Stitches Fiber, Fun and Friends

I still can't believe just two weeks ago was Stitches West, and I think it was the best one so far. I had such a fabulous time seeing friends from all over and looking at all the yummy yarn.

I love the Anzula Ladies and Hilary for The Yarniad.




And the Yarnover Truck is always a hoot and a half. Perfectly photobombed!







Luckily I was there Thursday night for some early shopping. I started out by heading straight over to Jennie the Potter.




And I got some of the gorgeous gradients from YOTH. They were certainly one of the most popular booths, and it was their first Stitches! But I also bought some of their fresh palette yarn which is just lovely too. Veronika and her team were so warm and welcoming, it was so exciting to see a new yarn be received with such enthusiasm!








I also picked up a yummy kit from Verb along with one of Romi's gorgeous pins.




Canon Hand Dyes had some bags that were to die for. Happy Birthday to me!





Friday was the big day at the Anzula booth, my Irish Girlie Knits Designer Meet and Greet.




Thanks so much to everyone who came by.  You guys are awesome! I had so much fun helping pick out yarn for patterns.

        

       


I also got to meet Mari, co-founder of Kitterly. They are an awesome website that kits up patterns and yarn together for you (and you'll see some of my IGK patterns there!).




Saturday was the relaxing day of the weekend and @snbLeslie booked us a spa day.




I was rejuvenated for the final day.

This year the Webs booth not only included Debbi, but I also got to see Marcy!



It's been too long ladies!




 Miss Babs and I plotted yarns for some new designs

All the while, I was inspired to work on something new. Here's a sneak peek knitted in Plucky's new cashmere, along with a Miss Babs varigated yarn that would be perfect, don't you think?





And to think, all this fun and I didn't even show you all the yarn!!

Don't forget you still have time to enter to win a copy of Pam Powers' lovely book here!

Happy Knitting!
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!

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

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

A Whirlwind

A wonderful whirlwind this past week has been. Last weekend my sister and I went with the girls up to our family friend's cabin. It was a perfect weekend! So fun to spend so much time with the little magpie!





Can you just smell the fresh air?! So lovely.



We took my sister and the magpie to the town of Murphy's, where lil' snowboarder and I have discovered the best cupcakes right next to a fabulous yarn, tea, and book store, Maisie Blue.





Baby's first yarn store visit!!





Yes, I took pictures of her all weekend! Sunday we drove up to Bear Valley to hang out in the snow! Lil' Snowboarder took her first ski lesson! Soooooo proud of her....she wanted to go back the next day, but we had to come home...she's ready to hit the slopes!





My Gobi Hat came in handy in the snow! By the way, for those of you who asked back in December, the pattern is now available outside of the Bare Naked Wools Club. This fabulous pattern is now available over at the knitspot site.

From the mountains and snow we fast forward a few days to Stitches West! Such a fun few days of yarn and knitting friends! I helped Anzula set up their booth this year....I love these ladies and the yarn is to. die. for. I've been spoiled knitting up so many of my designs with their yarns!



Note Wish I Might in the corner there.



And Holbrook and Blue Lake Springs.



Thank you Tracy for your fabulous quick knitting of a San Mateo sample in Cloud! It is gorgeous!  My new design (coming soon!!!) is in Cloud and it is sooooo amazing when it blocks!



It was pretty awesome to see the Yarnover Truck on the show floor and in person!



I think Cheeky Attitude is thinking about a northern california franchise! haha! I have to say it was pretty awesome to walk the show floor with my friends this weekend and not have to "work" at a booth. Of course, when we got to the Plucky Knitter booth, that wasn't so good for my wallet....haha!



It was pretty awesome to see Sarah's booth do so well this weekend. She's come a long way since our little trunk show at our friend's house a few years ago! I can't wait to show you the pretty yarns I bought!



There was knitting progress too! Here is my new Shalimar Yarns Hat design for the upcoming Shalimarch Celebration! I'm having a sale right now for those of you planning to knit one of my designs for it.....details are at the end of this post. And yes, that is a Hermione stitch marker! I couldn't resist the set from Stitches.

Saturday I drove up to Folsom to hang out with my nephew! I'm on auntie duty until Tuesday morning.....he had just come home from a memorial service when I took this picture...



All dressed up! And growing up! I can't believe he is almost 7!?!



He quickly changed into something more comfortable....gotta love these California winters...

Now I must to bed because I have an early wake up call to get this kid to school on time! What a fun week this has been. I hope you've had a lovely week too!

Happy Knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits