Is it midnight yet?

I've got my scarf ready to go. Just wish Rowan was going with me (I think we've been to all the midnight showings together...but she's in Vegas!). I'm going with SnBLeslie and some other friends from our Tuesday night Stitch n Bitch that meets just a few doors down from the movie theater.



I don't think Bailey wants me to go.



Puddles won't care as long as she gets a treat! I couldn't resist taking some doggie pictures...they are fresh from the groomers!

Happy Harry Potter Eve!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Socks for Mom!

Mom's Cotty socks are done! And look how nicely they fit! Just don't look too closely or you may notice that on this pair I thought not counting exactly how many knit rows there were between the pattern rows would be interesting (total accident of course, but you can't tell unless you look really really close).

Pattern: Cotty by me :)
Yarn: Socks that Rock mediumweight, colorway Rare Gems
Needles: US 1.5

I'm off to Reno for a nice relaxing long weekend with my Great-Aunt Mimi this weekend! What are you all up to? Hope its a good one!

Happy Friday!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Happy Monday!!

Well, I survived, so I've got to be happy with that! Big work report is done...yay!! Now just need to do some knitting!

Hope you all had a good Monday back....always hard after a holiday weekend! To get you through the week....

some doggy pics!


The girls in their favorite chair at IrishDad's house! And their bandanas...from the groomers.. I take no credit for the cuteness!


They were a bit pooped after their long walk!


Puddles says hi to Piddleloop! So sorry about that project bag comment yesterday...hehehe... I don't know what came over me :) (note: just posting the link is dangerous...there is stuff in stock! thank goodness she's out of the cupcake stuff...I would have been a goner!)

And then look what showed up today!


Thanks Marcy!! Knittinggolfer sent me a consolation prize for losing our June Smackdown! How perfect!!! Its from MomofTwins' etsy shop!

And then, the goodies kept coming....



Thank you Laura!! She sent me this perfect cheery summer sock yarn for winning her recent blog contest! I love it!


Lastly, thank you dear Plucky Knitter! My classics shipment arrived today....swoon! Just love this color!

Perfect timing for more yarn to arrive....as I'm trying to destash a bit before ...sock....summit.... These two pretties make it a bit easier to part with some of the others!

Oh, and if you haven't yet purchased the Cotty pattern or the Blackberry Brambles pattern or the Freestyle Snowboarder Hat pattern , and you were planning to...tomorrow, Tuesday, July 7 is the last day of the sale prices. Thank you all again for being so supportive of my patterns! And if you haven't recently checked out the Socks that Rawk group KAL thread, please do! I'm seriously tickled to see all the pretty Cotty socks!!

Nighty night!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Summer of Socks!

It is definitely the summer of socks around here! Look at all my sock project bags with various socks in there!


This picture is also serving as a visual reminder to me that I need no more cute fabric project bags. At least not in the near future.


There has even been some sock knitting! Finished mom's first Cotty sock! Loving how this Rare Gems knit up.



And its just 32 more days until Sock Summit! I just can't wait!!! I'll be taking two classes- Colorful Stitches (I think that's the name of it!) with Tina and Anna Zilborg and Designing the Next Monkey with Amy Singer! So excited!! And then there's the market....oh the sock yarny temptations!!!

I'll also hopefully be blogging and knitting a bit more for the next four weeks since today marks the first day of Snowboarder's 4 week trip out of the country...sniffle sniffle He'll be in Japan for two weeks for work, then Europe for another two for work/fun. I'm trying to focus on the positive....that time away will leave lots of time for working out (I didn't win the June Smackdown! But July shall be mine!), knitting, reading, blogging, and my own mini-traveling (next weekend to Reno to visit my Great Aunt, the following weekend to Portland, and then right before Snowboarder gets home, I'm off to Sock Summit!).

Plus, in June, we spent way too much time together! As much as we could :) Here are some pictures when he met me and my girlfriends at the Ferry Market in San Francisco!





The Girls! We've known each other since we were six years old!!

Hope you all are enjoying your holiday weekend!!!

Happy Sock Knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Cast on your Cottys!

Its July 1st! And the Socks that Rawk Knitalong for the Cotty and Dippers sock has officially begun! I am super excited to see all the pretty Cotty socks! Thank you all so much for your support!

I'm casting on a pair for my mom. She said she grabbed from the top of her STR stash from Stitches a few years ago and I could pick. Well, actually, she is hoping for three pairs of socks. We'll have to see about that.




I picked this Rare Gems skein to use for her Cotty Socks. Seriously, mom doesn't quite knit socks yet, but she's got a few Rare Gems in her stash. Gotta love it! I think I can take credit for this!

I thought I would share some of my favorite pictures of my great-aunt Cotty, whom I named the socks after. I took these four years ago, right after my grandmother (her sister) had passed away, and when Bailey was just a few months old.


Bailey loved to sit by Cotty!


I wonder why!


What? The pizza?


Can you just tell that Bailey got a little bit of the crust?! hehehehe

Happy Cast-On Day!!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Good morning ocean!

Can't really complain about a weekend where you wake up to this view!


Good morning beach!! Girls' weekend at the beach was fabulous!


And more berries!


And lots of knitting!


I finished my second Double Bubble sock! Rowan didn't mind modeling these...partly because I think she wants to steal them from me!



But I heart these socks!!

Pattern: Double Bubble by Samantha Roshak
Yarn: STR mediumweight, colorway Lover's Leap

Hope you all had a great weekend too! Here's to a short week ahead....I'm off on Friday for a 3-day weekend!

Happy Knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Blackberry Brambles

You know what we'll be having for dessert this weekend! Blackberry Pie! Courtesy of Whole Foods, but delicious nonetheless!


The Plucky Knitter Merino Cashmere Nylon Sock, colorway Ripe for Pickin'


Socks that Rock mediumweight, colorway Mochaberry




Socks that Rock mediumweight, colorway Siren Song

Thank you Knittinggolfer for test knitting and taking such fabulous photos! Check them all out here or here!

Summer berries, ripe for picking. As soon as I saw this stitch pattern, I was inspired. The berries travel down the sock on their brambles. Then, when you have colorways with names such as Mochaberry and Ripe for Pickin', well, enough said.

Pattern: Blackberry Brambles


Notes: The instructions are written for a cuff-down sock. Charts are also provided.

Yarn: 380 yards of fingering weight sock yarn; shown in The Plucky Knitter MCN, colorway Ripe for Pickin'; Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock mediumweight, colorways Mochaberry and Siren Song

Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) or size needed to obtain gauge, either DPNs or circular needles

Gauge: 30 stitches = 4" over st st

Size: adult women's average/medium

Finished measurements: 8" foot circumference; 6" approximate leg length

Available for purchase here!



To celebrate the upcoming Cotty STR KAL (come join us!!), this pattern, Cotty and The Freestyle Snowboarder Hat will be marked down to $4 until July 7! Then this pattern will be available for $5 (similar to Cotty).

As always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions at irishgirlieknits AT gmail DOT com

Happy Berry Pickin'!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Berry Lucky Winners!

Thank you all for your help with the berry naming contest! To be honest, I think you all just made it more difficult to decide :) But I definitely have a few names for future berry-inspired patterns!

The new pattern, Blackberry Brambles, is just about done! Waiting for the perfect photo shoot!




And our winner.....

Gaylen

But there were lots of berry bramble suggestions (but also a few patterns with similar names in ravelry, so that narrowed down my choices), so the random number generator picked a few other winners.....

Zonda
Tricia
Marilynknits

And for the original suggestion that inspired the brambles theme....

Tapmouse

Congrats!! Email me at irishgirlieknits AT gmail DOT com and I'll get you your free copy of the pattern sometime this weekend when it is done!

Have you heard of the Breakfast Project? Cupcakefaerie brought it to my attention. You can also read more about it here. Here's my attempt...partially to show you all why blackberries have been on my brain! I tossed a few into some honey wholewheat pancakes I made the other night (yes, for dessert....), but they heated up nicely for breakfast! As much as I love the idea of this project, I'm not sure how many different ways I can take a picture of my everyday breakfast...granola bar, or apple, or cheese stick, or bag of berries. Well, maybe I'll take one of the bag of berries.

I'll be back soon with Blackberry Brambles!!

Happy Berry Pickin'!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits