A Few Favorite Things

Thank you all so much for your thoughtful responses to my cast-on question. Thanks to you, I'm using a cable cast-on to do the longer version of Pont Neuf, December's IGK Pattern of the month. It seems a good choice for a large number of stitches.

      

But the shorter cowl is nice too don't you think.

Irish Girlie's list of Cyber-Monday deals got me thinking about my own favorite things for knitters:

I'm a sucker for cute project bags and A Needle Runs Through It always has fun fabrics.

Did you see "Big Sky," new yarn from A Verb for Keeping Warm? It looks so lovely and lofty:

This row-counter stitch marker is genius! I have two and when I pick up projects, I immediately know which row to start back up on.

You can get them from the Knitifacts Etsy Shop


And a new favorite is coming soon to the Irish Girlie Designs collection.




 A seriously swoon worthy design I got a sneak peak at during a photo session today.

Keep a lookout for its release as well as some upcoming specials because it is BLOGAVERSARY Time!

I'd love to hear about any of your favorite knitterly things.
 

Spring Awakening

It's not just one of my favorite musicals.



Which by the way is going to be made into a movie.

It's this time of year where it is so nice to sit knitting at a softball game at 7pm, but still be a bit chilly. April showers, spring flowers. A bit more daylight. A bit more energy.

And with the transition of the seasons, you also need those transitional knits....cowls, scarves, hats. I've got a few new ones to share with you!

Sluggy





Designed with the lovely Shalimar Yarns Homage DK, this hat was originally designed to celebrate ShaliMarch. But what the heck, we can still knit with Shalimar in April, right?



My favorite thing about this design is that it looks great on the whole family.



Lil' Snowboarder is modeling the same hat as her dad, but it has a slouchier fit on her. I think he wants another knit in the large size too now.





Awwww....little Magpie looks so sweet in her hat, don't you think? I know, I know. I'm a biased auntie.


 Her hat is knit with Big Bad Wool's Weepaca yarn. This yarn is Ah-mazing! I just love how soft it is.


Notes: Instructions are written for a multiple-sized, slouchy hat. If a slouchier hat is preferred, you can either work the body of hat until desired length or go up a needle size for the body of hat. Modifications will require more yardage. Charts are provided.

                                                                                                              

Suggested Yarns: ~95 (140, 170, 200) yards of dk/light worsted weight yarn such as Shalimar Yarns Homage DK, Big Bad Wool Weepaca, The Plucky Knitter Bello Worsted, Bare Naked Wools Stone Soup DK

I can't wait to knit another one of these for me!

FYI, Sluggy is on sale through April 15, for $5.00 and then will retail for $6.00 

The other design available this week is Seamus.





A special thank you to Disco who knit this sample up quickly in the new Bare Naked Wools Confection. I'll admit, I was a bit jealous she was able to knit with this lovely yarn. But at least I get to wear this lovely infinity scarf. I just love this combination of cables and yarn.



I knit the smaller cowl version with one skein of A Verb for Keeping Warm Pioneer. Another lovely, gorgeous yarn.

This cabled infinity scarf or cowl is the perfect beginner project for learning cables, as there are only five rounds of cables. It is also perfect to show off that special skein you’ve wanted to cast on. Cables and worsted weight yarn makes this a quick knit!

Pattern Notes: Instructions are written for two sizes, a cowl and an infinity scarf, knit in the round. Written for cowl with instructions for infinity scarf given in parentheses if different. Charts are provided on the back page.

Suggested Yarns: 165 (370) yards of heavy worsted weight yarn such as Bare Naked Wools Confection, Anzula For Better or Worsted, A Verb for Keeping Warm Pioneer, Kolláge Yarns Fantastic, The Plucky Knitter Rustic, Brooklyn Tweed Shelter

 



Jill Zielinski, aka Knitterella, did an excellent job on the photo shoot (isn't her cousin Dani gorgeous?!!). Thanks Jill! I feel for her a bit with all that snow though.

Seamus is also on sale through April 15 for $5.00 (then retails for $6.00).

I also released Snow Plants this week, the shawl I designed for A Verb for Keeping Warm's Pro-Verbial Club. I'll be blogging more about this pattern, but did want to let you know it is available and on sale!





It is definitely springtime with all of these new designs. Three in one week! When it rains, it pours.

A few more quick announcements....

If you are in the LA area this weekend, then hopefully you already know about the LA Yarn Crawl, April 3-6.



Please be sure to stop by Knit Culture Studio to see some of my designs that are there for a trunk show. I love that they've picked some of their favorite designs from a number of designers to put together a pretty amazing trunk show. Plus, check out this gorgeous design that Hilary, the Yarniad, designed for them this weekend. Gorgeous!

The other announcement is that the Irish Girlie Knits Ravelry Group has picked our next KAL. Wish I Might and any other Stripey IGK patterns! Come join us for the fun (oh, and there is a coupon code there too!).

And with that, I think I better get to bed. Phew. I'd love to hear how your spring has been going? Any exciting plans for the weekend?

Happy Friday!!Happy Spring!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

A weekend of celebrating!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! We started celebrating this weekend- baking Soda Bread, watching Darby O'Gill and the Little People, playing Irish music all day. I think I love this holiday because it brings back such fond memories of my childhood and grandparents and St. Patrick's Day parades and Irish Dancing and family. There was lots of family time this weekend.



What a happy smile Magpie has! I just love her to bits! It is ridiculous the amounts of photos I have of her because every time I see her she is changing. And the baby coooing....I love the reciprocity when I coo, she coos. So sweet!



Haha! Here she is modeling for Keegan.Those socks are coming off if she has her way. Too funny!

There was time for knitting this weekend too.





At softball...





With sangria by the pool. A quick one skein cowl, Seamus, which is being prepped for a new IGK release. The yarn is A Verb for Keeping Warm's Pioneer and it is beyond lovely. The cowl is blocking now, so I can cast on for my Polartorte hat. The yarn arrived Friday and wow oh wow is Bare Naked Wools Stone Soup DK just fabulous!



So soft!



This was in with my package from Knitspot. Do tell Erica or Anne?!? Don't make us wait...hints??

Speaking of Bare Naked Wools, I finally released Contorta, my new design in Breakfast Blend fingering.





I'll do a proper blog post about them later this week, but did want to let you know the pattern was available in case you wanted to take advantage of the St. Patrick's Day Sale!

Here are the details everyone...
March 17-18

BOGO Free! with the coupon code: LUCKY

Buy one pattern, get one free (lesser priced pattern will be free; Merrily and Sleepy Hollow Collections included, but other ebook collections excluded)!

Only includes patterns published by Irish Girlie Knits Designs in my Ravelry shop here (e.g., does not include patterns published by Kollage Yarns, BMFA). However, see below for some new patterns that are now IGK patterns as well!

Discount can be used more than once, but patterns must be bought in multiples of 2 (e.g., 2, 4, 6…). Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Feel free to share this info with your friends or any appropriate groups on Ravelry. The more the merrier!

Here are the details everyone...
March 17-18

BOGO Free! with the coupon code: LUCKY

Buy one pattern, get one free (lesser priced pattern will be free; Merrily and Sleepy Hollow Collections included, but other ebook collections excluded)!

Only includes patterns published by Irish Girlie Knits Designs in my Ravelry shop here (e.g., does not include patterns published by Kollage Yarns, BMFA). However, see below for some new patterns that are now IGK patterns as well!

Discount can be used more than once, but patterns must be bought in multiples of 2 (e.g., 2, 4, 6…). Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Feel free to share this info with your friends or any appropriate groups on Ravelry. The more the merrier! - See more at: http://wedonothaveaknittingproblem.blogspot.com/#sthash.TM6JDBht.dpuf

Here are the details everyone...
March 17-18

BOGO Free! with the coupon code: LUCKY

Buy one pattern, get one free (lesser priced pattern will be free; Merrily and Sleepy Hollow Collections included, but other ebook collections excluded)!

Only includes patterns published by Irish Girlie Knits Designs in my Ravelry shop here (e.g., does not include patterns published by Kollage Yarns, BMFA). However, see below for some new patterns that are now IGK patterns as well!

Discount can be used more than once, but patterns must be bought in multiples of 2 (e.g., 2, 4, 6…). Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Feel free to share this info with your friends or any appropriate groups on Ravelry. The more the merrier! - See more at: http://wedonothaveaknittingproblem.blogspot.com/#sthash.TM6JDBht.dpuf

I'm glad we did most of our celebrating this weekend because I did not feel well at all today :(  Really tired and lots of head pain. So I spent a lot of the day sleeping, but don't worry, I did enjoy the leftovers from last night's dinner again today! And I think a spot of tea and soda bread is just perfect. And these photos that my sister texted me....





Guess who rolled over this weekend?!



Tired from all the celebrating! And don't touch her giraffe....

And because I love you guys, I think I'll release Glacier Point  in time for the sale too! Sneak peek....



Happy St. Patrick's Day!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Happenings and The Haul

I know, I know. You want to see the haul from Stitches West. But first, some happenings.

1. If I went to a work conference everyday (I don't. Went to one last Friday though), I sure would have a lot of hats. I cranked out the baby hat for little magpie during the first few presentations. And all I thought the entire time was why isn't everyone else knitting? Seriously, I get it was a "professional" conference, but I sat in the back of about 1000 attendees, and no one was knitting. Almost no one was taking notes. Quite a few were playing on their phones, which made me not feel bad at all for knitting. I know I listened better while knitting, and was at the easy point of the hat where it was easy to look up most of the time. The last presentation of the day, when I had finished the hat and didn't have any knitting, was pretty hard to sit through. Again, made me wonder why no one else was knitting.

2. The IGK group on Ravelry has a sock knit-along going right now. It runs through the end of March, so you still have plenty of time to join. I finished a wee pair of baby Keegan socks for the magpie this weekend. I'm prepping the pattern for my IGK pattern line (yay!) and just need to find the hat I finished so we can have a proper photoshoot (seriously! Hat was finished months ago?!?! Where is it?). I'm casting on a new one, with the hopes that then the old one will appear. Either way, pattern should be ready in the next week or two. Until then, here are a few cute pics to tide you over.





Seriously, this baby kills me with cute (see #3 below).

Speaking of IGK socks, if you need more inspiration, check out Neuroknitter's Cotty socks. Love them!

3. Doggies! And baby! The cute!





And now the haul. Well, some of it!



I could not resist the kit from A Verb for Keeping Warm, featuring a yarn exclusive to Stitches, and a gorgeous shawl pin and design from Romi! Love it!





I fell in love with Amy from Canon Hand Dyes and her gorgeous yarns back at Interweave's Knitting Lab. I couldn't resist the self-striping sock yarn or the Downton Abbey mini-set or this gradient set (LOVE the name! Oh, Lady Mary!). 

If you love Amy's yarn, they are being featuring in an upcoming {Among Friends} yarn club shipment, Best of the Northwest, Take 2. I was featured in their recent Best of the Bay Area shipment, and was able to see what was in it while at Stitches West. Wow! I wish I had signed up for it!  The kits are fabulous and I would highly recommend them! Plus the Northwest kit also includes one of my favorite dyers, Knitted Wit!



Ah. The Plucky. I fell down the rabbit hole when I felt what Plucky Knitter Bello felt like when knit up. Ah-May-ZING! The first three colors are from the "Candy Dish" especially for Stitches West. A bunch of colors that were fabulous! Seriously, I could have bought the whole bin of Candy Dishes! I added the skein of Milk Maid because I think I have a design in mind.....inspiration!



I also picked up the special Mixed Kit. Love this hat! Can't wait to cast on.

A few more skeins of Plucky may have fallen into my bag, but a girl has to have some secrets, right?!

Happy Knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Good things.

After way too long of a blog absence, I could go on and on about the trials and tribulations of the past month. But really, who wants to hear that?! The month has been a blur anyways. So I'll tell you about the good stuff that has been going on instead of the drama of hospitals, nursing homes, and not enough sleep.

1. Pa is home!!  From a "he'll be home in 3 days" recovery to a "25 days later" he is home and the doggies sure are happy (well, we all are, but the doggies really really missed Pa being home with them all day). Thank you so much for the good juju and prayers the past month. We felt them :)

2. Disco ran her race and you guys were awesome in helping to support her! I promised yarny prizes, and though they are very delayed, here they are. Four lucky winners will be receiving a prize:  Margaret (aka Little Gidding Farm), Joan (ravelry name anargol), Kim (aka KnitChickKim), Andy (aka Andrea).  I've emailed you all. Thank you everyone for helping!

3. Little Guy! That kid sure does make me smile!!



4. Poolside knitting. It sure did feel indulgent during the last few days of summer. I'm fairly certain this was taken while the kids were in the pool and I was just trying to stay awake. I haven't swam in over a month and I'm sure missing it. Hoping to get back to the lap swimming this week.



5. I'm so honored to be designing for A Verb for Keeping Warm's Pro-Verbial Yarn and Fiber Club. I absolutely love Kristine's store and her yarns. I designed my sister's wedding shawl, Nestldown, with Verb's Shimmering Tussah Silk, and my stash is overflowing with their lovely, naturally dyed yarns. There club is open for just a little while longer, and my pattern will be exclusive to them initially, so treat yourself to a fantastic club!

6.  Luther. Enough said.

7. Notre Dame football!! Although this weekend will be the first weekend where we'll be able to watch the game as a family like we typically do! I'm looking forward to that!!

8. Finally being able to show you guys some baby knits! My sister's baby shower was last weekend and it was lovely. I'm hoping to do a proper post on it in the next week or so, but I can't wait any longer to show you this. Isn't the Owlet sweater the cutest?! Such a great pattern. And knit in Plucky Knitter Bulky, it was quick to knit! Perfect for Plucktember too! By the way, my Plucktember sale is still going...details here.





I made the short-sleeved version since I loved Melynda's version! She has notes on her ravelry page about her modifications.

9. Most of you know that I love Anzula Yarns and the fabulous Sabrina, the dyer behind Anzula, and her awesome team! Well, they have started an Indiegogo campaign to bring air conditioning to their yarn factory (seriously can't imagine dying yarn without air conditioning in the Fresno heat?!?!) and of course I wanted to support them. They have been so supportive of me, from yarn support, to working together on designs for TNNA, it was a no-brainer for me to support them. If you haven't checked out their campaign, please take a few minutes to.

10. More yarny giveaways!!!  To help spread the word about their Indiegogo campaign, Anzula has given me a package of 17 mini skeins of their For Better or Worsted Yarn to giveaway to one lucky winner!! I wish I had taken a picture today to show you the gorgeous colors! I promise to do that in the next few days. So how can you win these? First, please check out the indiegogo campaign. Then let me know if you have any experience using Anzula's gorgeous yarns (e.g., your favorite yarn, colorway, project, or just lusting after a particular yarn of theirs). Or you can share some of the good things going on with you the past few weeks. Feel free to share, tweet, or tell your friends about the giveaway.  I'll also be gifting two other lucky winners with my Rathmore pattern, which uses For Better or Worsted. The contest will run through 11:59pm PST on Sunday, September 29.



I hope all has been well with you guys!!  I'm hoping things will settle down in these next few weeks.

Happy Knitting!!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits