Was it just a week ago?

...that I was at STITCHES Midwest? Hard to believe. This week kicked my butt back into reality bigtime, so it is nice to be able to take a moment to relive last week's fun.

Hanging out in the Kollage Yarns' booth was so much fun!


On Friday, Kathy Zimmerman was demonstrating cables (see her cute scarf...yes, she whipped that up just a day or two before Stitches!).


Franklin Habit stopped by the booth Friday too. Of course, I missed that (I think I was doing some yarn shopping....)! Thanks Erica for letting me borrow the photo.



And here I am having Sandi Rosner sign my pattern of the Four Seasons Wrap. I fell in love with this at the fashion show!





Isn't it gorgeous?! And I think it would be a quick knit! Erica and I are thinking KAL....anyone else?



After the fashion show, SomeBunnysLove hosted the Pajama Party in the hotel lobby! So fun to just hang out and knit! Well, that is where I stayed until 3am trying to finish my Bellingrath for the next morning!



Benjamin had the cutest slippers I thought!

And then came Saturday, my meet and greet day! It was so fun meeting other knitters!







I especially loved meeting Molly (aka MHardersen on ravelry)! It is so nice to meet people who read the blog! I can't wait to see her Bellingrath knit out of Sock-a-licious Heather!

And yes, I know I need to show you some of my yummy yarn purchases....but I haven't been home this week when the sun was still out! So hopefully this weekend!

But, I can announce the winner of the Knitterella contest! Thank you for all the entries! The lucky winner is.....

GypsyKnits

Congratulations! Email me at irishgirlieknits AT gmail DOT com your address and I'll get the cards out to you next week! Thank you again Knitterella for donating the prize too.

I promise....yarn pictures and more contests soon! Until then..

Happy Weekend!

xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Wordless Wednesday

Treats.....

Thank you Erica for the yummy Yappy Meal treats!

xoxo Bailey & Puddles

P.S. Not to late to enter my contest here. And another contest here to win yarn and a copy of Bellingrath!! More STITCHES pictures tomorrow too!

STITCHES Fun!

I have so much to share about Stitches Midwest, but I really need to catch up on sleep tonight before the reality of going back to work sets in, so I'm going to break this out over a couple of posts! There will be prizes though, so bear with me!

Friday was a fabulous day! My friends Thayer and Cheryl flew back to Chicago for a visit home and a day at Stitches Midwest! It was too fun having Thayer (my gorgeous model, btw!) there with the debut of Bellingrath.


We may have gotten a bit silly!


Susie, the fabulous woman behind Kollage Yarns, loved meeting her too!



Cheryl, me, Thayer, and Angela

Being from Chicago, Thayer and Cheryl insisted we have Portillos for lunch. And I'm so glad they did insist! Yummy!! It was delicious!


Their Italian Beef sandwich was soooooooooooo good! Thank goodness I don't live there!

After lunch it was back to shopping!



I loved Jennie the Potter's booth! Her yarn bowls, mugs, buttons, all of it are too cute and it was so nice to be able to hang out and chat with her for a bit too! Guess what?! She's planning to come to Stitches West next year! Start saving your pennies :) Or if you can't wait, she does have an Etsy shop.




I couldn't resist the necklace that matched my new Bellingrath just perfectly!



Erica, Melynda, Jill, and Allegra

Erica also introduced me to Melynda (of French Press Knits fame!), Jill (Knitterella fame!), and Allegra (from Petite Purls!). We all had so much fun and it was so nice to be able to talk to other knitters who are branching out in the industry side of knitting! Hanging out with them just made me more excited to keep up the designing! I even asked Jill if she would consider doing a proper logo for me (her graphics are fabulous....she did logos for Plucky Knitter and Through the Loops, just to name a few!).

And since I know you'll ask (I did!), Allegra's sweater is a Women's version of her adorable baby sweater Boheme and it is knit out of BMFA DeVine (love love love that yarn!). She's planning to release the pattern soon! I can't wait to knit it! Along with a pair of French Press slippers too! Seriously, my queue of patterns grew over the weekend!




Jill was kind enough to donate a few Knitterella cards and tags as a prize for one lucky winner too! I love her cards and tags (and she will have notepads soon too! I got one of those for me!). Just leave a comment and I'll pick a winner in the next few days!

And I've extended the sale on Sweet Home for a few more days :)

Now I need to go unpack. And wind some new yarn. Don't let this post fool you. There was definitely yarn shopping! I'll show you soon!

Happy knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Favorites so far from STITCHES!

Wow! It has been a whirlwind few days here at Stitches Midwest! I have lots to tell you, but I need to get a few hours sleep (since last night was practically an all-nighter finishing my own Bellingrath to wear today!).

I have to share a few pictures from the Fashion Show last night because, well, it was awesome! Crazy fun! I haven't been to the Fashion Show before so I had no idea what to expect, and then to have my design in it, it was too much. These aren't even my pictures because mine came out too blurry (I'm pretty sure I was shaking!). Thanks Erica!

I should design something for a guy next year, don't you think?

I was so impressed with how they styled all the models for the show and have more fun pictures to share! Benjamin and the crew at XRX did a great job!

Bellingrath Shawlette, Kollage Yarns Sock-a-licious colorway Blue Mist (this one I get to keep!)

Today was my pattern signing! Another exciting day! My friend Jen and I finally met in person (Jen of Piddleloop fame is to blame for my knitting bag problem!). I met lots of people and tried to take lots of pictures.

More pictures to come! Thank you all again for being so supportive, especially the twitter comments today when I was a wee bit nervous I'd be alone in the booth :) Reminder that Sweet Home is on sale still!

Happy Stitches!!

xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Priority Packing

Well, the yarn is wound.


top to bottom: Plucky Primo in Headboard, Sock-a-licious in Blush, Sanquine Gryphon Bugga, BMFA STR in KMBFLA

Yes, as always, I think I can knit 3 pairs of socks and a shawlette in 5 days.



And finish my second Bellingrath Shawlette! Thank you all SO much for the Bellingrath love! I'm so glad you all like it as much as I do :)



Oh, and yes, a pair of Bellingrath Socks for me. In Bugga, colorway Nightcrawler. Yummy.

I am so excited to be attending Stitches Midwest for the first time and to be part of Kollage's design team! Plus, yesterday the Yarn Harlot finished her gorgeous Cotty socks and it has been so fun to see the hearts for Cotty on Ravelry jump up! So, I thought a sale was in order!

Sweet Home will be on sale for $4 today through Monday 8/23!



I really do appreciate all of you and your support you've shown me as I'm growing as a knitter and designer! I heart you guys!

I hope to blog from Stitches and have a contest while I'm gone too! Come back for details! Oh, and if you are on twitter, I'm irishgirlieknit over there if you want to follow the fun!


Now I need to go pack some clothes :)

Happy Knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Bellingrath

I've been to Alabama just once. Over 10 years ago, I was visiting my bestest friend in the whole world, who was living in Biloxi, Mississippi at the time. She suggested that instead of going to New Orleans again (I was thinking more along the lines of why wouldn't we go back to NOLA?), we should go to Mobile, Alabama for the day. And so we did. Little did we know that pretty much nothing would be open in Mobile on a summer weekend when almost everyone was at the coast instead. I was underwhelmed. However, on the drive back we stopped at the beautiful Bellingrath Gardens and it made the day worth it (well, almost. I remember still wishing for beignets). The gardens were beautiful!

This shawlette and sock design, Bellingrath, was inspired by both those lovely gardens and the perfect Blush color yarn, Sock-a-licious, from Kollage Yarns in Alabama.

Introducing Bellingrath......

















The shawlette. One skein, gotta love that!

And I just have to say, my model and photographer....LOVE THEM! I really have some of the best friends a knitter could have. Ilikecake (you may know her by her gorgeous sock designs) worked the runway (well, garden in this case) while Cheekyattitude worked her magic behind the camera (you can check out more shawlette pictures here).

The socks feature the same lace edging and panel. I'm pretty tickled with how that works :) They are modeled perfectly by Cupcakefaerie! Again, what would I do without my friends.

The best part is that these two great projects are available in one pattern! It'll be debuting at the Stitches Midwest Fashion Show (squee!!!), kits will be for sale in the Great Yarns Booth and the Kollage Yarns Booth, and I'll be signing the pattern in Kollage's Booth on Saturday! Please stop by to say hi :)

But if you want to cast on right now, or can't make it to Stitches Midwest, Patternfish is carrying the pattern and you can download it now here (I am just so excited!).

You know the saying about it takes a village? Well, this design will always be very special for me. It really has taken a village. Erica for challenging me to this creative process (a shawlette? sure, no problem, never knit one, let alone design one....in five weeks...no problem!). Thayer and Terry for modeling. Tricia for her gorgeous photos. And my two awesome, who knits as fast as them, test knitters, Manda and Madeleine (I practically cried with relief when they agreed to test knit under very very tight deadlines). Of course, Susie from Kollage for giving me this exciting opportunity!

Now that the secret project is out, I can't wait to get back to showing you all what else I'm working on. Come back this week for more knitting, a pattern sale (yay!), and a contest or two!

Happy Knitting!

xoxo IrishgirlieKnits

Happy Birthday!

Lil' Snowboarder turned 7 today!



She had a fabulous day!



Happy Birthday Princess!
xoxo IrishgirlieKnits

Almost Friday!

Puddles, staring at something in her cute pink bandana

Phew! It has been quite a busy week, and it looks like the next week or two are going to be even busier. Let's see if I can make a list of just a few things that will be happening....

1) 7 more sleeps til Stitches Midwest!! Yay! This of course brings on a whole other list of to-do's such as what knitting to pack, clothes to pack, how much room do I leave for yarn?, laundry, etc.

2) Taking 3 days off of work for vacation always seems to equal 3 extra days of work packed into the week before. The first few days of work next week are going to be crazy long. Long. Long.

3) One little cutie princess is turning 7 on Sunday! Bounce House birthday party this weekend is going to be her first party-party with kids from her class, family, etc. Her question tonight at dinner, "Wait. When will I get the presents?" Oh goodness.

4) Cupcakes shall be made this weekend. Lots of cupcakes. Cupcakes for the party, cupcakes for school.... well, and a cupcake or two for the maker of the cupcakes to eat, right? I'm still wavering between yummy homemade ones for the grown-ups at the party, or the from the box kind. Definitely from the box for school. I think it all is going to depend on when I have time to fit in a mani-pedi.

5) Knitting. So much knitting, so little time :) The pressure of Bellingrath is done! The pattern should be released very very soon and online too (before Stitches hopefully!). It is so nice to be knitting on whatever I want right now. Of course, that means I'm knitting my own Bellingrath Shawlette as the one I designed will be a sample that I have to give to Kollage. I think that is the hardest part of designing....sending the finished knits off....



But my shawlette will be this gorgeous blue skein of Sock-a-licious, so I'm quite happy.

6) Stephanie is further along on her Cotty socks then I am. I still haven't decided which color to use, plus now I'm thinking of using this gorgeous handspun that Thayer spun for me.



After all, it is named Fightin' Irish, and with just a few weeks left until Notre Dame kicks off their season...well, maybe I need some good luck socks this year! Seriously can't wait for football season to start!

7) I'm very certain I'm forgetting things for my list. It is going to be that kind of week.

Hope you all have exciting plans for the weekend!!!

Happy almost Friday!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Already?

How can the weekend be over already? A quick trip up to Reno to visit my great-aunt Mimi this weekend, but now I'm home watching Mad Men (one nice thing about Sunday nights).

My sister told me about a cupcake shop in Reno that I hadn't been to, so of course, that was the first stop Friday. Just about the cutest cupcake shop!

Batch Cupcakery...quite yummy cupcakes, so I'm sure we'll be back. That pink one, Pretty in Pink, was my favorite (its a pink champagne cupcake!).

When I returned home, this awesome package was waiting for me! My Piddleloop bag arrived, along with lots of goodies for Lil' Snowboarder, Bailey & Puddles! Thank you Jen! You spoil us! I switched over my project (Simple Things Shawlette in Plucky Knitter MCN) right away!

And, I'll enable all of you...Piddleloop is having a sale (I believe it is 15% off until Tuesday...refund is given after purchase, see thread here). I'm so excited that I'll get to meet Jen at Stitches Midwest!! yay!!

And thank you all for the congratulations on my exciting news about Stitches Midwest! On my drive home today I realized it is just about 10 days away...eek!!! I hope to be able to show you pictures later this week of the socks and shawlette (and I think they'll be available for purchase online too!).

Here's to a great week ahead!

xoxo Irishgirlieknits