Summer in NYC

Why yes, I know, it isn't summer and I'm not in New York City. But one of the things I love about this blog is that in addition to sharing my knitting, it is a space to remember special trips or events. I still can't quite believe that I haven't shared my quick two and a half days back at the end of July! And since  I'm on another quick trip this weekend, I figured I better share that trip first.



I arrived late Tuesday night and planned to cram a lot in in just two and half days. The agenda...... Food, Fun, and Broadway (I'm a theater junkie!!!)!

I followed a lot of Tricia's, aka Cheeky Attitude, recommendations from her blog. Being on my own in the city I could go wherever I wanted. In someways that was awesome, but in other ways, there were almost too many choices. So it was nice to have some trusted recommendations.





First stop, the basement of the Plaza hotel has a food hall that is amazing. So many choices. The lobster roll was delicious. And I couldn't resist trying a marshmallow or two.






Even though I had seen it before, I just couldn't resist seeing Alan Cumming and Michelle Williams in Cabaret at Studio 54! It was awesome!! That's how I started my Wednesday. Then of course, it was time for dinner. Ha! More food.





There is no way to describe how HUGE this pastrami sandwich was! I could only eat half! It was so good though! Now the amount of walking I had done that day was more than I had been able to do in months so I felt absolutely no guilt eating the next thing later....



A perfectly scrumptious vanilla cupcake from Magnolia Bakery. Day made. Except for one more amazing thing.



Seeing Audra McDonald perform her one woman show, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill. It was such an intimate theater too, plus I didn't realize when I purchased my ticket that I was practically front row (the theater is set up a little differently, so she sang two or three songs literally about six feet away from me....just amazing!). She truly embodied Billie Holiday.

As perfect as Wednesday was, Thursday was even better. I had planned to meet up with Tracey, a friend I had met through knitting and Ravelry. Of course, there's always that little bit of worry that maybe we wouldn't hit it off in person, but, honestly, I just couldn't imagine that. And I was right. We both can't wait for the next trip!!! We had such a fun day!

We met up at Balthazar's in SoHo. It was lovely and relaxing and perfect.



Look at that big bowl of a cafe au lair. Just how I like it!




Balthazar selfie :)

I think we ate the flaky almond croissant too quickly to take a picture. Afterwards we made our trek to mecca, aka Purl Soho.



Tracey even came with a special yarn gift.....an gorgeous skein of Madelinetosh in a colorway dyed exclusively for her LYS! Isn't it gorgeous! Thanks again Tracey.



And then, I introduced Tracey to Laduree. I had scoped the place out the day before to see if it would be a good spot to just sit and knit for a couple hours (ok, a bit decadent to sit and knit, but it was on my list of things to do and thought it would be fun to do with a friend). We had so much fun!! Oh Tracey, I miss you!!









We sat out on the patio and enjoyed tea and sweets and knit and laughed and had a lovely afternoon. It was a perfect afternoon.







Macaron, anyone?

Tracey headed back home and I went back to the hotel for a bit before heading out for the evening. One fun part of traveling alone and going to the theater is having an early dinner. I was able to get a last minute reservation at the popular restaurant, Rubirosa's. Their pizza was AMAZING!



And then I headed up town to see Idina Menzel in her new Broadway show If/Then. The show had received mixed reviews, but I absolutely loved it. Yes, it was Idina and I had seen her perform in Wicked before. I think I loved this performance because I could relate so much to the character and the story and where she was at in her life. I really enjoyed it! And Idina was stunning and amazing and incredible and yes, I'm gushing!!

Friday was a quick morning....but I did grab lunch at Shake Shack (I was told it was a must!) at Madison Square Park.









And then it was back to the hotel to wait for Leslie to head to the airport together. Thank you Leslie for letting me tag along on your business trip and for staying at a swanky SoHo hotel that has a lobby that looks like this!

So yes, a few months later, but a great few days....thanks for traveling down memory lane with me. I promise to share this next trip with you a bit more promptly!

Happy Knitting!!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Happy Fall

Doesn't this cake look delish! I left it at the bakery though. We had just a bit of rain this week and it was lovely.



Just in time for fall, I finished a pair of fingerless gloves in Plucky Knitter Scholar, a new design I'm working on.



Actually, I finished these gloves a few weeks ago. Except, I had a little problem. I think I told you I haven't been feeling well the past few weeks, between long days at work and dealing with some new chronic pain issues from where I had radiation (yeah, cancer sucks), knitting has been a nice stress reliever, but.....



OOPS.  Fortunately, the problem was discovered at knit night, where there was beer and good friends. I had to put the gloves in time out for a few days, knit my Naylor Street Hat, and then I frogged the glove, and started anew.







I finished them this past week and my sister did a quick model for me yesterday. Now I just need to write up the pattern.





Look who loves pushing her little walker! She loved going for a walk yesterday at halftime of the Notre Dame game!!

And I loved those cables so much, I cast on a coordinating hat in Plucky Knitter Bello Worsted. Here's a progress picture yesterday at Lil Snowboarder's soccer game.



I love knitting with Bello so much it is hard to put down. Seriously.



So what's on your needles? I hope you all had a nice weekend.

Happy knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

A Day (or Two) in the Life

In the life of a hat to be more specific. Do you ever have a special birthday gift that you just can't think of what to get? I had that this past week and then my friend suggested a hat and I immediately thought, why didn't I think of that?! Fortunately I already had a day off of rest planned for Friday, so I just needed to see if I could knit it in time for the party Friday night.



Pedicure knitting, plus some progress from Thursday night tv knitting.



Car wash knitting.



Tv knitting Friday night. Did you watch The Honorable Woman? What a great series! Loved it!



Working the decreases at Saturday morning's soccer game....almost done!



Can't beat Naylor Street for a quick last minute, guy gift. One skein of Plucky Knitter Primo Worsted, colorway Flying Monkeys. Since I love Naylor Street so much, I've put it on sale for $4.00 through the end of September for those of you who don't have this pattern. I love it for baby hats too! And if you use the Plucktember coupon code: WELOVEPLUCKY  you'll receive that extra 20% off too! (good on all IGK patterns $6 or less through the end of September)



Paired with the perfect gift tag from Knitterella.

Just in time for the party! And what a fun party it was.....fabulous food, great friends....



Margaritas! Yes, please! This is the way to start a party!




How was your weekend? Hopefully relaxing and filled with knitting!

Happy fall!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Happy Plucktember!!

Can you believe we are half way through September, well, in the knitting world, I mean, Plucktember, already?! I'm exhausted, so I do believe it! I always look forward to this time of year. Somehow college football and the new school supplies and apples and the leaves changing help me forget what the beginning of the school year is usually like for my job, which is why I'm exhausted and just now coming up for air.

But there has been knitting, so let's get right to that!



So lovely to start off Plucktember on Labor Day by the pool just knitting away. This new fingerless glove pattern knits up quickly in Primo Sport. I just love cables!!



The first glove was done by the end of the week, but I wanted to knit it up in a worsted weight version too.



So at the soccer game that morning I made a bit of progress. This is in Plucky Knitter's Scholar. Definitely not Primo, but still lovely.

I did put the knitting down to play with this cutie for the Notre Dame-Michigan game!





Enjoying our walk at halftime!



She's a good luck charm for sure!

By the end of the weekend there was a finished glove!





I thought I'd have the second one done in no time, but with working out of town one day this week, working late another night and not feeling well (long story, but I've been dealing with some chronic pain issues at the radiation site on my head for the past few months...and with trying to work more, I'm off the meds that were really helping manage the pain because they made me too tired to work and trying to find new meds to help...fun fun), well, it isn't done yet. Hopefully I'll finish it at knit nite this week.

The Lowney Sock KAL is going strong too over in the Plucky Knitter group (as well as many other KALs!).



I wanted to share some of the fabulous projects being shared!

The project below is Linda's Lowney sock, aka lgphillips on Ravelry, and I'm in love with the colors she's chosen! My favorite part of KALs are seeing a design knit up in different colors, but especially when color work is involved!!

Photo courtesy of lgphillips on Ravelry

Photo courtesy of YezSoCrafty on Ravelry

This is Chris, aka YezSoCrafty's, fabulous sock. I just love her 2 color version. I also think Lowney sock knit up in just a solid single color would be fun too.

Thanks ladies for letting me share your projects with the blog!

Anyone else participating in Plucktember over in the Pluck Knitters Group? I'd love to hear what you are working on.

Remember, all Irish Girlie Knits Designs ($6.00 or less) are 20% off though the end of the month when you use the coupon code: WELOVEPLUCKY

Happy Plucktember!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Signs of Fall

On this last day of August, there are signs that fall is just right around the corner and boy am I excited about that!

First sign.....Notre Dame Football!!!





Check out the cutest ND cheerleader around?!!? Magpie continues to kill us with her happy smile! And the Irish put on a show yesterday by beating Rice 48-17!

Second sign.... more knitting! Something about watching football, lil' Snow's soccer games, chilly weekends just means more knitting time. I'll be honest, there wasn't much knitting most of August except for the Lowney socks, so I'm looking forward to more knitting. Swatching happened yesterday and today.



Third sign... PLUCKTEMBER! September is the month long festival celebrating all things Plucky! Official cast on starts September 1. I think I'm ready to go!!



Reminder, today (Sunday!), is the LAST day to receive 30% off any of my IGK designs with the coupon code: PLUCKY2014   Now if you miss this, don't worry, I'm running a Plucktember special all September. That coupon code is for 20% off and is: WELOVEPLUCKY

Forth sign.... apples... I discovered a fabulous type of apple at my local farmer's market a few years ago, Pink Pearl Apples that have a very short season (few weeks in August). Well, I stocked up this year! And my local baker at the farmers market made a lovely tart with them too!



So good!

Fifth sign..... the leaves are changing!





Yes, yes, another Peekaboo Penelope that I knit for Magpie last year during Plucktember that I never got around to showing you guys. Another goal for this Plucktember is to get this pattern published.

I will say. This year has been quite a year for our family. This time last year my dad was unexpectedly in the hospital, and then right after began the pain that was the indicator that my tumor was back. I'm glad to put this year behind us. The bright light of this past year was this sweet little angel above . What a blessing she has been.

Here's to signs of a new fall!!! Happy almost Plucktember!!!

Enjoy these last few days of summer!

Happy Knitting!!!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits