Oops

Oops...I may be overdoing it a bit with this joy of no crutches thing.  It is 8pm on Wednesday and I'm already in my jammies hoping for an early night because I'm exhausted.  That should be a sign, especially for this night owl.

Monday after work I cooked a fabulous dinner from a cookbook I've had for awhile but haven't had a chance to use much....  Super Natural Ever Day by Heidi Swanson.



I love making frittatas, but her recipe for an asparagus, goat cheese, potato frittata involves a slightly different method for cooking.  All I can say is that I'll be making this again soon!  Full of such flavor, so good!  And it has been a perfect leftover lunch yesterday and today.



After dinner, I went for a swim!  Go me! I've moved from every other day swimming or PT (physical therapy) to trying to do it daily as long as my knee feels good.  This could also be where the exhaustion is coming in because between swimming and PT, I haven't had a rest day since last Wednesday until today.  But each day my knee is getting stronger.

I even made it to knit nite after PT yesterday! So good to see my friends.  I'm trying to finish up a secret design, but then I'll get back to this pretty...


Plucky Feet, colorway Honey Wilkes, design....something new....

Speaking of knitting, there are some fun knitalongs going on that I'm excited about. 

• If you haven't already joined the Plucky Knitter's Designers KAL, there is still plenty of time.  I'm one of the featured designers, but so is my friend (and model!) Thayer Preece and I'm hoping to cast on her Joo-Yun hat pattern soon with some Plucky Sport.
•  The Hazel Knits Group on Ravelry is having an IGK KAL for May and June!  Perfect excuse to use my pretty Hazel Knits yarns from Stitches!
• Mad May (a month for celebrating the wonderful yarns of Madelinetosh) is starting next week!  If you remember, last year I designed Summer Wind for Mad May and wow, has that pattern sold like hotcakes!  Be sure to check out the special MadMay Sales thread for an IGK discount code :)

Now to finish that design so I can cast something new on!

Anyone else already tired this week and counting down the days til the weekend?

Happy Knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Good things

• a very sunny weekend with our first few days of gorgeous weather

• my first trip to the farmer's market in months AND without crutches!!!

• a great week of swimming and physical therapy which means I've also been walking really really well!  We'll see how my 3-month check-up goes tomorrow!

• Doggies

• Making time to cook a delicious dinner, linguine with shrimp scampi, and fresh baked bread from the market

•  Sunday night tv....Game of Thrones, The Killing, The Good Wife, and Mad Men.  It distracts me from dreading Mondays :)

•  A Plucky Knitter update tomorrow, featuring my new design, Fiar.  The pattern and kit will be available in the Etsy Shop Update, which begins at 10am Eastern on Monday morning.

 

A good weekend.  Hope yours was too.

Happy Knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

 

Coming Soon!

I'm so excited to share my newest design for The Plucky Knitter!  I love Sarah's yarns, but I really, really love her color sense and when she sent me these five gorgeous neutrals I was tickled that I could use them all.  We'd been planning a chevron style infinity since Sock Summit....

Introducing  Fiar...

Fiar, the Gaelic word for slant or crooked, seemed like the perfect name for this infinity scarf.  The zigzags created by the chevron pattern twist, turn, and slant, creating lovely lines of color.  Have fun with this scarf by choosing different colors or using up your leftovers!

Here is a longer infinity version using a three-color combination.

I knit this one up in just a week when I was home recovering from knee surgery this past January.  It flew off my needles! 



Fiar will be available next week from the Plucky Knitter!  I'll be sure to let you all know the specifics.  I love that there is the potential for so many different color pairings.  Who says you can only use 3 or 5 colors?  Get out those scraps and add in a bit more color!  We were able to get one long and one short infinity scarf from 5 skeins, with enough leftover for another if you add in another color.  So many possibilities!!

Finished measurements: 22” wide and 10” long for short infinity scarf; 27” wide and 10” long for long infinity scarf, after blocking. 

Yarn: ~495 (610) yards total of fingering weight yarn such as The Plucky Knitter Primo MCN 75/20/5 or Plucky Feet

For 5-color version, need ~ 115 (140) yards (A), 105 (130) yards (B), 80 (100) yards (C), 90 (110) yards (D), 105 (130) yards (E).

For 3-color version, need ~ 185 (230) yards (A), 165 (200) yards (B), 145 (180) yards (C).

A very special thank you to Thayer Preece, my gorgeous model, Tricia Soto, THE best photographer!, and Terry and Leslie for styling! This photo shoot was definitely a group effort as I was hobbling on crutches just two weeks after my surgery. And of course thank you to Sarah, aka the Plucky Knitter, for her generous yarn support!!

Once again, Knitterella, aka Jill Zielinski, made my pattern look beautiful!



Be sure to get your kit next week!  Plus, this would work for both the Plucky Designers KAL or the IGK Spring Shawl/Scarf KAL!

Happy Knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

The one with the best cake wins. Hehe.

Seriously, if you guys thought that last birthday cake was cool, just wait until you see the one Lil' Guy's mom made for the kid birthday party.  My SIL rocks!

First, some pre-party twister.



I only take credit for stuffing the goody bags.  The pretzel light sabers were definitely a hit with the 5-year olds.  As well as the blow up light sabers (in case you want to know, those were from Target).





But really, you want to see this cake....



Other than the figurines, my SIL made all of that!  Plus the cake was delicious too. 



My favorite part was hearing the kiddos complain if they didn't get part of the "death star."  Don't worry, we remedied that, but the kids all loved the cake.  Lil' Guy was so excited!







I think Lil' Guy had a pretty fantastic birthday party! 

Okay, knitting update coming next!

Happy Knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Recharged

My long weekend was exactly what I needed to recharge a bit.  Of course, I'm still counting the days until the weekend. I hope you all had a lovely spring weekend, whether you celebrated Easter, Passover, or just enjoyed spring!  The highlight of my weekend was celebrating Lil' Guy's 5th birthday and an early Easter with him last Saturday.

Indulge auntie for a few pictures, ok?








I know this picture is blurry, but c'mon!  That book is awesome and look at his smile!






Where's our candy?

I didn't get as much knitting done as I'd hoped, but I do have a new design to share in my next post. For now, I'll leave you a teaser...

If you can't wait, more about the pattern is here and will be available from the Plucky Knitter soon!

Happy Knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Thinking

Although I've been away from the blog for a bit, I've been thinking about you guys a lot.  Miss you.  I do write little posts in my head though.  Do you?  Or is that just me?  So while I'm thinking again, I'll share.


Things I've been doing/thinking/watching the past few weeks

• Being patient with the healing process and using my crutches as needed
• Joined a new gym with an awesome swimming pool! 
• Swam!  Yes, real swimming.  I got the go ahead from my doctor last week to start swimming and after months of either no exercise or only walking in the water, I was so excited to get in the pool!  My knee felt great, I felt great, and then I got out of the water and umm...yeah...knee still hurts. But is getting stronger!
• Caught up on a lot of tv!  Being on crutches for 11 weeks has cramped my out and about style a lot, but I've watched the following:
• Forsythe Saga
• Sherlock
• The Last Enemy 
• rewatched Game of Thrones!!
• all of Season 1 of The Killing (Seattle does not rain that much?!)
• NCAA Women's Basketball!  Go IRISH!!! National Championship game Tuesday night!
• rewatched Mad Men

• Saw the Hunger Games!  Loved it!  
• Studying.  Lots of catching up to do for the grad class I've been taking.  Took my final last night...passed.  Woohooo!
• Walked through a rainforest and saw butterflies up close.

• Thought about knitting.  Ha!  Wish I had done more knitting the past few weeks, but have needed to focus on pattern writing, errata (eek! no fun! Holbrook and Raindrops on Roses both have been updated on Ravelry), etc.  This absolutely gorgeous handspun that Zonda spun for me has me thinking pretty thoughts.

Things I thought about/did/watched today

• Got a pedicure!  It was a little tricky with not being able to bend my knee too much, but the toes were desperate for pretty!
• Got a good night's sleep
• Watched a great Notre Dame basketball victory over UConn
• Game of Thrones.  Mad Men.  The Killing.  Lots of tv knitting time :)
• Started knitting on this bit of honey...

Yarn: The Plucky Knitter Plucky Feet, colorway Honey Wilkes (love, love, love)

Things I'm looking forward to

• More knitting
• A few days off for Easter/Spring Break.....taking a long weekend next weekend, which means a short work week this week
• Swimming
• Ditching the crutches
• Sharing a new design that I collaborated with Sarah, The Plucky Knitter, on! Soon...
• Seeing Lil' Guy next weekend
• Wishing Lil' Guy a happy 5th birthday tomorrow!  Seriously...how did that happen!  

1 month old


2 years old


3 years old




almost 5 years old, and ready to take on the world!

Happy Birthday Lil' Guy! Auntie IGK loves you sooooo much!


So what have you guys been thinking about/doing/looking forward to?

Happy Knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits