A Good Time Was Had By All at Stitches West

A Verb for Keeping Warm booth at Stitches West

Stitches West was a blast as always. It is always so much fun to see people and share stories of our knitterly year. I didn't get to see Irish Girlie at her Anzula signing because I was in class all day Friday. I know she had a blast though, so be looking for a posting from her.

I took a nuno felted scarf class on Friday and got quite a work out. If you're not familiar with the process (I only had superficial knowledge), the scarf starts with a base of silk upon which tufts of wool is added and then manipulated. The fibers work their way through the porous silk weave to lock into place. In order to get them to adhere you have to roll and roll and roll everything together.

 The before felting (left) and finished nuno felted scarf (right). My arms are still sore from all the rolling and manipulating of the fiber. Well worth it though, I think I'll be trying this again on my own.

Thanks to Irish Girlie who braved the crowded booth for me, I was able to score some of the coveted Yoth Yarns gradients on a stick.  I could just eat it up - so yummy. What is it about things on a stick that we Americans love so much?

I also fell in love with a Miss Babs gradient set. I'm a bit late to the gradient love. I wasn't sold until I saw the yarns and some gorgeously knitted items in person that I made the big purchase.

I'm not sure what patterns I'll use them for, any ideas? Maybe a Ring of Kerry - that would be pretty.
What would you knit?
Tricia (@cheekyattitude)

Still time left on the Birthday Month Sale!

6 Things I've been wanting to tell you.

1) Stitches West is here! Which means a weekend of friends, fun, knitting, and yarn. And this year, a group of us are staying at a hotel and we have a suite of rooms and it really feels like a vacation! Saturday is spa day too!

2) Lots has been happening since I last checked in. First, thank you Padraig and Erica and everyone else for the lovely birthday wishes last week. I had a great birthday (still thinking about the birthday bread pudding from Town).

3) Then there was Valentine's Day, and Magpie was pretty much the sweetest Valentine!

I'll be honest....this one kinda cracked me up!

Boys stink...I know Magpie.

4) Let's not forget about my other two favorite Valentines.

5) I try not to take the gorgeous city I live near for granted.

6) I released a new design yesterday!!! Ring of Kerry is an infinity scarf that uses either 2 or 3 colors of aran weight yarn (which means it is a quick knit!!!). 

If you are at Stitches West today, come stop by Anzula's booth from 12-2pm and I'll even help you pick out yarn for your very own!

Happy Friday!

xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Exciting Stitches West News!

Irish Girlie will be at a "meet the designer" event in the Anzula Booth at Stitches West this Friday between 12 noon and 2pm. Come by and say "Hi!" and check out the IGK patterns knit with Anzula's lovely yarns.

Including...  "Ring of Kerry" a new pattern that is just getting some finishing touches! ETA: Pattern now available!!  

And there is still plenty of time to take advantage of the Birthday Month Sale!

Winner!

Congratulations to Meg, winner of a copy of Sock-yarn Shawls II by Jen Lucas!

Meg, you will receive an email shortly at the address you provided.

Thanks so much to everyone who participated - it was great seeing all the love for Jen's designs.


It's Irish Girlie's Birthday month and still plenty of time to get in on the discounted patterns!

Happy Knitting!
Tricia (cheekyattitude)

Happy Birthday IGK!

SPECIAL GUEST BLOG POST

Welcome to the start of something new - a guest blogger from time to time. I thought it would be fun to kick off this series today, giving Irish Girlie an extra special birthday treat - a day off of  blogging! And hopefully lots of extra knitting time! I chatted with Irish Girlie's knitting friend Erica and she was super excited to start the fun! 
Enjoy, 
Tricia

I  pondered about what I could talk about today. I had all kinds of ideas about IGK's favorite things. Then it hit me! I could take an afternoon celebrating her with my lil man and document our adventure. He loves Auntie Irishgirlie



and loves birthday celebrations!

I buckled him into his car seat and whispered in his ear, "we're going out for cupcakes". He was beside himself. All the way to Royal Oak he chanted "cupcakes, cupcakes"! We walked inside Taste Love Cupcakes and it was like they knew a 2 1/2 year old with a pancake obsession would be stopping by.

Flavor of the day - Chocolate Chip Pancake. He had no idea his two favorite things could be morphed together. We ordered Chocolate Salted Caramel for Auntie.

Padraig slid over her chocolate cupcake to the empty seat next to him.



I told him Auntie wouldn't be coming, but we could talk about her and sing to her. He immediately chanted "Let's Go Irish"! Isn't that a hoot!? It wasn't Happy Birthday, but I knew it would melt Irishgirlie's heart. We dove into our cupcakes and happily chanted "Let's Go Irish" between every bite!

Happy Birthday IGK! I hope today is filled with baked goods and laughs and Irish-themed music. Even if it's a cheer you would hear at a Notre Dame football game. Mwah from us!



To keep the birthday fun going, let's leave LOTS of comments on this post so when Irishgirlie's home tonight knitting and relaxing she'll have lots of fun birthday wishes to read! Cheers to virtual presents!

Just a reminder... Irish Girlie Knits patterns are 20% off in honor of birthday month!



You can browse her catalog of patterns here. I suggest Keegan if you want a quick, cute knit. My mom knit Padraig another one last week!

The design has such a generous fit due to its construction. The largest size on the pattern still fits a toddler!

Another reminder...don't forget to enter Tricia's contest here. You have until February 12 for a chance to win!

Happy Birthday IGK and Happy Knitting on your new Anzula design!
Erica (kzooerica on ravelry)

Thank Goodness for Netflix

And Anzula's lovely new Cole Yarn, silk and camel. Divine.





Because I'm on a self-imposed deadline and was busy knitting all weekend. Back to work. Let's see if this will be done on time.

What's on your needles?
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Interview with Knitwear Designer Jen Lucas

Hello everyone - I have quite a treat for you all. On Monday I interviewed Jen Lucas author of "Sock-Yarn Shawls: 15 Lacy Knitted Shawl Patterns and Sock-Yarn Shawls II: 16 Patterns for Lace Knitting." You can listen to it below or download the file here.

Enter to win a copy of "Sock-Yarn Shawls II: 16 Patterns for Lace Knitting" (provided by Jen Lucas) by leaving a comment with your contact information under this post by February 12th, 2015.

Thank you for listening!
Tricia

P.S.  I apologize in advance for the sound quality, I've done my best to clean it up. It was my first time recording an interview.

Jen Lucas blogs at Knitting Like Crazy and you can connect with her on Ravelry, Pinterest, and Twitter.

Good things.

And just like that the first month of 2015 is complete. Lots of ups and downs here this month, but this post is focusing on lots of good things that I've been wanting to share with you (including a sale if you get to the end)! So let's get started.

{knitting patterns}

photo courtesy of French Press Knits

Merriment Bonnet

Is that not the sweetest little bonnet on the most precious face? I love Melynda from French Press Knits and watched in amazement as she designed and knit a baby stocking for her new daughter, all via Instagram over the holidays. And then of course she needed a sweater to match. And a hat. And all lickety-split, easy-peasy. Oh, and then she wrote a pattern for us to download (quick, it might still be free).

I'll admit, between her and Knitterella's lovely graphic patterns, that's why I've been inspired to finally try colorwork. Well, that and Plucky Knitter's new collection.

All Bundled Up

If you haven't had a chance to peruse The Plucky Knitter's All Bundled Up Collection, grab a cuppa and sit back and enjoy. It is amazing! I want to knit just about everything in there. Seriously.





As you know, I couldn't resist casting on Amaryllis, by Amy Miiller. I just loved knitting this hat and look forward to knitting it again. Don't worry, I didn't give it to Alexis, she's just modeling it for me at knit night.

Another fabulous collection, 54 Rue du Chateau, featuring seven lovely shawls that traveled between six talented designers who contributed to each shawl. They also each used lovely yarn from A Verb for Keeping Warm. A perfect combination. You can read more about it here too.

{other knitting stuff}

Many of you follow Neuroknitter over at We Heart Yarn already, but if you don't you're in for a treat if you love pretty pictures of knitting and macarons and coffee and treats and kitties. And picots. And then there are the pictures of leaves and snow and more leaves. When Gail finally announced her etsy shop was open with new calendars, I was so excited! Click over and see what she has. They are gorgeous! I just can't wait until she starts selling notecards.


{food stuff}

I've been a bit addicted to everything ginger and gingerbread since december. It hasn't gone away. If you love gingersnaps then you must try these.

Miette gingersnaps



In Jennie's Kitchen Simple Scratch Cooking- I've enjoyed both the fall and winter editions. The winter edition I loved the chewy oatmeal and walnut allspice cookies, gingerbread and chocolate streusel coffee cake (Christmas Eve morning treat), and the chocolate gingersnap cookies.


{books}

Tana French's The Secret Place (Dublin Murder Squad Series)- This was my favorite of Tana French's books! And I love listening to her books as audiobooks for the lovely Irish accents (yes, I'm a sucker for an Irish brogue). Same if a book has British accents. Any audiobooks you'd recommend for that reason?

Yes Please!- Another book that I would definitely recommend to listen to because of the narrator. Amy Poehler's autobiography really is laugh-out-loud funny and exactly what I need to be listening too right now. I'm only a few hours in, but love it!

Onto the knitting books.....

A few new releases by favorite designers of mine that I'm fortunate to have as colleagues in this designing business. We'll be doing reviews on these books in the next few weeks, but wanted to point them out to you in case you are like me and want to know all about the new releases right away.

Dress-to-Impress Knitted Scarves by Pam Powers - I heard all about Pam's book last year when we shared a booth at TNNA. It is so exciting to see it come to fruition. Her designs are gorgeous!

Sock Yarn Shawls II by Jen Lucas- Congratulation Jen on another fabulous book! These shawls are stunning too. That's two books in two years! You go girl.

Bake Knit Sew by Evin Bail O'Keefe - I'll be honest. I ordered this as a Christmas gift for myself on a whim. I follow Evin on Instagram (she's an American living in Ireland, how can I not follow her, right?) and thought it might be fun to get it. Well, it was one of my favorite holiday gifts. I just love it! Probably because it covers a bit of all of my favorite hobbies/crafts...baking, knitting, and someday......sewing!

Just look at that cover! I so want to knit that tea cozy.



The first recipe I tried was the Orange Honey cake and it was amazing. Warm milk and honey....how can a recipe go wrong?! I've made it twice since (by request!).


{tv time}

On Netflix- Go watch The Fall (Season 2 just came out!), Politician's Husband (Emily Watson and David Tennant.... I hadn't seen it before and quite enjoyed it), Honorable Woman (loved it!!), Happy Valley (definitely not a happy valley, but soooo good)

Downton Abbey!!!!



Why yes, my sister and I may have spent most of the day finishing the rest of Season 5 today! I have to say, I really enjoyed the rest of the season (haven't loved it so far, except for the lovely decadent constumes). No spoilers from me, but it was a lovely day today!


{the sale}

February always seems to be a celebratory month around here. Birthday month between my birthday....my dad's, my sister's. Then there is Valentine's Day, Mardi Gras, Stitches West, which is one big party as you know! So this year, we are celebrating all month long with an Irish Girlie Knits pattern sale!!!

That's right! 20% off all IGK patterns all month long, no coupon necessary. Sounds like a perfect excuse to come join our IGK KAL over in the ravelry group.

Now here's my other favorite part....hearing your favorite things? Any new patterns I should queue up? Any new audiobooks I should try? Movies? Patterns?

Happy February!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits