Just about done..

I just need to finish up my STR version of the sock, and then I'll write up the pattern...but here's a teaser!




Coming Soon!!

Happy almost Friday!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Confession Time

26 days baby. That's right. I'm trying. But I confess, I may have had a little slip. Well, not of the yarny kind. But of the cute fabric bag kind. Piddleloop. They are my downfall. Thank goodness things sell out quickly. They had a quick update yesterday that I just happened to catch and got a little something, fortunately with destash money (doesn't totally count, right?).

But, I probably didn't need it. Considering this is the cute bag I got last time!



I'm a sucker for the doggies (and check out those goodies!) and they were donating part of the proceeds to a local animal shelter! These ladies rock!

Second little confession. I have resisted two Plucky Knitter updates and a Mama Blue one during this yarn fast. Again, maybe not a big deal for some, but for me, yippee! But then, late last night, I clicked on the destash thread of the Plucky Knitter group on ravelry and saw someone was destashing lots and lots of pretties. I was weak. I thought, "Oh!! Its Golightly! I just love that blue! In aran cashmere!! I must have these two skeins! Can I? Can't I?"

And then I looked over to my "I want to knit soon" basket. This is what I saw...



Do you see it?



Look closer. That pretty pretty Tiffany blue....also known as Golightly. OMG! How could I have forgotten that I already have this in my stash! And guess how many skeins I have of it...

FOUR!!!


Seriously, this yarn fast is just fine for me. An appropriate penance :)

Happy Stashbusting!!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Sweet Saturday

My relaxing Saturday included...

Receiving my Woolgirl April Sock Club shipment...beware spoiler pictures below..

Designing a new sock....love sportweight! It just flies off the needles! This is The Plucky Knitter Merino Cashmere Nylon sport, colorway Early Light.




Hanging out with these two cuties...


Puddles


Bailey

Watching this fabulous movie...

Oh, and that Woolgirl package...


I still can't believe how fabulous this kit is! I had even looked at spoilers, but was still surprised!


The yarn is Curious Creeks Wasogna, which I've never tried, in a gorgeous colorway! I'll definitely be casting this on soon, along with the awesome Anne Hanson pattern! Thanks Woolgirl!


My sweet Saturday is still lingering today! Yay for relaxing weekends! Hope yours is too!

Happy Weekend!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Can you believe...

... it has been 21 days since I last bought yarn!! No biggie for some, but for this Irishgirlie, it is progress.

... until this past Wednesday evening when I finished my Shawl that Jazz (thank you all for the love by the way!), it had been 9 days since I had last knit on a sock. No biggie for some, but for this Irishgirlie, it was weird.

So what did I do? Late Wednesday evening, I cast on a Monkey sock.


Hazel Knits Artisan Sock, colorway Chuckanut Drive



There wasn't a lot of progress made yesterday because this lil' guy spent the night.



Can you believe how cute he is?!! And how crazy his auntie is to make him hold up the sock!

Happy Friday!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Shawl that Jazz!

I'll admit it. I'm not really a shawl kinda girl. But I love this.


I'm most likely to wear this wrapped up on the couch reading a good book, but I love it!


I love everything about it. The simplicity of the garter stitch. The gorgeous LSS yarn. The fact that it reminds me of friends and camp. The use of stash yarn. The focused let's see what happens when I focus on knitting absolutely just one thing. The shawl itself.


I love it so much that my sister took these pictures before I blocked the shawl. It grew. A lot. Silk. Good to know.

Pattern: Shawl that Jazz by Samantha Roshak
Yarn: 2 skeins of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Luscious Single Silk (LSS), colorway Bella Coola
Needles: US 8 and US 10
Started: April 13, 2009
Finished: April 22, 2009


Now bring on the socks!
Happy Almost Friday!!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

My Apologies

Dear LSS,

Please accept my sincerest apologies. I don't know why I left you untouched in my stash for so long.

When I brought my first skeins of you home, I declared how much I loved you! And yet, I did not knit you. But I quickly got more of you, like these two pretty skeins of Bella Coola, perfect souvenirs from a very special barn visit. And more of you just recently at camp.



I don't know why I waited so long. I'll admit, I thought maybe you were just too pretty to knit. Maybe I would make that gorgeous silk all fuzzy. But that has not happened.



No, instead, I've been entranced by the absolute lusciousness that you create (hey, that's probably why you are called Luscious Single Silk, huh?). The vibrant color, the perfect stitches, the fabulous pattern. All I can say is that I am sorry I have neglected you for so long.


I think I have picked the perfect pattern for you. And I haven't been able to put you down since I cast on. Seriously, I haven't even touched a sock all week! That says a lot.

And I'm soooooo glad that I have more of you waiting in my stash. I will not neglect you again!

Sincerely,
Irishgirlieknits

Fall in Love Fridays: Sunkissed Sands

The shores of Port Ludlow were not quite sunkissed when we were there.



But I still couldn't resist purchasing these 2 skeins of BMFA LSS in Sunkissed Sands as my final sock camp purchase.



Anemone kissed sands was a bit more like it....



Amazing!!!



These two skeins will be the last stash additions for awhile. So I really will be falling in love with my stash on Fridays! (Hi. My name is Irishgirlie and its been two weeks since my last yarn purchase.)



And if you really want to see sunkissed sands, click here.

Happy Friday!!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

It has been eleven days....

...and I still miss sock camp.

Horribly.

Most likely because I miss all my friends....both new and old...


















Thank you for indulging me in my stroll down memory lane.

Okay.....I feel a little bit better now.

How many days til sock summit??

Hugs!!!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Endless Possibilities!

Maybe not endless but it sure does feel that way! You know, when you stay focused and finish up a few projects and you can cast on just about anything you have so many needles free?! Well, that's how I'm feeling today!

With Lil' Guy's birthday sweater vest done, the pressure knitting is done for awhile. Plus, right after the holidays I always have birthday knitting, Stitches projects, camp homework, the list goes on and on.

And in finishing my new super secret Cat Bordhi socks from camp last night, well, I feel like the possibilities are endless!!!





Socks that Rock mediumweight, colorway Rare Gems (gorgeous!!!)

I even realized that a few of my lingering UFOs, that I had absolutely no desire to knit on, were headed towards the frog pond. Yay!! That means more needles free, more yarn, and more empty project bags!!



So what shall I cast on......


Maybe Rogue Roses....




Maybe something from Cookie A's new book.....



Sock Innovation: Knitting Techniques & Patterns for One-of-a-Kind Socks (love love love this book!!! If you don't already have it, what are you waiting for!?!?!?!?)



I could even use one of these pretty rare gems from sock camp.



Maybe I'll cast on Shawl that Jazz.....



What are you just dying to cast on??

Happy Casting On!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Happy Easter!

I think this was Lil' Guy's 3rd Easter Egg Hunt of the weekend, but he was having plenty of fun this morning!


And getting quite good at finding eggs!


Hey, check out his new sweater vest! Its a belated birthday gift from Auntie Irishgirlie. Its another Bob Vest made out of Rowan handknit cotton. Last year's was a bit small so this year, I aimed for a bit big!


His mommy liked it!


We also celebrated my GreatAunt Mimi's 84th birthday yesterday!! It was a great weekend!


Yeap. These pretties have nothing to do with Easter! Well, unless she is the Easter Bunny with her mad dye skills! A few goodies from Camp!!

Happy Easter!!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Don't be deceived...

Yes, I finished two pairs of socks this past week. But really, its not because I was at sock camp! I thought both of these would quickly be finished the weekend before Sock Camp in Seattle. But no. Then I thought, they'll be finished at camp at least. But no. Technically, one was finished on the plane ride home. The other one, yesterday.


Any Camp Crow's Feet campers remember this project? In packing for sock camp I came across the beginnings of my "Sock Scarf" from class last year. Five different skeins of STR, each adding another color to the last one. I decided to make plain vanilla socks instead of the scarf. Yay for finding very old projects in the closet and finishing them!


These are definitely my camp socks!


I also finished my Spring Forwards. In the lovely Plucky Knitter Merino Cashmere Nylon, colorway Bobbysocks!


My third pair of Spring Forwards, but my first pair for me! Yay! Love them!


I have to admit, it was hard reentering reality today. So I changed my desktop at work to look like this.......



Awww.....sock camp.....

Happy Monday!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Camp Antics

I'm home. I miss camp. Its so hard to describe what an amazing week it was! Stephanie's recent post sums it up better than I can....friends, community, knitting, learning, color, yarn, being a part of something that you just love, setting, all of it!

I have lots of pictures to show you, but I've got to show you a bit from our camp antics!

Every evening they planned "camp antics" for us..movie night, knitting jeopardy, a scavenger hunt that included things like....



Getting a photo of Stephen and his jazz hands. I'm saving the video for a day where we all need a pick-me up!!


A picture of your tribe doing a yoga pose with Nathania, who taught yoga classes for us everyday! The Peekytoes was definitely the best tribe at camp!


Now if only "picture of Nathania in a sexy pose with her new devine sweater" was on the list...we would have won!


They also needed a picture of our tribe in the bathtub!


Here's one with me in it too!


We had to find good beer....for these two!

Talk about some serious fun!!!


And then Friday night we all revealed our "homework!" Here's what my fabulous roomies and I came up with.....Goldisocks & the 3 sea creatures!!



I made all the little socks for Goldi....once this california crab washed ashore in Port Ludlow, she was cold and had to search for the perfect socks....not Tofutsies, not acrylic, but STR was just right! We even made a children's story with pictures and all! Cupcakefaerie made Goldi, SnB Leslie the sea anemone, and Cheekyattitude the Sea Horse. Oh, and Goddess Rosie the Sea Monkey made a special guest appearance!


The roomies.... SnBLeslie, Cheekyattitude, Me, Cupcakefaerie

My first sock for Cat Bordhi's new super secret sock architecture was just about done.


And here are my very first ever handdyed sock yarns!!


Love.


Love.

Seriously awesome week!!! I miss everyone already!!

Happy Knitting!!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Good Morning Eagles!

Look who joined us for breakfast.







It is absolutely gorgeous here in the Pacific Northwest.

And I'm loving the new camera Dad!! We picked a good one!

Happy Camping!!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

No Joke.

Today we did this.




With her. Seriously.



I mean, if you're going to learn to dye yarn for the first time, who else would you want to learn from?! And what other yarn would you want to use?!!


The above picture is Tina's yarn. Go check out CheekyAttitude's awesome pictures of the process!

The one below is my first skein of yarn that I ever dyed.



I think I'm hooked.

Today was a good day. I'll admit, it was a freaking fabulous day!


Oh, and since tomorrow I'll still be at camp, and Lil' Guy will be celebrating his 2nd birthday...

Happy Birthday Lil' Guy!!!



Happy Camping!!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits