1000 & Blogiversary Special #3

1000 posts! That is crazy to think about. As I looked back through some of my older posts I found these sets of pictures and they summed up what this blog has meant to me!





Thank you guys!!! I think I'll have to make an updated friend photo collage for an upcoming post.

So our next blogiversary special is all about quick gift knits. I can't believe it is less than two weeks until Christmas! I definitely am not as organized as the Yarn Harlot with her spreadsheet. In case you are like me, I've picked some of my quick knit patterns on sale for this special.

From Dec. 12-15 (11:59pm PST), receive 50% off the following IGK patterns:

Alpine Lake
Dotty
Lilianna
Miles to Go
Naylor Street
Sorin
Sweet Baby Kate
Winter Wonder



All of these patterns require just one skein of yarn. Ok, well, not Alpine Lake, but it is knit out of bulky yarn and it knits up quickly, I promise. And if you don't have any bulky yarn, mix those bases. Take your favorite worsted and sport weight and knit them together. The cowl can be oversized!



There is a smaller cowl version of Winter Wonder that takes just one skein and would make a perfect gift. Erica knit this one above a few years ago. I think it would look great knit up it the yarn I just ordered from Bare Naked Wools, Kent Worsted.



So a quick update on my gift knitting. It isn't going that well, and I really only have two or three gifts to knit.



The tween's fingerless gloves are moving along slowly because going back to work full time has kicked my body's butt, literally. I was exhausted on Saturday. And this week in a lot of pain again. Ugh. But I'll have time off over the holidays soon!

And I know I mentioned the glove pattern would be done soon. Next week....I promise! They are super quick!



Then I need to knit this cutie pie a little something. I'm thinking a stuffed animal maybe. We'll see. She's not tolerating hats too much lately. Hmmmmm.....

How's your gift knitting going? Any last minute deadlines?

Oh, and speaking of gifts. Our contest winner is Renee Anne! Congrats Renee!!! Send me an email or message on ravelry with your address and I'll mail them out to you. I hope you and the boys survived the nasty storm we've had here in the bay area this week.

Lots of rain today......Puddy was a bit wet after her walk tonight.



Happy Knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Community

On the eve of Thanksgiving, I wanted to say I am just so grateful for this wonderful knitting community that we have.  I'm thankful for my friends, both old and new that I've met through knitting.  I'm thankful for this incredible and creative opportunity I have for designing that is because of so many of you.  From cheering on my designs, to test knitting them, to purchasing one of my patterns, or just clicking a heart on it on Ravelry, I am so grateful.

Speaking of community, I haven't had a chance to share the local designers' night that Nine Rubies hosted a few weeks ago.  Nine Rubies is one of my local yarn stores and I was so glad that they invited me back again this year.  The other local designers included Hillary Smith Callis and Romi Hill.

 




 Photos courtesy of Tricia at CheekyAttitude



It was so nice to meet and chat with knitters who enjoy my designs.



Look, a Winter Wonder! Isn't it lovely on her!



My mom stopped by since the store is not too far from home.  Thanks mom!



And thank you Saloni and Sudha and your amazing staff for hosting such a lovely event!  Oh, and just to enable any of you locals a bit...they are having an awesome Black Friday sale (e.g., earlier you get there, more % off you get....I may just get up early and go, we'll see!!) and special sales for Small Business Saturday!  In addition to yarn, you may want to check these travel mugs out....love mine!



I'm also grateful for the lovely indie dyers that I've been fortunate enough to work with.  Some of those hush-hush knits I can finally share with you guys.  I love Woolgirl's kits and I always jump at the chance to design for one of them.  I recently designed for her Classic Writers Knitting Club and was paired with one of my fave indie dyers, The Plucky Knitter!  You all know I love love love Sarah's yarns.





Seriously love all the goodies Jen puts in her kits!  Here is my Sleepy Hollow design.







This one will be released to the general public in the spring.

I do have a design for another club that will be released next week..... Granlibakken!  I'll tell you lots more next week, but here are a few teaser pictures...





Members of Studio June's Shawl Club are receiving the pattern and yarn, Springy Sport, this week, but you can purchase the pattern next week.  Actually, you can take advantage of Studio June's Black Friday sale that is on now through the end of Nov. 23 and receive 25% off when you enter code GIVETHANKS at checkout- through Midnight EST on Friday.  You'll need 2 skeins of Spring Sport for the design...order now and you can be ready to cast on when the pattern is released next Wednesday!

And tomorrow, I'm thankful that I will finally have a new pattern to release.  The last few months have been tough on my designing schedule, but it is nice to know I'm going to have quite a number of patterns to release over the next few months :)  Remember this hat?





You've waited long enough....tomorrow it'll be released (check back here for details)!  And with a sale too!  I've started my after-Thanksgiving sale early....receive 25% off all of my Irish Girlie Knits Designs (excludes ones designed for BMFA or Kollage) from now until November 26.  All of my individual patterns AND collections are 25% off!  Just a small way for me to say THANK YOU to all of  you!!



Now time for bed.  Tomorrow there is cooking and eating and knitting to be done! Wishing you and yours a very happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Blogiversary Special #5

I don't want to jinx it, but the busy busy part of my job is just about behind me!!!  Yay!!  All my reports are done for the year, one more IEP, and now just for some fun holiday "meetings"!  I even made fudge tonight for our holiday staff meeting tomorrow.  Let the holiday baking begin!

First, let's announce the winner of the Blogiversary Prize!

Congrats to Peppermint Mocha Mama!!!  I'll be sending you a package of yarny goodness just in time for Christmas!  And I can't wait to try your apple crumble recipe.

I also picked a few other winners to pick a free IGK pattern from my Ravelry shop!  They are...

EliArendt
CelticCastOn (ok, beware of the adorable sweater and the beyond cute kiddo when you click that link!)
Janmarie

I'll message you all tomorrow, but if you see this before I do, feel free to let me know which pattern you'd like.  You can message me on ravelry (irishgirlieknits) or email me irishgirlieknits AT gmail DOT com

Thank you all again for participating!  I loved reading everyone's holiday traditions.  If you haven't read through the comments, I suggest you do.  It'll make you smile.  Well, and you may want to try FowlervillesDeb's Homemade Bailey's Irish Cream.  Seriously, that is on my to-do list.

A few of my favorite holdiay traditions...

Watching Christmas movies.....my sister texted me late one night a week or two ago telling me Meet Me in St. Louis was on and I immediately began watching it.  Didn't matter that I own the DVD.  Other favorites include Love Actually, Christmas in Connecticut, the Ally McBeal Christmas episodes with Robert Downey Jr...... I could go on and on.


Holiday knitting.  Even if it is just a gift or two, there is something about the deadline, late night holiday knitting that I do love.  Especially next week when I'll have a few days off...knit knit knit.  Everyone wants socks this year.  Well, technically, Irish Dad wants his socks mended.  ugh.

Holiday baking.  I love it!  I used to go all out, but I've scaled back a bit lately (that should read I'm too tempted to eat the treats!).  That fudge in the fridge from earlier tonight will be delish tomorrow!!  I'll definitely be making Mimi's Sugar cookies this year.  Ok, re-reading that post just made me teary.  It'll be our first Christmas without Mimi.  And that is why I love traditions....memories...

My mom, sister, and I started what I hope will be a tradition, doing something special to get us in the holiday spirit.  Last weekend we spent the day in the city shopping, looking at the holiday decorations, just having a nice day together.  I love the city around the holidays.




Now for our last Blogiversary special!!  Only fitting to offer Winter Wonder for a special 50% off sale price of $3 from now until the end of Dec. 16 (11:59pm PST)! 



And since this is our last special, and tomorrow (Friday) is my mom's birthday, I'm also offering Maryanne for the same special 50% off sale price of $3 from now until the end of Dec. 16 (11:59pm PST)! 



Feel free to wish my mom Happy Birthday in the comments too!  I know I have at least one glove knit for her.  Better than last year, I guess!

Oh, and today is Bailey's birthday!  She's 7.  This is one of my favorite pictures of her from last year.



Okay, it is late late late.  Must to bed.  I'll be back a bit more though this weekend.  I have the best Christmas decoration ever to share with you.  A new holiday tradition for me :)

Happy Holidays!!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Knitted Wit

Saturday at Knitting Lab was spent hanging out with Lorajean of Knitted Wit.  Her yarns are such bright, happy colors! I thought her booth was one of the ones that stood out in the Market Place.  She has been carrying all of my patterns since Sock Summit, and it was so fun to help her customers who were purchasing my patterns pick out the yarn to go with them!  She has lots of lovely samples knit up too, which makes it really easy to sell her yarn and my pattern :)



I love how her Comfort Food Fingerless Gloves knit up in her Balkan MCN yarn (merino + cashmere + nylon = heaven).





Here she is modeling Winter Wonder, in her gorgeous Silky N Plied yarn.  The yarn is dreamy soft and drapey.  Plus, she's offering IGK readers a special coupon code for 15% off her Silky N Plied, since it is perfect for Winter Wonder, one of the patterns for our Knitalong.  Just enter the code: winter15 in her etsy shop for 15% off your Silky N Plied purchase.  Thanks Lorajean!

And thank you to everyone who stopped by on Saturday! I had such a great time!

Happy Knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Weekend Wrap-Up!

Oh, it is Sunday afternoon already, and although this weekend has zoomed by, I feel like I was able to get lots accomplished this weekend!  I feel like I have so much to catch you all up on, so here goes.  A bit of my weekend, a bit of an update, and heck, a contest if you make it through the end of the post.

1. New designs in the works!

An infinity scarf design featuring The Plucky Knitter Primo.  I'm loving this one!!  Oh, and yes, it matches my new project bag perfectly. 

I showed you a peek at my new design for Sunshine Yarns on Friday, but thought you'd enjoy a close-up.  I'm on to sock two now, and since this is a sportweight yarn, Luxury Sport, it is knitting up quickly.  And I"ll admit, this yarn is a bit like crack.  Seriously.  Love love love.  I keep looking at the website to see what other colors I would knit this with and try really hard not to click order.

2. Another pattern has been reformatted.  Here is Winter Wonder. It's never too soon to start thinking holiday knitting.

On all of my new patterns I'm now featuring suggested yarns instead of limiting the pattern to just the one or two yarns I used to design it with. There are so many lovely yarns out there that would often work. For this pattern, in addition to the Malabrigo Rios, Kollage Yarns Fantastic and The Plucky Knitter MCN Lite, I've added a few other yarns to tempt you with: The Plucky Knitter Primo Worsted, Miss Babs Yowza, Blue Moon Fiber Arts Gaea, A Verb for Keeping Warm Toasted.

Winter Wonder is also now featured on Malabrigo Yarns website here! So cool!  And once again, Knitterella has done an amazing job with my pattern layout!  If you need any graphic design work, she is fabulous!

3.  Doggies!! Lot's of snuggle time this weekend with Bailey and Puddy!

How can I resist those eyes?!!?!

4. Walk Now for Autism Speaks is just a week away, and so far we've raised $340 from the sales of my Walk Now pattern.  Thank you all so much!  I'd love to get to $400 by the time of the walk next weekend!

5.  A bit of retail therapy arrived on Friday.  A new project bag from Knitterella!

Love!! Seriously cute! She has a few other designs here!

6. I spent a bit of timing updating things in our Irish Girlie Knits group over on Ravelry.  Can you believe we're up to 287 members!!!  So fun!   Our Sweet Home KAL is coming to a close at the end of the month and I just posted our lovely prizes from Kollage Yarns and Dubai Knits.  It's not too late to join the KAL here.

7.  Cotty was picked for the Year of Stash Socks June KAL!  Yay!!  I'm doing a coupon code for 20% off Cotty from now until May 31st with the coupon code: yoss     Come join the fun!

8. I've also spent some time this weekend adding new blogs to my Google Reader.  When bloglines went away, my blog reading dropped a bit.  But now that I've figured things out with Google Reader and Flipboard on my iPad, I'm back in blog reading mode!  I've discovered a few new non-knitting ones that I'm enjoying too ( Crafting an MBA, Single Dad Laughing).

So for today's contest, leave me some fun blog recommendations to add to my google reader!  If you have a blog, let me know too!  Knitting blogs, foodie blogs, other blogs I should be reading....let me know! And then from the list of comments I'll pick 5 winners to receive a copy of my Sweet Home Pattern!  ETA:  You guys rock the baking blogs (already added a few!).  Keep them coming, but for the sake of my tummy, if you have any healthy eating/cooking blogs to recommend I'd love those too :)

ETA: Contest closed.  Check for winners here.

Phew! I think we're all caught up on my end!  So how was your weekend?  Catch me up :)


Happy Knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

A Plucky Knitter Trunk Show!!

I still can't believe that just yesterday, Madeleine, Sarah, and I had the pleasure of hosting over 50 Bay Area knitters for a Plucky Trunk Show!

Madeleine and Sarah....we had too much fun!

The morning flew by so quickly that there are gorgeous skeins of yarn that I am looking at now while posting these pictures that I can't believe didn't come home with me! Too much pretty!

Decision time. Which pretty? These pictures were taken about 30 minutes into the fun....to be honest, the table was surrounded prior to that and there was no way to take a photo!

These were some of my favorite photos...the ones where everyone was hugging their yarn babies and happy happy! Betsy and Sarah are pleased as punch here!

Look at those colors Thayer grabbed!

And the handknits!! Just lovely Marisol and Sarah! Marisol took some great pictures of the event too...check that out here!



Then there was food! Madeleine has promised to share her delicious scones recipe! They were a hit!



Lots of Plucky project sharing as well! So much fun to hang out a bit with Sarah and meeting new Plucky friends as well! Next time, more knitting and chatting definitely!



Look what is on Sarah's needles!! Winter Wonder :) Sarah and I are looking forward to collaborating on a few kits this year, particularly for Sock Summit!! So excited!!



Sock campers unite :)





We had such a fun day. Thank you Madeleine and Sarah for so much fun!! Sarah is just as fun, sweet, and fabulous as you could imagine! And her yarns are even prettier in person! I did gather quite a pretty pile of yarn to take home with me...next post! Today, I'm knitting away on my new Plucky sock design!

Happy Plucky Knitting!!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits