A Grand Day

Twas a grand day celebrating St. Patrick's Day.  I mean, how else can you explain a 9-year-old singing the lyrics to Wild Rover at the top of her lungs....

I've been a wild rover for many's the year
I've spent all me money on whiskey and beer
But now I'm returning with gold in great store
And I never will play the wild rover no more
And it's No, Nay, never,
No, nay never no more
Will I play the wild rover,
No never no more

Yes, whiskey and beer....oh goodness!





Our day started off with green pancakes, and then dinner was delish!! Pa got a big new pot for all the corned beef he was making.



It may not look pretty in there, but goodness, so yummy!





My sister made her Irish soda bread (yes, extra raisins).  A simple meal, but one my family has been enjoying for years.  Filled with so many happy memories.  I love hearing my dad talk about my Goggy and how he liked his soda bread (or in some cases, from a certain bakery, how it was hard as a rock and you could only eat it if you dipped it in your tea).  I know Mimi and Cotty loved my sister's soda bread.

And thank you guys so much for supporting my IGK BOGO free pattern sale!! It has been a great success and you still have one more day (sale through Monday, March 18, 11:59pm PST).  You know, in case you were partying too hard yesterday and missed it :)





First, head over to my Ravelry shop and enter 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 (e.g., does not include patterns published by Kollage Yarns, BMFA).

Discount can be used more than once, but patterns must be purchased in multiples of 2 (e.g., 2, 4, 6...) at a time. 

If you can't decide, well, may I suggest Naylor Street as the perfect pattern for the entire family.  I just love that Erica sent me this picture of Padraig and her mom in the Naylor St. hat she knit him.  So fun!

Isn't he the cutest?!?!?! His 1st St. Patrick's Day! Yes, he's in a pub :)  Check out Erica's post for their fabulous week of St. Patrick's Day fun.  As much as I love our relaxed holiday today, I may just have to visit Erica for her St. Patrick's Day traditions!

Hey, look at that leprechaun in the tree!?!



Happy St. Patrick's Day!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Today will be all about family, food, toe-tapping music, and everything Irish!  And of course, the annual IGK BOGO sale (details below!). But first up.....some of my faves...













I spent most of Saturday working on a new infinity scarf design. I made quite a bit of progress while watching a new series on amazon prime, Single Handed, a Law and Order meets the west coast of Ireland.  Love it!! Don't you like my new Knitifacts clover stitch marker?  I love these ones too.






A great week for Notre Dame women's basketball team, Big East Champs!! So proud of Skylar Diggins!









The doggies are ready :)

And of course, the 3rd Annual Irish Girlie Knits BOGO Sale through March 18! Because I love you guys and figure some of you may be partying too much today to see this...so you have through Monday :)

First, head over to my Ravelry shop and enter 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 (e.g., does not include patterns published by Kollage Yarns, BMFA).

Discount can be used more than once, but patterns must be purchased in multiples of 2 (e.g., 2, 4, 6...) at a time. 


I really wish my Sleepy Hollow Breakfast Blend sock pattern was ready for the sale, but I'm writing it up this weekend to get to my fabulous test knitter.



Isn't it pretty in the lovely oatmeal colorway?  I promise to have a special sale price for you guys when it is ready!  And name...should I just stick with Sleepy Hollow sock?  Still haven't come up with anything else.  Thoughts??

 We will definitley be watching Darby O'Gill and the Little People today.  How about you?  Any favorite things you will be doing today?





Thanks for tolerating all the videos!  My dad and sister love just going through the songs all in one place.  Trust me, I resisted a few others from last year and the year before :)

Have a fabulous day and Happy St. Patrick's Day!! Everyone is a bit Irish today :)
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

52 Weeks of Happy (8/52)

• watching Lil' Guy ride his bike all on his own! Such a big boy!

• a special new cookbook.  Love it already! Each recipe has a story behind it, and Jennie shares those with us perfectly.  Can't wait to try some recipes from Homemade with Love: Simple Scratch Cooking from In Jennie's Kitchen

• finding Lil' Snowboarder using my new swatch as part of her Monster High play set :)  She looks up with a sheepish grin and says, "I cut the ends off.  Doesn't it look cute?"  Love her.

• a spot of tea and Irish Soda Bread.  Top of the mornin' to ya!

• listening to Irish music all week puts a smile on my face

Oh, and a special sale started early....check out the IGK group for details or come back here tomorrow.  I hope you've had a week filled with happy!  Anything in particular?  Any happy plans for the weekend?  I hope so.

Happy Knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Happy Friday!

Thank you guys for indulging in my P is for....contest! You guys had some awesome comments :)  So first up, here are our winners:

Helen
Knitted Zen
Patricia/Coastiewife

Feel free to message me with your two IGK individual patterns (excludes Collections and Patterns published by yarn companies) and I'll send them to you through ravelry or email.  I'm irishgirlieknits on Rav and my email is irishgirlieknits AT gmail DOT com

Oh, and a bonus winner for perfectly placed p's with this comment:

"Perhaps partaking per posting parameters proves particularly perplexing... pattern prizes produce productive propaganda prose per passive patron."  - Amy S.

This has been a long week.  I'm really looking forward to this weekend.....St. Paddy's Day!!!!





Plus I'll be having our Annual Irish Girlie Knits Designs Buy One Get One Free Sale on all of my individual patterns!!  It'll start on Sunday and run through Monday :)   And if you are part of the Irish Girlie Knits Group (we are almost to 700 members!!!) on Ravelry, keep an eye out for an early start sometime Saturday maybe.....

Coupon code:  lucky       and more details to come.  Main thing is that you can use the coupon as many times as you want, but can only buy two patterns at a time for it to work (e.g., buy one pattern, the other, lesser priced pattern will be free).

Don't worry, I'll be back this weekend with more info :)

Oh, and here's another "P" for you...my new pattern release...Pointy Sticks!  You may want to get this one this weekend while you are shopping :)



Happy Friday!!!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

P is for

• pink travel mug from Davids Tea

• painful head/migraine stuff today that kept me home from work

• Pom Tango tea from the Spring Collection at Davids Tea.  It is delish!

• perfectly pink yarn from Baah Yarns!

• prize winner!  G Marie (aka Gaylen) won the Sock Yarn Shawls book giveaway!  Congrats!!

• St. Patrick's Day is 6 days away.  That means time for the Annual IGK BOGO free pattern sale!! And I'm so excited to spend time with the family :)

• pattern prizes galore!!  Leave a comment sticking with the p is for....theme and I'll pick three random winners to receive two of my IGK patterns :)  Winner will be announced later this week.

Happy Knitting!!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

My Kind of Saturday

Yesterday we spent the day with my brother, sister-in-law, and little guy.  It was a perfect Saturday.



Can you believe how big this kid is?  He'll be six next month!  And the way he swings that bat...watch out!







Thanks for all the suggestions for my sister-in-law's next knitting project.  I love that Dianne suggested some of my patterns....duh! I don't know why I didn't think of that.  But ultimately, she went with the Honey Cowl and I brought her some Plucky Knitter yarn for it.



I finished my Sleepy Hollow socks (btw, I need a name for those....any suggestions?  Don't really want to call them sleepy hollow), so I worked a bit on my easy sock.  The heel is ready to be turned.





Bailey and Puddles had a great day in 'The Land of the Big Backyard,' as Pa calls it.  Seriously, Puddy was out there all day.





My sister-in-law made us a delicious corned beef and cabbage dinner. It was delish! As well as the key lime pie, sticking with the green theme :)



Shadow has been feeling better, but I think the doggies may have worn her out a bit by the end of the day.

Today is a day for catching up around the house, some designing, watching a ND ladies basketball win, and hopefully finishing House of Cards (thanks for the rec Disco! Very addicting!). And it is the last day to enter the Sock Yarn Shawls giveaway.  This time next week, be sure to take advantage of our annual Irish Girlie Knits Buy One, Get One free pattern sale.  More details later this week!

Hope you guys all had a great weekend!

Happy Knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

52 Weeks of Happy (7/52)

• Look who lost his first tooth!!  Talk about a happy auntie when I saw this picture.  Can't wait to see him in person this weekend!!

•  Farmer's market delivered!!  For just $3.99 delivery charge (or you can pick it up).  All of the yummies above are from my delivery this week.  Good Eggs, I love you.  Seriously.  And small victory, I resisted the cupcakes they deliver (yes, cupcake delivery).  However, maybe next week.

• Eating healthy all week, with minimal sugar, and feeling good.  Makes me happy that I'm making this a priority.

• A cuppa tea on a rainy night right now.  After I post this, knitting on that sock for the rest of the evening.

And very, very happy that tomorrow is Friday!!  I'm looking forward to seeing Lil' Guy and the family this weekend!  My sister-in-law wants to move past all the garter stitch scarves she has been knitting.  Any recommendations for a next step cute scarf project I can show her?  Or easy stockinette tank top?

What happy has been going on for you guys?  All the comments on these happy posts makes me smile, so I think the happy project is working :)

Happy Almost Friday!!!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

p.s.  If you haven't had a chance to enter the Sock Yarn Shawls Giveaway, still time to do so on the post.  And just a little over a week until the big Buy One Get One free IGK pattern sale on St. Patrick's Day.  Join the IGK ravelry group to stay in the loop :)

March Madness

March is going to be a great month!

Did any of you catch Notre Dame's triple overtime win against UConn last night?!  I'm a huge fan of Skylar Diggin's and I so hope we make it to the national championship and win this year! Great win to start off march madness!

But it won't be all about basketball here, I promise.  There's a Mitts KAL going on over in the Bare Naked Wool group on Ravelry.  You've all seen my sleepy hollow socks that I'm working on. Well, I'm pretty sure Bare Naked Wool Breakfast Blend would work perfectly for the Sleepy Hollow Fingerless Gloves or Cotty Fingerless Gloves.  And if you pop over to that group, you just might find a coupon code for those two patterns :)

I'm also kicking off March Madness with a book giveaway!!

I'm sure many of you have seen the new Sock-Yarn Shawls  book by Jen Lucas, right?  I met Jen at the first sock summit and have followed her blog ever since.  It has been exciting to see her success as a designer the past few years, but I was thrilled to see her first book published!! So stinking proud of her!!

 

Jen and I had a great time hanging out at TNNA in January and we plotted this little giveaway for you guys.  

Why yes, we may have purchased new Namaste purses.  But back to the book :)

The book covers a variety of shawl constructions and designs, from top down triangle shawls to crescent shaped shawls, from all over lace motifs to garter stitch with lace edging.

Timpani

Francolin

I'm pretty sure you guys may be able to figure out that one of the main reasons I love the designs in this collection is because a few of them look deceptively simple, but are perfectly gorgeous.  I'm a big fan of easy knitting that has just enough style and design to make it a fabulous handknit.  I think quite a few of these fit that bill.  Well, and a few to challenge you a bit too, if you are looking for that!  

Wedgewood

Briargate

I don't know how you decide which one to knit first :)

One more favorite thing about this book.  Sock yarn.  You know we all have plenty of that in our stashes, right?!

Congratulations Jen on a job well done!!  Oh, and check out the fabulous book party her husband threw for her!  That post was one of my recent favorites because Jen is such a sweet, fun, and creative designer, and I love that her blog shares a peek into her life.  

So if you'd like to win a copy and have it personally signed by Jen, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post (and an email or ravelry id to get in touch with you if you win) with which one of Jen's shawls you think you'd like to knit.  Whether from her book, or her awesome ravelry designer page (beware! lovely shawl shopping alert!).  Contest will be open through Sunday, March 11.

Happy Knitting!!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

p.s. March Madness will definitely continue this month!  I'm planning to still have my St. Patrick's Day BOGO free sale that I have every year on that day!  If you aren't already in my Irish Girlie Knits Designs ravelry group, you may want to join so you don't miss out on that!!