enjoy and Happy St. David’s Day, everyone!

Winners!

First of all, thank you SO MUCH to everyone who posted a comment about what or whom they loved. From shrimp to yarn to cats to kids – we covered a lot of ground! And I think we put a lot of good karma out there – it made my day to read them.

Congratulations to Karen and Kris! [Kris – I sent you an email!! Hello! Paging Kris!! You need to get in touch with me so I know where to send your yarn!] They are the winners of the Valentine’s Day yarn and Twisty Toe-Up Tube Sock giveaway!

(I’ll stop with the customized conversation hearts. I love making them, but Valentine’s Day is over! Want to make one? Go here!)

Valentine’s Day Giveaway!

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! Let’s celebrate love!

Of course, there are many years when we don’t have a special someone, and so society’s tidal wave of candy and decorations and cards and flowers seems over-the-top and plain old depressing. I know I spent many a Valentine’s Day alone and told myself it’s just another day. And it is. But we all love something sometime, so let’s celebrate that!

To celebrate love, in all its crazy magical forms, I’m giving away some beautiful red and pink sock yarn and two free copies of my Totally Twisty Toe-Up Tube Sock pattern. Here’s the yarn:


2 skeins of Koigu in an appropriately pinky-red colorway

and one skein of Anne sock yarn (already wound! enough for a pair of socks). (PS – for those of you with allergies, my yarn is normally kept in cat-proof containers, but I thought that plunking down the yarn next to an admittedly surprised cat made for a more interesting picture.)

To be eligible, leave a comment in the comments or on the Momogus Knits group on Facebook and tell me one thing or person that you love and why. My loyal assistant will pick two winners at random. (Remember if you comment here, to leave your email address or I have no way to get in touch with you!)

I’ll start:

1. I love my husband, because he makes me laugh out loud every day
2. I love my son, because he’s goofy and intense and sweet
3. I love salt and vinegar potato chips, because they satisfy two of my favorite cravings: salt and vinegar!
4. I love baseball, in every iteration from T-ball to the bigs.

You get the idea. Tell me who or what you love! Let’s share the love!!

Crafty Monday – Make Your Own Stitch Markers!

Welcome! It seems to be Crafty Monday around these parts! For some reason, I got a lot of crafty stuff done today, but I’m going to parcel out crafty tips over a few weeks so you all don’t get overwhelmed with the craftiness.

Today’s topic is stitch markers. I, like many knitters, am always looking for new gadgets and tools and enhancements to my knitting experience. Specifically, I’m always looking for good stitch markers. I’ve bought and received as gifts those stitch markers that look like jewelry – the kind that hang off a loop that sits on the needle.

As pretty as some of these are, I find them a pain in the patootie to knit with. They keep getting stuck in between stitches or they need to be flipped to the front or back of my knitting depending on what stitch I’m doing.

We’re pretty, but we don’t work well!

I wanted markers that were circles, like those ubiquitous plastic ones that we all have. I’ve never attempted to make stitch markers before, but I saw some online that looked like just the ticket, so I thought I’d try to recreate them. And let me tell you, they are the easiest things in the world to make! And they work! And they’re pretty!

We work! And we’re easy to make!

Yep. That’s it. You need 10mm jump rings – the kind that are a single circle, not a coil – which you can purchase at any big box craft store or bead store, and size 6 (or E) beads, also widely available all over the place. (If you are like me, you have trillions of these beads lying around from various beading and knitting projects.)

You don’t even need pliers to make these. Simply pry the jump ring apart with your fingers, slip on a bead, and then pry the jump ring back together. Voila! That’s it! You’re done! I took these out for a spin on a pair of mittens I’m making (Shelburne from knitty.com, if you must know).

(Terrible picture, but seeing the cat’s feet made me crack up)

Those mittens are on a size #9 needle, and the markers work perfectly. They had smaller jump rings at the store, but I like markers on the big side, even if I’m using small needles. I’m going to troll Etsy and see if they have even larger ones.

No more plastic markers! Make some pretty ones of your very own today! And think of what a nice gift for your knitter friends a set of these would make!

Crafty Monday – Make Your Own Stitch Markers!

Welcome! It seems to be Crafty Monday around these parts! For some reason, I got a lot of crafty stuff done today, but I’m going to parcel out crafty tips over a few weeks so you all don’t get overwhelmed with the craftiness.

Today’s topic is stitch markers. I, like many knitters, am always looking for new gadgets and tools and enhancements to my knitting experience. Specifically, I’m always looking for good stitch markers. I’ve bought and received as gifts those stitch markers that look like jewelry – the kind that hang off a loop that sits on the needle.

As pretty as some of these are, I find them a pain in the patootie to knit with. They keep getting stuck in between stitches or they need to be flipped to the front or back of my knitting depending on what stitch I’m doing.

We’re pretty, but we don’t work well!

I wanted markers that were circles, like those ubiquitous plastic ones that we all have. I’ve never attempted to make stitch markers before, but I saw some online that looked like just the ticket, so I thought I’d try to recreate them. And let me tell you, they are the easiest things in the world to make! And they work! And they’re pretty!

We work! And we’re easy to make!

Yep. That’s it. You need 10mm jump rings – the kind that are a single circle, not a coil – which you can purchase at any big box craft store or bead store, and size 6 (or E) beads, also widely available all over the place. (If you are like me, you have trillions of these beads lying around from various beading and knitting projects.)

You don’t even need pliers to make these. Simply pry the jump ring apart with your fingers, slip on a bead, and then pry the jump ring back together. Voila! That’s it! You’re done! I took these out for a spin on a pair of mittens I’m making (Shelburne from knitty.com, if you must know).

(Terrible picture, but seeing the cat’s feet made me crack up)

Those mittens are on a size #9 needle, and the markers work perfectly. They had smaller jump rings at the store, but I like markers on the big side, even if I’m using small needles. I’m going to troll Etsy and see if they have even larger ones.

No more plastic markers! Make some pretty ones of your very own today! And think of what a nice gift for your knitter friends a set of these would make!