Stitches East 2010

Wow! I can't believe this last week has flown by so quickly. Stitches East was a bit, just a bit, like sock camp in that I had way too much fun in a very short amount of time and sacrificed sleep for more fun!

I guess that is what happens when you get four sock campers together!


Erica, Me, Debbi, and Marcy

I'll take it as a sign that they have all had a hard time reentering real-life after last weekend's fun by the fact that none of them have had time to blog either :)




Check out Marcy's gorgeous vest that she finished knitting right before Stitches East!

The best part about an event like Stitches East was seeing and meeting other knitters! I have to thank Kollage Yarns for sponsoring me in their booth everyday to meet and greet other knitters, sign my patterns, and do a lace demo.

Here are just a few of the knitters I was able to meet....




Dawn, from NE Knits and Beads, and I have been reading each other's blogs so it was so nice to finally meet her in person. She's wearing a her gorgeous Icing Scarf by KnitQuest (another sock camper!!) and has already cast on Le Petit Pont!

More knitters.....


Maureen


Joanna


Kathy, who loved that I was an "Irishgirlie" :)


Heather, aka YarnYenta, and creator of Intwined Pattern Studio, the designing software that I use for most of my patterns (and love!!), had a booth right across from us so I got to see lots of her.


And fellow Socks that Rock lover, Robin aka histoknitter! I was so excited to finally meet her! She is just as fabulous in person as she seems on Ravelry.

Anyone notice my pretty blue Pont Neuf Infinity Scarf that I'm wearing?! Yes, I stayed up late (again!) finishing this before my trip back east so that I'd have one to wear for myself :) I absolutely love the infinity scarves, so you may be seeing more around here!

Speaking of staying up too late, I must to bed. But first, I promised a winner. Thank you all for entering the contest for Bellingrath last week. There were some awesome blog suggestions, app suggestions, and what you want to knit now. If you haven't checked out the comments, take a minute to do so. Lots of good stuff! I heart you guys!

And the lucky winner of a skein of Sock-a-licious and Bellingrath is...

Sarah from Sarah with an 'H'

Congratulations Sarah! Send me an email with your address at irishgirlieknits AT gmail DOT com and I'll get your prize out to you soon!

Stay tuned for more Stitches East fun in my next post!

Happy Friday!!

xoox Irishgirlieknits

Contest Time!

Best way to beat away the Monday blahs, well, other than counting down the number of sleeps until Stitches East, would be a contest, right?!

I've been meaning to give away a skein of Sock-a-licious and my Bellingrath Pattern for awhile now!



Kollage also donated a set of square DPNs and a clear project bag too!

The contest is easy....just leave a comment :) And if you having any thoughts on the following, that would be great too (you guys always have the best info/recommendations!)...
*favorite new-to-you blog of any kind
*favorite app for an Android phone (I've had the Sprint HTC EVO for a few months now and feel like I still don't know much about all the "extras")
*the "it" knitting pattern for the holidays or what you want to knit now!
*any other favorite you want to share

I'll announce a winner at the end of the week. In the meantime, don't forget about my pattern sale. Receive 20% off any of my individually sold patterns by using the coupon code stitcheseast from now until Nov.1.

And check back soon for the new patterns being released! It is going to be a great week here, I can feel it!

Happy Knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Happy Friday!

A few reasons why it is happy...

1. I took a much needed personal day today! A nice long 3-day weekend is exactly what I needed. I'm looking forward to knitting, sleeping, knitting, sleeping, and reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (I'm on page 260 and loving it!).

2. It is October. That means Screw-You-September is over!! October is definitely going to be a better month, I can just feel it.

3. I can announce this!

I'll be part of the Kollage Yarns team at Stitches East!! I'm beyond excited! I've never been to Stitches East, plus I anticipate being able to see quite a few of my friends back there!

Speaking of Bellingrath, it has been exciting to see this knit up by other people! Here's a gorgeous one, another beautiful one, and one more fabulous one!

I haven't had too much time to work on my newest Bellingrath, but I do hope to finish it by Stitches East! This one is in Bugga!! (and guess who will also be at Stitches East? Yeap, Sanguine Gryphon)!

4. Happy Friday includes lunch and knitting with friends!

Hope you all have a happy Friday too!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

STITCHES Fun!

I have so much to share about Stitches Midwest, but I really need to catch up on sleep tonight before the reality of going back to work sets in, so I'm going to break this out over a couple of posts! There will be prizes though, so bear with me!

Friday was a fabulous day! My friends Thayer and Cheryl flew back to Chicago for a visit home and a day at Stitches Midwest! It was too fun having Thayer (my gorgeous model, btw!) there with the debut of Bellingrath.


We may have gotten a bit silly!


Susie, the fabulous woman behind Kollage Yarns, loved meeting her too!



Cheryl, me, Thayer, and Angela

Being from Chicago, Thayer and Cheryl insisted we have Portillos for lunch. And I'm so glad they did insist! Yummy!! It was delicious!


Their Italian Beef sandwich was soooooooooooo good! Thank goodness I don't live there!

After lunch it was back to shopping!



I loved Jennie the Potter's booth! Her yarn bowls, mugs, buttons, all of it are too cute and it was so nice to be able to hang out and chat with her for a bit too! Guess what?! She's planning to come to Stitches West next year! Start saving your pennies :) Or if you can't wait, she does have an Etsy shop.




I couldn't resist the necklace that matched my new Bellingrath just perfectly!



Erica, Melynda, Jill, and Allegra

Erica also introduced me to Melynda (of French Press Knits fame!), Jill (Knitterella fame!), and Allegra (from Petite Purls!). We all had so much fun and it was so nice to be able to talk to other knitters who are branching out in the industry side of knitting! Hanging out with them just made me more excited to keep up the designing! I even asked Jill if she would consider doing a proper logo for me (her graphics are fabulous....she did logos for Plucky Knitter and Through the Loops, just to name a few!).

And since I know you'll ask (I did!), Allegra's sweater is a Women's version of her adorable baby sweater Boheme and it is knit out of BMFA DeVine (love love love that yarn!). She's planning to release the pattern soon! I can't wait to knit it! Along with a pair of French Press slippers too! Seriously, my queue of patterns grew over the weekend!




Jill was kind enough to donate a few Knitterella cards and tags as a prize for one lucky winner too! I love her cards and tags (and she will have notepads soon too! I got one of those for me!). Just leave a comment and I'll pick a winner in the next few days!

And I've extended the sale on Sweet Home for a few more days :)

Now I need to go unpack. And wind some new yarn. Don't let this post fool you. There was definitely yarn shopping! I'll show you soon!

Happy knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Favorites so far from STITCHES!

Wow! It has been a whirlwind few days here at Stitches Midwest! I have lots to tell you, but I need to get a few hours sleep (since last night was practically an all-nighter finishing my own Bellingrath to wear today!).

I have to share a few pictures from the Fashion Show last night because, well, it was awesome! Crazy fun! I haven't been to the Fashion Show before so I had no idea what to expect, and then to have my design in it, it was too much. These aren't even my pictures because mine came out too blurry (I'm pretty sure I was shaking!). Thanks Erica!

I should design something for a guy next year, don't you think?

I was so impressed with how they styled all the models for the show and have more fun pictures to share! Benjamin and the crew at XRX did a great job!

Bellingrath Shawlette, Kollage Yarns Sock-a-licious colorway Blue Mist (this one I get to keep!)

Today was my pattern signing! Another exciting day! My friend Jen and I finally met in person (Jen of Piddleloop fame is to blame for my knitting bag problem!). I met lots of people and tried to take lots of pictures.

More pictures to come! Thank you all again for being so supportive, especially the twitter comments today when I was a wee bit nervous I'd be alone in the booth :) Reminder that Sweet Home is on sale still!

Happy Stitches!!

xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Priority Packing

Well, the yarn is wound.


top to bottom: Plucky Primo in Headboard, Sock-a-licious in Blush, Sanquine Gryphon Bugga, BMFA STR in KMBFLA

Yes, as always, I think I can knit 3 pairs of socks and a shawlette in 5 days.



And finish my second Bellingrath Shawlette! Thank you all SO much for the Bellingrath love! I'm so glad you all like it as much as I do :)



Oh, and yes, a pair of Bellingrath Socks for me. In Bugga, colorway Nightcrawler. Yummy.

I am so excited to be attending Stitches Midwest for the first time and to be part of Kollage's design team! Plus, yesterday the Yarn Harlot finished her gorgeous Cotty socks and it has been so fun to see the hearts for Cotty on Ravelry jump up! So, I thought a sale was in order!

Sweet Home will be on sale for $4 today through Monday 8/23!



I really do appreciate all of you and your support you've shown me as I'm growing as a knitter and designer! I heart you guys!

I hope to blog from Stitches and have a contest while I'm gone too! Come back for details! Oh, and if you are on twitter, I'm irishgirlieknit over there if you want to follow the fun!


Now I need to go pack some clothes :)

Happy Knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Bellingrath

I've been to Alabama just once. Over 10 years ago, I was visiting my bestest friend in the whole world, who was living in Biloxi, Mississippi at the time. She suggested that instead of going to New Orleans again (I was thinking more along the lines of why wouldn't we go back to NOLA?), we should go to Mobile, Alabama for the day. And so we did. Little did we know that pretty much nothing would be open in Mobile on a summer weekend when almost everyone was at the coast instead. I was underwhelmed. However, on the drive back we stopped at the beautiful Bellingrath Gardens and it made the day worth it (well, almost. I remember still wishing for beignets). The gardens were beautiful!

This shawlette and sock design, Bellingrath, was inspired by both those lovely gardens and the perfect Blush color yarn, Sock-a-licious, from Kollage Yarns in Alabama.

Introducing Bellingrath......

















The shawlette. One skein, gotta love that!

And I just have to say, my model and photographer....LOVE THEM! I really have some of the best friends a knitter could have. Ilikecake (you may know her by her gorgeous sock designs) worked the runway (well, garden in this case) while Cheekyattitude worked her magic behind the camera (you can check out more shawlette pictures here).

The socks feature the same lace edging and panel. I'm pretty tickled with how that works :) They are modeled perfectly by Cupcakefaerie! Again, what would I do without my friends.

The best part is that these two great projects are available in one pattern! It'll be debuting at the Stitches Midwest Fashion Show (squee!!!), kits will be for sale in the Great Yarns Booth and the Kollage Yarns Booth, and I'll be signing the pattern in Kollage's Booth on Saturday! Please stop by to say hi :)

But if you want to cast on right now, or can't make it to Stitches Midwest, Patternfish is carrying the pattern and you can download it now here (I am just so excited!).

You know the saying about it takes a village? Well, this design will always be very special for me. It really has taken a village. Erica for challenging me to this creative process (a shawlette? sure, no problem, never knit one, let alone design one....in five weeks...no problem!). Thayer and Terry for modeling. Tricia for her gorgeous photos. And my two awesome, who knits as fast as them, test knitters, Manda and Madeleine (I practically cried with relief when they agreed to test knit under very very tight deadlines). Of course, Susie from Kollage for giving me this exciting opportunity!

Now that the secret project is out, I can't wait to get back to showing you all what else I'm working on. Come back this week for more knitting, a pattern sale (yay!), and a contest or two!

Happy Knitting!

xoxo IrishgirlieKnits

Woohooo!!

I am so excited that I can finally announce part of the super secret project that I've been furiously working on for the past 4 weeks (yes, you read that correctly...4 weeks to whip this together!).

I am going to Stitches Midwest because......

I am so excited to be part of Kollage Yarns' design team for Stitches Midwest and for the release of my new pattern Bellingrath, a sock AND shawlette design out of Sock-a-licious! I'll be at their booth in the market Saturday signing my pattern (crazy! crazy!)!

Other exciting news....our contest winners for my Uncle Frank sock pattern are:

Sherry

LittleBird from SurreptitiousNester

MelissaB

Victoria from Knotes From a Knit Wit

KatherineR

Please send me your email so that I can send you the pattern. You can email me at irishgirlieknits AT gmail DOT com Congratulations!

Are any of you planning to go to Stitches Midwest? Let me know because I'd love to see you!

Happy Weekend!!

xoxo Irishgirlieknits