Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

The revolution will be supervised.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

I was promised a recession.

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

People are complicated. Love is not.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Everybody saw this coming.

You are here: Home / War in Ukraine / Auction for Ukraine: First Up, MomSense! (Open Thread)

Auction for Ukraine: First Up, MomSense! (Open Thread)

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Happy Sunday!

QuiltingFool had a wonderful idea – to auction off her Ukraine quilt on Balloon Juice, with the winning bidder entering the winning amount through the Balloon Juice for Ukraine thermometer.  Winner obviously gets to choose one or all 5 of the organizations in the thermometer.

While QuiltingFool puts the finishing touches on her quilt, we thought we could have an auction of some wonderful knitted items from MomSense.

Let’s set the mood – this is the MomSense family wharf, back when they still had a shipbuilding wharf!

Auction for Ukraine: First Up, MomSense! 5

HATS

Both hats are  knit to fit 22”-25” circumference. They do stretch quite a bit so will fit smaller or larger if needed. I would call them size large.  The yarn for both is considered luxury and both are my designs so no copyright issues.

Item 1: Jasper Hat  (bidding starts at $60)

Named for the amazing Jasper Beach in Cutler Maine.  The beach is rocky beach with stones of all sizes from pebble to Boulder. The design is meant to look like the play of the tides with the stones.  The wool is hand dyed in Texas 100%  superwash merino ethically sourced in Peru.

Item 2:  The Coastie  (bidding starts at $60)

This hat is called the Coastie inspired by Rockland’s Broadway Knight, my family history of shipbuilding and seafaring, and the modern day knights – the US Coast Guard stationed in Rockland.  The pattern is made of traditional cables that look like rope and armor.  The yarn is 100% merino from Queensland Australia. It looks rustic but this is wicked soft and warm.

Bidding will be open until 2pm Eastern on Monday.  That will give the weekday BJ peeps a chance, and not just the east coast peeps.  Surely the west cost peeps will be up and about by then. :-)

SWEATERS AND HATS FOR KIDS!

Item 3: Blue Snowflake Sweater  (bidding starts at $75)

Size 9 months, chest circumference 21 inches, length 10.5 inches. Unisex- 100% wool.

Item 4: Baby Beanie  (bidding starts at $25)

Soft merino/cashmere in a beautiful sea glass color.
16-18 inches circumference but very stretchy.
Can add a pompom or two if wanted.

Auction for Ukraine: First Up, MomSense! 6

Item 5: Summer Daisy Hat   (bidding starts at $25)

newborn to six months, 16 inch circumference
Perfect for summer! 100% cotton.

Auction for Ukraine: First Up, MomSense! 11 Auction for Ukraine: First Up, MomSense! 12

Item 6:  Candy Dot Sweater   (bidding starts at $75)

6-8 months, chest circumference 21”
Summer cardigan in the lightest, softest wool.
Inspired by the dots candy from the penny candy shop I loved as a child.

Auction for Ukraine: First Up, MomSense! 15 Auction for Ukraine: First Up, MomSense! 14 Auction for Ukraine: First Up, MomSense! 13

Item 7:  Gnome Hat  (bidding starts at $25)

This is a 100% merino infant gnome hat. Very soft and warm. Perfect for baby’s first Christmas. Can add a white pompom to make it a Santa hat.This is a Scandinavian hat pattern.

Auction for Ukraine: First Up, MomSense! 16

Item 8:  Cranberry Cardigan   (bidding starts at $35)

This is 100% wool – Fair isle cardigan.
Very warm and pretty size 6-9 months. Chest circumference is 20”.
This was a test sweater for content, so it’s not perfect, so the starting bid is lower.  The sweater is sweet and warm and a great deal.

Auction for Ukraine: First Up, MomSense! 19 Auction for Ukraine: First Up, MomSense! 18

Thanks, MomSense for your generosity!

I will add a comment for each of the 8 items, and if you want to bid on an item, simply reply to that comment.

If you want to bid on more than one item, please reply to the comment for each of the items you want to bid on.

*We didn’t talk shipping, but I imagine that the buyer would pay for MomSense to ship to you (or to someone else if you are giving an item as a gift).

Also, OPEN THREAD.

Update at 1:30 pm:  Bidding will be open until 2pm Eastern on Monday.  That will give the weekday BJ peeps a chance, and not just the east coast peeps.  Surely the west cost peeps will be up and about by then. :-)

 

Reader Interactions

155Comments

  10. 10.

    Thor Heyerdahl

    @WaterGirl: 

    Item 2: The Coastie (bidding starts at $60)

    I like the coastie. I’ll open the bidding at $60. Canadians would call that a very nice toque.

  17. 17.

    MomSense

    @Thor Heyerdahl:

    Yes a Toque but not a Tam!

    Two of my kids have a Coastie and they wear them all the time.  The other wears the Jasper hat all the time.
    I make the brims extra long so you can roll it up and have twice the warmth around your ears.

  18. 18.

    debbie

    According to @bellingcat the Russian FSB paid billions of $ to ensure that some shadowy political class in Ukraine supported this war & created an internal coup d'état immediately after the invasion. But Ukrainian agents who took the money ditched them.They just screwed them over— Iuliia Mendel (@IuliiaMendel) March 27, 2022

  19. 19.

    MomSense

    @JR:

    Oh cool.  There is a lot of sharing of knit designs.  I found Scandinavian examples of this hat and other examples called gnome or pixie hats.

  20. 20.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @WaterGirl:

    OMG, yes! The best one was a kiosk in the gorgeous Post Office in Oak Park. It was a newsstand-cum-tobacconist-cum-candy shop, operated by a blind man who nevertheless knew his inventory. I used to buy my Little Lulu comic books there, as well as the pastel candy dots on long strips of paper, Fleer’s Double Dubble Bubble Gum (it always included a comic strip and a joke or riddle of some kind), wax bottles and lips filled with coloured sugar water, candy cigarettes, and so much more. A dime-a-week allowance went a long way then!

    (Some editing post-posting).

  22. 22.

    Jerzy Russian

    @WaterGirl:   I remember a Woolworth’s Five  and Dime store from when I was chronologically 12 years old (mentally I have been stuck at 12 years of age for the last 43 years).  I am not sure all if the items in the store actually costed either 5 or 10 cents.   I don’t specifically remember any penny candy stores.

  23. 23.

    JanieM

    @WaterGirl: I remember penny candy.  Also when candy bars were a nickel, and Three Musketeers had three sections. :-)

    I carry a stone from Jasper Beach in my pocket, a bit of Maine to go with me wherever I go. Plus it’s so smooth, it’s my worry stone.

    A question for Momsense — maybe I missed it, but what size is the cranberry cardigan? I have a new grandkid, born in Nov 2021, and am wondering if it would be a good size for her next fall.

  24. 24.

    SiubhanDuinne

    The hats are gorgeous. Not much call to wear them in this climate, but I’m trying think in terms of birthday and Christmas gifts for next year.

  25. 25.

    JanieM

    @SiubhanDuinne: Wax lips and candy cigarettes, oh my!

    Also makes me remember how many nickels my brother and I spent on packs of baseball cards. If only we had kept track of them before our mother cleaned out the basement 30 years later…..

  26. 26.

    MomSense

    Jasper Beach is in Cutler, Maine.  Cutler was an important place during the Cold War as it was the sight of a US Naval listening station.  There were tall towers with constantly turning equipment.  This part of Maine is called the bold coast and is the easternmost part of the United States.

  37. 37.

    Miss Bianca

    @WaterGirl: Hey, only nine people may have commented, but I saw it last night! And yeah, it was amazing.

    Oh, sweaters and hats, so gorgeous! MomSense is such a fiber artist, I am in awe of anyone who can knit – I am all thumbs with a pair of knitting needles, as it turns out.

  51. 51.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @WaterGirl: My great uncle owned a five and dime. I remember much of the candy already mentioned, also orange wax whistles, elastic candy necklaces and Sugar Daddy pops. There was also a lot of cheap toys-caps, paddle balls, a kit with a straw and smelly stuff to blow balloons, jacks, etc. And Millie the Model comic books.

  57. 57.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Sure Lurkalot:

    I don’t remember Millie the Model, but I remember both Mopsy Modes and Katy Keene.  Paper dolls among the comic strips! And wasn’t Little Lulu’s Aunt Fritzi a fashion model with a fabulous wardrobe?

  58. 58.

    Madeleine

    @WaterGirl: #2 Coastie—I’ll raise to $65. Beautiful knitting, MomSense, wonderful patterns. Makes me think of my mother’s, especially the baby sweaters.

  72. 72.

    HinTN

    @WaterGirl:

    Item 7:  Gnome Hat

    I’ll give $25 to start the bidding.

    You may have to remind me to pay up if I win.  (How long is the auction open?)

  78. 78.

    WaterGirl

    Question to everyone who is bidding:

    For the quilt, we will showcase the quilt in a thread ahead of time, and announce the date/time for the bidding ahead of time.

    but for these smaller items…

    Should we leave this open for 24 hours?

    End bidding if someone bids 2x the amount to open the bidding?

  79. 79.

    J R in WV

    Can’t wear wool of any flavor, but wow the goods are so so good!!!

    And the shipbuilding, from back when the ships were wood and the men were iron! Wow, what a family heritage! I was in the Navy of Iron ships, and the men were not. Iron, that is.

    Thanks for sharing the historic photo, and for raising funds for the Ukrainian people!!

  80. 80.

    Nancy

    @WaterGirl:  I will bid $50.00 for the summer daisy baby hat. Hope I’m doing this right.

    I decided to bid more before I read Watergirl’s idea about ending the bidding.

    I am fine either way. I need a baby gift in the summer so this seems perfect.

  81. 81.

    PAM Dirac

    @WaterGirl:

    Should we leave this open for 24 hours?

    End bidding if someone bids 2x the amount to open the bidding?

    I would be happy to leave it up to you. It is for a good cause and I’m not going to get stressed by any of the details.

  83. 83.

    MomSense

    @J R in WV:

    I think there is a fight happening in the foreground.  You can still walk out on the wharf – it’s made of earth.  The wooden pilings and staging are all decaying into the sea.  It’s one of my favorite places to walk, just across the street from my dad’s place.  The plan for 2020 was to add a park there – just a simple place with several benches, but COVID delayed things.  It’s one of the stops on the Harbor Trail.  My dad and some townspeople convinced the town and local businesses to create a pedestrian walk along the water.  It’s become such a nice feature.  There are lots of little parks and picnic places along the trail now.

  85. 85.

    HinTN

    @WaterGirl:

    End bidding if someone bids 2x the amount to open the bidding?

    I think that if you choose this route and there is bidding between two or more friends of Ukraine, then there should be an opportunity for best and final offers.

  87. 87.

    WaterGirl

    @HinTN: I don’t actually know much at all about bidding and auctions.

    So I have no idea if ending the bidding at 2x makes any sense, I’m just throwing ideas out there and asking for more.

    But a final opportunity for best and final offers sounds like a good idea, on matter what.   thanks for the idea.

  88. 88.

    WaterGirl

    @Raven: I think we all did.  :-)  Though I’m pretty sure I couldn’t pick the out of a lineup at this point.

    Though I’m sure I could recognize them, but I wouldn’t know the they were from Vriners.  So sad when it closed.

  92. 92.

    delk

    You bought penny candy at the corner store. Convenience Stores pretty much killed all of them off.

  96. 96.

    JanieM

    @MomSense: Rockland is the coastal town I go to most often, for the Farnsworth, hellohello books (owned by one of our old babysitters), and Trillium soap.

    I spent a gorgeous spring day walking around town in May of 2021, at a time when I thought (how naive!) that we were getting toward the end of covid. I walked part of the trail, and it was indeed lovely. Fun to know your dad was involved in creating it.

  97. 97.

    Montanareddog

    My niece is within days of giving birth to her first born, after years of trying, including a miscarriage and an ectopic pregnancy.  A BFD for the family.

    We know it’s a boy, and he will make me s great-uncle for the 1st time. #4, the baby beanie seems like a perfect gift. I bid $50

  98. 98.

    HinTN

    @Raven: I mentioned in a dead thread about a month ago that I got down to Edisto Island. There’s lots to like about that place! Very similar to where we go in North Carolina.

  101. 101.

    MomSense

    @JanieM:

    They are expanding it.  It is going to go to the vocational school on South Main – by the public landing and park. Eventually it will go all the way to the lighthouse!

  103. 103.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    @WaterGirl: Both the adult hat designs are wonderful, but I’m a blue girl, so I bid $100 for The Coastie. (Last bid I saw in comments was $85).

  105. 105.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    @JanieM: I spent a semi-gorgeous day in May 2021 celebrating “the end of COVID” by going to the Mendocino Botanical Garden with a friend and being absolutely blown away by the rhododendrons in bloom.  We’re planning on going back again this year.  The display of flowers was so gorgeous and there were so many plants we got tired of saying “Oh my God look at this one”.  Maybe this year it will be the beginning of the “end of COVID”. One can only hope.  In the meantime, we are vaxed and boosted (me double boosted).

  107. 107.

    The Golux

    @MomSense:

    There is a lot of sharing of knit designs.

    Speaking of sharing, I guarantee that when I show these to my wife, who knits constantly in her spare time, she will want the patterns for the first two caps (if not most of the items!).  The cabling on those two is very interesting.  Are the patterns available?

  111. 111.

    Sure Lurkalot

    Beautiful fiber goods, high in demand too! So nice of you to donate these items, MomSense.

    I love the baby things but the last baby born, a great nephew, is huge!

    So, I put $100 into the thermometer thing.

  113. 113.

    WaterGirl

    @Montanareddog: I started to write that I hope you win that bid because I’m so happy things are working out for your niece, but I got a phone call so I just had to leave it at what I had already written.

  118. 118.

    WaterGirl

    Summarizing the status of bids at 4:15 pm on Sunday.

    The Jasper:  $125 from HinTN

    The Coastie:  $125 from A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan):

    Baby Beanie:  $50 from Montanareddog

    Summer Daisy Hat: $50 bid from Nancy

    Did I miss anything?

  119. 119.

    Commenting at Balloon Juice since 1937

    I kicked in a match (up to 250) for whoever gets the Coastie. It’s gorgeous but my knitting wife would be suspicious of me wearing a hat not made by her. Thanks for doing this.

  120. 120.

    Betsy

    Golly!  Are these gorgeous and awesome!! I wish I had the talent or patience to knit such beautiful things!!  Splendid work.  And looks so cozy :)

  122. 122.

    WaterGirl

    I have email messages from 2 more artists/artisans who are offering some of their works for a future auction.  If anyone else finds themselves inspired by the auction idea, just send me an email.

    Here on Bj you guys are not just talented, you are also generous.

  128. 128.

    MomSense

    @The Golux:

    Happy to share the patterns – they’re my designs.  Tell your wife that the crown shaping on the Coastie is funky so we may need to talk or zoom when she gets there.  The Jasper is very straightforward.

    I told watergirl that I often test out ideas with baby things – hence the couple of things I’m not 100% happy about with the cranberry cardigan. It’s really cute but I’m a horrible perfectionist.

  129. 129.

    MomSense

    @WaterGirl:

    it started pouring rain at my kids’ gig so they have had to move their set up under the tent.  I’m ok with the delay – so they don’t get electrocuted!

    They are killing it though so I’m happy.

  130. 130.

    Ruckus

    All of this knitting is beautiful.

    The idea of an auction for Ukraine is amazing to say the least.

    I wish I could bid but the reality is that I can’t. I am thankful for everyone that is. I’ve been on BJ for a long time now and think this is an idea of it’s time, that we can discuss and yes argue, and more important – learn from a far wider bunch of humans is fantastic. JC, my hat is off to you for coming up with this place and keeping it such that we can see, learn, discuss and enjoy humanity in action.

  136. 136.

    Rozziegirl

    @WaterGirl: So that’s my entire childhood in Boston!  Maryjanes, bullseyes, wax coke bottles filled with different colored sugar goo, wax lips, candy cigs (prepping for adulthood, amirite), double bubble, bazooka (far superior), bit’a’honey, and…I guess I could go on.  Some owned by Jewish-Americans, others by Irish-Americans.  And how stoked was I to get to college in Amherst in the late 60s to discover Augie’s…can’t even tell you.

  141. 141.

    WaterGirl

    @grandmaBear: You definitely don’t have to bid for the pattern because MomSense will share it with anyone who wants it.

    But anyone who wants a pattern is certainly welcome to donate if they could like to contribute!

  142. 142.

    Quiltingfool

    Oh, MomSense, your knit items are beautiful!  I’ve only knitted a scarf by hand, but I have made sweaters using a knitting machine (a heresy!).  Knowing how to knit made using the machine easier, though.  For fiber arts, I’m more of a crochet fan, but I usually made things like doilies and table runners, cotton thread stuff, not wool.  Now, though, I am addicted to making quilts (I sell my quilts to feed my addiction!).

    The Ukraine quilt (I named it Slava Ukraini) is pieced, and I will quilt and bind it this week.  I will make another (or more) and the sales will go to helping Ukrainians.  It isn’t much, but maybe it may help a bit.

    I’ve strayed from my original thought – MomSense, you are a Yarn Goddess!  Anyone who does any kind of fiber art, well, we know what it takes to create, and we know excellence when we see it.  And you create excellence.

  145. 145.

    HinTN

    @WaterGirl: I can let it go. It was for the red headed baby of the very red headed daughter of a red headed friend. ? It appears I’ve got the Jasper for Mrs H

    ETA – Will you email us when we need to pay up?

  146. 146.

    WaterGirl

    @HinTN: Unless someone sneaks in a higher bid overnight!  :-)

    Bidding is open until 2pm tomorrow.

    I may put up a thread announcing the winners, or not, depending on how things go.  But it might be nice to see the thermometer go up after the thread goes up.  One way or another I will let folks know.

  147. 147.

    WaterGirl

    Summarizing the status of bids at 8:45 pm on Sunday.

    The Jasper:  $125 from HinTN

    The Coastie:  $125 from A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan):

    Baby Beanie:  $50 from Montanareddog

    Summer Daisy Hat: $50 bid from Nancy

    Gnome Hat: $30 bid from grandmaBear

    Did I miss anything?

  149. 149.

    BottyGuy

    $200 for the Jasper.

    my normal email address seems to be blocked on this site is there someway to fix that?

  150. 150.

    WaterGirl

    @BottyGuy: I just fixed you so you can comment.  Not sure exactly what happened.  You had two different nyms with the same email address – one is this and the other was a regular first name.  And now you have two email addresses associated with this nym.

    Would you like me to fix all that?

    edit: Okay, sometimes you are BottyGuy, and sometimes you are a regular first name and sometimes you are a regular first and last name, and sometimes you are your first name and where you live.  You must be a free spirit. :-)

    Whatever the cause, you are able to comment again.

  152. 152.

    BottyGuy

    @WaterGirl:
    you can call me Ray, you can call me Jay, I don’t care what by nym is, just happy to post again with my regular email address.

  153. 153.

    Nancy

    This is exciting, catching up on what happened while I was not online checking every other minute.

    This is such a great way to build support and community.

Comments are closed.