Still havin' fun....

Today's my last day in Portland :( I leave tonight! So this afternoon we are playing some Wii with the kids and knitting...Christy almost has a new sock done!

I've had an awesome weekend visiting with lots of my knitting buddies! I'm bringing home a little bit of stash from Woolgirl, Blue Moon, and Twisted! And I tried very hard to resist, but Gail practically made me cast on a new pair of monkey socks (Seriously, she let me borrow her needles and I ended up winding the yarn by hand!). Luckily, they are almost done so at least I'm not just adding to my WIPs pile!

I'll post a few pictures later this week, but in the meantime, go check out all of Tina's fabulous pictures from this weekend!

Happy Monday!!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Rockin' Baby Stuff!

I absolutely love that with just one skein of Socks that Rock heavyweight you can get a fabulous baby set!

I've been a bit behind on the baby knitting (that should read, the kid is already born!), but this was a quick weekend knit! And I loved it!

Its the Child's Placket-Neck Pullover pattern from Last Minute Knitted Gifts but the free pattern is here (pdf). Definitely use this version as the book has errata.

I liked the fold over collar a bit better than adding the buttons (and, well, I didn't have any buttons too!)

I had plenty of yarn leftover to make a seed stitch hat to match. Easy peasy! I'm pretty sure that the colorway I used is a Mill End of Lucy in the Sky.

Hope baby Gavin loves it!!

Oh, and I'm prewriting this and saving it to post Saturday (ensuring that the recipient is surprised!), when I should be enhancing my stash at the Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival!! ETA: OOPS! I obviously don't know my dates....its Friday, so while this posted I was visiting Woolgirl!! Tomorrow STR! Woohoo!!

Happy Knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Packing :)

I leave for Portland tomorrow night! I've got the important stuff packed at least!

I'm actually quite proud of myself for resisting the urge of casting on all the pretty autumn inspired sock yarns that I've been wanting to cast on. Instead, I'm bringing some WIPs!

This made the packing process a bit more fun :)

Friends, flock & fiber festival, fall, and fun!! I can't wait for the weekend to be here!

Happy Knitting!!

xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Happy First Day of Autumn!

I spent it with Snowboarder, Littlest Snowboarder (his 5-year old daughter who is such a cutie), and knitting! A secret project that I'll show you later in the next week or two (its a pressie!).

A bowl of soup was calling my name too. The evenings are starting to get a bit cooler and this hit the spot. Its the Cheddar Corn Chowder Recipe by Barefoot Contessa. The recipe makes a lot so this was from the freezer! Yum! Okay, the potatoes aren't as crisp as when you first make it (they've been in the freezer!), but the just-heat-it-up-in-the-pot-and-yummy-dinner was what the day called for! I love the recipe as is (and I do use the frozen corn), but the last batch I made (pictured above) was my attempt at the slightly healthier version and I think it tastes delicious too (I halved the half and half and the cheese and skipped the bacon step). Enjoy!!

A few weeks ago I was honored with the Arte y Pico award by the fabulous Rani (thank you!!!). The feeling is mutual as I love her blog!!

Here are the rules that I pasted from her blog:

1) Show the award. Link back to the blog that gave you the award.

2) Pick 5 blogs that you consider deserving of this award because of creativity, design, interesting material, and contributions to the blogger community, no matter of language, and link to them.

3) Leave comments on the blogs to let them know you've given them an award.

4) Show the link to the Arte y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5) Show these rules.

Turtlegirl's Bloggy Thing because Cristi inspires me everyday! I so wish I could blog like her! Disco sure wishes I blogged like her to (and three posts in three days, there you go Disco! mwah mwah mwah). The knitting, the kitties, the ypf, love it all Turtlegirl!

Tina's Blog over at Blue Moon because having an insight into Tina's creative process is awesome. The dyer's notes of every rockin' sock club shipment are one of my favorite parts, and the blog just seems like a fabulous everyday version of that (okay, and it also gives you a heads up as to when colors are coming off the site for a bit).

Z Knits and Sews because reading Zonda's blog when I was her secret pal almost two years ago made the whole blogging thing "click" for me. I couldn't wait to start one after reading hers! And on a very different level, Zonda has been most inspiring these past few months!

We Heart Yarn. They also heart fabulous photography. If you haven't seen this blog yet, go click now. Be inspired by the incredible pictures of socks, nature, yarn, flowers, you name it that Neuroknitter continually shares with us. I'll be the first to buy cards of some of her photography! Love it!!

Random Meanderings because I just love all things Bezzie. Her craftiness, her honesty, her projects, her cooking, her thriftiness, her sponsoring of KAYE, her love of college football!! She makes me smile!

Happy Blog Reading!! Happy Autumn!

And Happy only four more days til I'll be in Portland!!

xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Yummy Socks!!

I'm working my way through the many WIPs I created this summer! I finally finished a pair of socks that I started this summer.

Pattern: Garter Rib Socks from Sensational Knitted Socks

Yarn: Miss Babs Yummy fingering, colorway Pookie, from Woolgirl

I love the Yummy yarn!! Both the sport and fingering!!!

Needles: US 1.5

Best part about these socks.....they match my new fall shoes perfectly!! Gotta love Borns.

Okay, its halftime of the Notre Dame vs. Michigan State game. We're losing 10-0. Let's hope the blog post changes the mojo (or that we stop turning over the football!). Go Irish!!!

Happy Almost Fall!!

xoxo Irishgirlieknts

YPF: The Autism Research Edition

I can't quite believe that it has been a week since I last blogged! Not to worry, I haven't just been buying yarn (as these two posts would seem to suggest!). I've been knitting too, just not as much as I would like.

September is a busy busy month at work for me. I don't talk about it too much on the blog (I'm a firm believer of trying to keep work stuff off of this blog, except for the occasional meme questions), but it seems relevant to discuss it today. I run a clinic that provides early, intensive behavioral intervention for young children with autism. What began as a way for me to fulfill my community service hours to receive my Confirmation back in high school by volunteering to work with a child with autism, has turned into my career. I've been working in this field now for 18 years. So when Woolgirl mentioned that she would soon be carrying a yarn where part of the profit went to Autism research, well of course, I knew I'd buy some (yarn and a good cause!)!

Mama Llama Perfect Sock, sportweight colorway Autism

My sister agreed that this colorway captures the puzzle pieces pins and bumper stickers that are part of raising Autism Awareness.

I love the coordinating blue yarn for the heels and toes.

And in true Woolgirl style, look at all the goodies from ordering my one skein! My sister has already confiscated the notepad (she loves!! Woolgirl extras!!).

I'll be back with another post on Saturday of the socks that I finally finished last night!

Happy Friday!!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

YPF: The Mama Blue Edition

The camera does not do this yarn and colorway justice. It is absolutely gorgeous and golden!
I like to blame Peaknits for this enabling. Back in July, it was post after post of gorgeous Mama Blue socks and yarn. I held out as long as I could (and by then of course, it was selling out so quickly!).

Mama Blue Troika Sock yarn, colorway Beekeeper

I couldn't resist casting on with this yarn right away, despite the many many socks on the needles. This is the Bramble colorway. Perfect for the Hedera pattern.

Happy Friday!!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Feme Meme

Stolen from Bezzie and then Jo.

I've highlighted all the books I've read, and starred the authors I've read, but not specifically the book listed. If they're highlighted and starred, then I've read more of that author's catalogue in addition to the book listed.

Allison, Dorothy. Bastard Out of Carolina, 1992
Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 1969 ***
Atwood, Margaret. Cat's Eye, 1988 ***(read The Blind Assassin)
Bainbridge, Beryl. The Bottle Factory Outing, 1974
Bambara, Toni Cade. Gorilla, My Love, 1992
Barnes, Djuna. Nightwood, 1937
Barker, Pat. Regeneration, 1992
Brookner, Anita. Hotel du Lac, 1984
Brown, Rita Mae. Rubyfruit Jungle, 1973
Buck, Pearl S. The Good Earth, 1931
Byatt, A.S. Possession: A Romance, 1990***
Carter, Angela. Nights at the Circus, 1984
Castillo, Ana. So Far From God, 1993
Cather, Willa. My Antonia, 1918 (I own though...should read)
Chopin, Kate. The Awakening, 1900
Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street, 1984
Compton-Burnett, Ivy. Elders and Betters, 1944
Desai, Anita. Clear Light of Day, 1980
Dinesen, Isak. Out of Africa, 1938
Doerr, Harriet. Stones for Ibarra, 1984
Drabble, Margaret. The Radiant Way, 1987
DuMaurier, Daphne. Rebecca, 1938
Emecheta, Buchi. Second Class Citizen, 1974
Erdrich, Louise. Tracks: A Novel, 1988
Fitzgerald, Penelope. At Freddie's, 1985
Flagg, Fannie. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, 1987
Frame, Janet. Yellow Flowers in the Antipodean Room, 1969
French, Marilyn. The Women's Room, 1977
Goldstein, Rebecca. The Mind-Body Problem: A Novel, 1983
Gordimer, Nadine. July's People, 1981
Gordon, Mary. The Rest of Life, 1993
Hall, Radclyffe. The Well of Loneliness, 1928
Head, Bessie. When Rain Clouds Gather, 1968
Highsmith, Patricia. The Talented Mr. Ripley, 1955
Hobhouse, Janet. The Furies, 1993
Hulme, Keri. The Bone People, 1983 (another one I own, but haven't read)
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God, 1937
Jackson, Shirley. The Haunting of Hill House, 1959
Jhabvala, Ruth Prawer. Heat and Dust, 1975
Jong, Erica. Fear of Flying, 1973
Kincaid, Jamaica. Lucy, 1990
Kingsolver, Barbara. The Bean Trees, 1988
Kingston, Maxine Hong. Tripmaster Monkey, 1989
Kogawa, Joy. Obasan, 1981
Laurence, Margaret. The Fire-Dwellers, 1969
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird, 1960
Lessing, Doris. The Golden Notebook, 1962
Lively, Penelope. Moon Tiger, 1987
Loos, Anita. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, 1925
McCarthy, Mary. The Group, 1963
McCullers, Carson. Ballad of the Sad Cafe, 1951*** (read The Heart is A Lonely Hunter)
McMillan, Terry. Mama, 1987
Manning, Olivia. The Balkan Trilogy, 1981
Miller, Isabel. Patience and Sarah, 1969
Mitchell, Margaret. Gone with the Wind, 1936 (twice! 6th & 8th grade?! maybe I should read it again as a grown-up!)
Moore, Lorrie. Anagrams: A Novel, 1986
Morrison, Toni. Beloved: A Novel, 1987 *** (I've read almost all of her novels. Probably one of my favorite authors and I still remember reading this book for the first time as a freshman in high school. Another I've read twice)
Mukherjee, Bharati. Wife, 1975
Munro, Alice. Lives of Girls and Women, 1971
Murdoch, Iris. A Severed Head, 1961
Oates, Joyce Carol. You Must Remember This, 1987
O'Brien, Edna. House of Splendid Isolation, 1994 (Is there an Irish authors meme? I've read quite a few of those! Have a few more of hers on my bookshelf that I haven't gotten to yet)
O'Connor, Flannery. A Good Man is Hard to Find, 1955
Olsen, Tillie. Tell Me a Riddle, 1979
Paley, Grace. Enormous Changes at the Last Minute, 1974
Parker, Dorothy. The Collected Dorothy Parker, 1973
Phillips, Jayne Anne. Black Tickets, 1979
Piercy, Marge. Braided Lives, 1982
Plath, Sylvia. The Bell Jar, 1963
Porter, Katharine Anne. Ship of Fools, 1962
Powell, Dawn. The Golden Spur, 1962
Proulx, E. Annie. The Shipping News, 1993
Rand, Ayn. The Fountainhead, 1943
Renault, Mary. The King Must Die, 1958
Rhys, Jean. Wide Sargasso Sea, 1966
Robinson, Marilynne. Housekeeping, 1980*** (another one I own, but after reading Gilead, well, no desire to read Housekeeping)
Roy, Arundhati. The God of Small Things, 1997
Sarton, May. Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing, 1965
Shields, Carol. The Stone Diaries, 1994 (another one I have, but have yet to read)
Shreve, Anita. The Weight of Water, 1997***
Silko, Leslie Marmon. Almanac of the Dead, 1991
Simpson, Mona. Anywhere But Here, 1986
Smart, Elizabeth. By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept, 1966
Smiley, Jane. The Age of Grief, 1987 *** (read A Thousand Acres)
Sontag, Susan. The Volcano Lover, 1992
Spark, Muriel. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, 1961
Stead, Christina. The Man Who Loved Children, 1965
Stein, Gertrude. Three Lives, 1909
Taylor, Elizabeth. Angel, 1957
Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club, 1989
Tyler, Anne. If Morning Ever Comes, 1964 *** (can't remember which one we read for book club)
Urquhart, Jane. Away, 1993
Walker, Alice. The Color Purple, 1982
Weldon, Fay. The Life and Loves of a She-Devil, 1983
Welty, Eudora. Selected Stories, 1943
West, Rebecca. The Return of the Soldier, 1918
Wharton, Edith. Ethan Frome, 1911
White, Antonia. Frost in May, 1933
Winterson, Jeannette. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, 1985 *** (read Written on the Body)
Woolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway, 1925

Doing this meme makes me miss reading! I've always loved to read but I'll admit, with the knitting obsession, its hard to do both sometimes. I really need to make more time for it (e.g., put the needles down once in awhile). Any great books by women authors you would recommend (either on this list or not)? Happy Reading!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

The Sweet Smell of .....

Victory!!

Who am I kidding?!! These poor babies didn't make it through the preliminaries of the sockput competition for the Ravelympics '08, but they are still a victory, nonetheless!

The journey began during the Opening Ceremonies. I couldn't wait to cast on a pair of new socks! It continued through to Michael Phelps' first gold medal. And then I realized I better start knitting on that sweater. The poor socks fell behind.

I figured, no problem. Ravelympics are done. These will be finished in no time. Then the craft room project began and these languished on the needles. And still last week, I figured these will be done in no time. Well, I did cast on the second sock while waiting for Dad in the Emergency Room on Tuesday for five hours (he's okay and home the same day, but it was quite a little scare!).

I brought them to Sacramento thinking they'd definitely be done after I put Lil' Guy to bed Friday night (Auntie Irishgirlie forgot how that kid moves!). The exhausted babysitter did not knit on them AT ALL. Then comes the OMG! Notre Dame barely beat San Diego St. game on Saturday where very little knitting took place (too busy cheering/praying?!).

It took some relaxing with friends at Purlescence on Sunday to make some headway! But I finished them last night. And absolutely love them! I took our depraved dyer's suggestion to knit these in a raven color and they look fabulous I think!! And despite the month-long journey (yeap, didn't even finish in time for the last few weeks of summer of socks!), they were easy-peasy!! Love this pattern by Hot Flash!!

Pattern: Sweet Tart Anklet by Marilyn Kaleikilo (part of July's Rockin' Sock Club kit, the pattern, not the yarn)
Yarn: Socks that Rock, lightweight, colorway Valkyrie
Mods: Knit the leg for 5" instead of making them anklets.

Happy Monday!!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

WIP Wednesday: The Craft Gym Edition

Two girls...lots of crafts..and a treadmill. Thank goodness for a 3-day weekend. I wouldn't say its completely done, but boy its at least no longer a junk/storage room!! Just a few finishing touches here and there still needed (our sister-in-law will be down this weekend, she rocks at that!).

The dresser and "pub table" were awesome finds at the local consignment center!

Love the green hutch too...consignment center! And we already had the baskets!

Had to have Rosie in the craft room! And one of my favorite postcards from LittleMy! And the little yarn stash, I suggested to Rowan that it be just a few seasonal decoration colors (she rolled her eyes and said whatever).

Maybe now that my sewing machine isn't hidden away I'll try to make friends with it! I mean look at that stash (oh, yeah, that stash in the drawer rocks too!).



Really only one drawer has some favorite sock yarn. One or two others have all our card/scrapbooking supplies (remember, two girls, lots of crafts....). My sister has already called one of our friends and invited her over for craft day!

I even found some of the cards we made (I won't tell you what part of the closet these were buried in!).

Yay for organization!! But I really missed knitting my socks this past weekend!!

Happy Crafting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits