Spring is Here!

Happy Spring! To be honest, it has almost felt a bit like summer around here the past week or so with the weather in the high 70s! I wouldn't mind a bit more springtime weather...you know, rain maybe? We sure do need it here in California.

Thank you all so much for supporting my St. Patrick's Day sale! You guys are awesome. Just awesome. I hope to see your new projects on the needles soon :)

I have two new designs that I released this week and I wanted to share them a bit more with you. Both were long overdue for a release, so it is nice to have them out in the world.

Glacier Point

This one was cast on last summer on my trip to Yosemite, remember?

Glacier Point provides a spectacular view of Yosemite Valley, Half Dome, and Yosemite Falls. It towers 3,200 feet above the valley floor, and takes about an hour by car to drive up the winding roads from there. I was knitting on this design during my holiday at Yosemite, and glad I was the passenger during some of those steep, zig-zagging curves at the edge of the mountains. The chevron edging in this shawl reminds me of those curves, and the majestic views.

Love love love Anzula Cloud yarn that I used for this design.


Note: Instructions are written for a top-down shawl.  Both charted and written instructions are provided for the chevron edging.

Suggested Yarns: ~ 615 yards total of fingering weight yarn or for 3-colors ~225 yards (Color A), 125 yards (Color B), and 265 yards (Color C) of fingering weight yarn such as Anzula Cloud, A Verb for Keeping Warm Even Tinier Annapurna, Knitted Wit Cashy Lite, The Plucky Knitter Primo Fingering, Bare Naked Wools Stone Soup fingering

Finished measurements: 64” wide and 21” long at center points, after blocking; note that the size may vary depending on the fiber content of the yarn and how rigorously the shawl is blocked

I'm most excited about all the lovely color combinations this one allows for. I can't wait to see what you guys come up with!

A very special thank you to Tracey for her speedy test knitting, Nartian for her awesome tech editing, and Jill Zielinski, aka Knitterella, for photography (don't you love her snowy woods backgroud!!) and graphic design magic! I couldn't have done this without all of your help ladies. Thank you!

My next design features the absolutely lovely Bare Naked Wools Breakfast Blend fingering yarn. When I designed these socks, I wanted a design that was interesting, but also allowed the natural fibers of this yarn to shine a bit. I think this pattern works well for that.

Contorta

Twisty trees. Gnarled branches. The stitch pattern that travels down the center panel of these socks reminded me of just that. When you search "twisty trees" on the internet, you'll find pictures of Corylus avellana 'Contorta'. But don't let the twists fool you, this is a deceptively easy pair of socks to knit!

Notes: Instructions are written for a cuff-down sock.  Chart is provided on the last page.

Yarn: 360-400 yards of fingering weight yarn such as Bare Naked Wools Breakfast Blend fingering, Bare Naked Wools Ghillie fingering, The Plucky Knitter Primo, Anzula Squishy, Madelinetosh Tosh Sock, Knitted Wit Superwash Merino Fingering

Size: adult medium (adult large)

Finished measurements:  7” (7 3/4”) cuff circumference, stretches up to 9 1/2” (10”), 8” (8 1/2”) foot circumference; 6 1/2” approximate leg length

My sister-in-law modeled these for me last year (thanks Sis!) and I don't think Bailey was too impressed :) But she did want to get in on the photo shoot.

To celebrate the first day of spring, both of these patterns are 20% off through the end of March when you use the 
coupon code: spring

 

So I know I've raved about the Bare Naked Wools from Knitspot before, but I finally was able to cast on for Polartorte with Stone Soup Dk. OMG. Amazing. Soft, wooly, squishy, lovely. I just love it.
Ha! I didn't even know today was National Macaron Day (well, in NYC at least) when I took that picture.



A bit more yarn enabling is coming up. Plucky Knitter Bello Worsted. Wow. I love all things plucky...colors, primo, yarn, fun, and had heard such lovely things about Bello. When there was so much of it at Stitches West, well... I couldn't resist. I finally cast on a hat (my new design for Woolgirl's Robert Frost Kit that was just released) with it. Wow. I couldn't put it down.




I cast on at last night's softball game and it just flew off the needles. Hoping to finish it at tomorrow night's game. Yes, spring is here!

Happy Knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

p.s if you see a weird code on the left side of the screen, yeah...I don't know what that's about. Tomorrow is another day.