Keegan Baby Hat + Socks

Are you ready for some cute?




Can you believe how itty bitty Magpie is in these pics? I knit this set for her last March. She's grown so much since then.

This baby hat and sock set is a great last minute gift and a perfect way to use up leftover sock yarn! Cabling is done every six rows, making a relaxing knit and an ideal travel project for an experienced knitter and a great project for beginners learning cables. I suggest knitting a few so you always have a baby gift on hand!

And look at those oh too cute feet!

This set was knit in Anzula Squishy, colorway Country Green. I just love this colorway.

I think I need to cast on a new one for her. Maybe one for Valentine's Day? Or I could wait a bit and knit one in a nice springy green for St. Patrick's Day. 

Pattern: Keegan

Notes: Instructions are written for a cuff-down sock, with charts provided. Sizes for socks and hat can be modified by using lighter fingering weight yarns and smaller needles, or sport weight yarn and larger needles. 

Yarn: 75 (100) yards for socks and 80 (110, 140) yards for hat of heavier fingering weight yarn such as Anzula Squishy, The Plucky Knitter Primo Sport, Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Mediumweight, Kollage Yarns Sock-a-licious, Knitted Wit Victory DK, Koigu KPPM. 

Needles: Size US 2.5 (3 mm) for socks and Size US 5 (3.75 mm) either DPNs or circular 16" with DPNs needed for decreases for hat, or size need to obtain gauge

Gauge: 32 sts and 48 rows = 4" over st st for socks and 24 sts and 32 rows = 4" over st st for hat

Size: 3-6 months (6-12 months) for socks and newborn (3-6 months, 6-12 months) for hat

Finished Measurements: 2 1/4" foot circumference, 1 1/2" approximate leg length for socks and 5" (6", 7") wide, 6" (6 1/2", 7") length for hat

It looks like my sweet niece's modeling career is taking off already....thanks Magpie! Your college fund will be growing!

And thank you for the lovely graphic design work Jill Zielinski, aka Knitterella!

Available for purchase at an introductory rate of $4.00 until January 31, no coupon needed!  

Happy baby knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Note to Self

There are only 346 days until Christmas, so start that holiday knitting. Yes, I'm telling myself this now. Why you ask?

Because I finally finished the Tween's Christmas gift last night, that's why. 

Fortunately, I had at least one Sorin Fingerless Glove to give her on Christmas day, but then a lot of life happened and got in the way and very little knitting has happened. 

But she gave them a complete thumbs up today and hasn't even mentioned that they were quite late. 

And Magpie isn't old enough to realize that I didn't knit her the stuffed animal I wanted to knit her. I'm adding that to this year's list. I have 346 days.

And Pa's socks. Well, his birthday is in February. I think this is what happens most years. I think he knows this too.

And the ornaments I want to knit. And the little korknisse I want to knit. And that one special friend I'll want to knit for and then will need to cross off the list when I realize there is just no-way-in-heck I'll make the deadline....I'd like to make the deadline this year. 

Thus, this post. Ties in nicely with Cheekyattitude's last post about knitting a little bit everyday. More on my plans for that next time.

Happy New Year!

xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Good Things.

There are so many good things to be thankful for this time of year. Especially considering how things were at this time last year. I'm still not quite where I hoped I would be, but I'm grateful that I'm having better days and my doctors are working diligently at helping me figure out the chronic pain issues. And best yet, I'm getting back to KNITTING! Thank you guys for your continued support, positive thoughts and prayers! I love you guys!

So on to the good things.

1. A new pattern!! A more detailed post to follow, but it is a great slouchy hat and a quick knit. Here is Sorin.      

The pattern is on sale for $5.00 through Dec. 7 (but see below for the Thanksgiving sale that has started for an additional discount!!!).



It seems fitting to release this pattern today of all days. 172 years ago today, a 28-year-old priest and seven companions took possession of 524 acres of land on a cold afternoon in Indiana. Father Sorin's vision and dream became the University of Notre Dame.



I finished this hat right before my trip back to my alma mater and I knew it would be the perfect place for a photo shoot. Thank you Erica for taking the photos!



2. I made Jam. I know, nothing earth shattering, but I've been wanting to make jam for awhile and finally made raspberry freezer jam last weekend. Freezer jam is much easier than regular jam. For some reason I'm scared of making "real" jam. I need either Maggie aka Socksdoc or Candy aka Erica's Mom to walk me through it. Or an entire weekend to just do it.



But the freezer is stocked with delicious raspberry jam!!

3. Dear sweet Puddy. She had surgery last week and had 14 teeth pulled :(  That's in addition to the many she had pulled a few years ago. The vet said it is most likely genetic and she'll be fine even though she only has 13 teeth left. And she is fine. But you know, a rough week for worrying me mama. Good thing is she is fine and has a cute new little smile.



Yes. That little tongue hangs out pretty much all the time now.

4. Christmas knitting. The grand plans. I'm making them. Who knows how far I'll get? How about you?



5. A quick afternoon in the city last week was just lovely. And thank goodness Tartine is not right around the corner from me. I would eat their break EVERY. DAY.









6. It is time for our annual After-Thanksgiving sale!! And I thought why not start it early. Receive 25% off all IGK patterns and ebook collections (the only time of year I include the collections in the coupon) in my Ravelry Store. NO COUPON necessary, through December 1. 




Wishing those of you who celebrate it a very happy Thanksgiving, and for those of you who don't, Happy 28 knitting days til Christmas!

Happy Knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

And then there were none.

I've been slowly knitting away on the last of these fingerless gloves this week.

I made sure to not make the same mistake as the last pair. Once this pair is complete, I'll be all done with my new designs. I'm forcing myself to not cast on any new designs. NONE. Why? Because it is time to catch up and get them out to you guys! I've got quite a back log of patterns to write up. 

First up, will be the Sorin hat.

Tracey has finished the test knit and I'm just about ready to send it to my graphic designer to put it together. By the way, Tracey has a fabulous podcast, Moms with Yarn, and I just love it!! She cracks me up! If you are looking for a new podcast to try, I'd definitely recommend listening to her and Sharon.

I have a mini version of the Sorin hat on my needles for tv knitting. It'll be for Magpie. 

Once that is done, it'll be all about holiday knitting and pattern writing. Speaking of holiday knitting, I think it is going to be easy things on my end. A couple of hats, maybe some fingerless gloves. We'll see. 

What kind of holiday knitting plans do you guys have? Don't forget about the IGK Giftalong KAL on Ravelry. I still can't believe the holidays are right around the corner. To help with your holiday knitting, from now through November 26, I'm offering 25% off all of my IGK patterns ($6.00 or less) with the coupon code:  HOLIDAYS

And Cheeky Attitude still has our pattern giveaway going too! What is your favorite comfort food? Be sure to enter (follow link) soon.

Happy Knitting!

xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Go Irish!

Last month I took a long weekend trip to go visit Erica and Padraig and our main event for the weekend....



going to my alma mater for a Notre Dame football game!

It had been way too long since I had been back to campus and I figured why not fly through Michigan and visit Erica too.  We had such an awesome weekend!





On Friday, we started with a quick trip down the tunnel the players come out every Saturday and were able to go onto part of the field. Yeah, they didn't let us do that back when I went there!



I'm not sure Padraig was thrilled about the gold helmet. I was on the other hand!



We stayed with my best friend from college and it was so great to catch up with her!



Her two nephews dressed in their Halloween costumes on Saturday and looked so cute posing with the ND Band!





And it was a gorgeous fall Saturday on campus and there is just nowhere that does college football better than Notre Dame in my opinion. It is such a special place.



The Golden Dome



The Library and Touchdown Jesus





The Grotto



We squeezed in a quick photo shoot (hello, how could we not?!). New hat pattern coming soon!! And then game time.





We tried to get a picture of all of our different Knitspot hat's on. Yeah, not perfect at the selfies. I have to admit, for a 2-year old, baby Padraig was a trooper! He loved watching the band and the student section right below us. I think he went the entire day without a nap, poor kiddo. He melted Auntie IGK's heart when towards the end of the game he got the "Let's go IWISH" cheer down :)







All happy after a close win!!

Bonus part of the weekend was hanging out with Erica's parents! We stayed at their house in Kalamazoo the first night and it was so fun hanging out. Plus, her mom made us this delicious pie!!! So good!



Plus, Nana and Padraig have this little whipped cream routine :)



Missing this kiddo and his mama so much now!!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Happy Knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

p.s. Reminder few days left to participate in our Veteran's day pattern sale/fundraiser. More info here.