10 years.

That seems a bit crazy to be blogging for 10 years. And yet, here we are. I'm so glad we are still here, though posts are fewer. We still seem to stay connected via Instagram or Facebook or Ravelry. Heck, many of you are my dear real life friends now...we text, talk, meet-up, vacation, cry, laugh. All thanks to this blogging and knitting community.

This isn't a big reflection post...I'm trying to get back into the things I love, like posting more regularly, so let's not make it harder, 'mkay? 

Things I love you ask? Here are a few. Well, let's stick with the theme and make it 10.

1. Pom Poms. I want to put them on everything this year. They make everything a little bit happier, and we can all use more happy. Now if only I could knit faster.

2. Finishing things. Ha! Finally. The recipient didn't want a pom pom. I didn't understand it.

Conversationalist Hat featuring Plucky Knitter Primo Aran

3. Anything Jo Malone. You know when you hear lots of lovely things about something and you know you'll probably love it, but you don't want to go down the rabbit hole? Well that was me for so long, until I was treated to these mini perfumes. OMG. Love them all. Pretty sure I'd love everything in this line.

4. Me time! Self-care....who knew?! From acupuncture, to knitting, to swimming... making me a priority has been an awesome thing that I realized I had forgotten to do for awhile. We need to do that more often, don't you think?!

5. This song. It's been in my head since he sent it to me to listen to. I love that I have my own personal DJ now :)

6. Sales. Here you go! Our blogiversary sales start today..... 50% off these select patterns from now until Dec. 6. NO COUPON NEEDED (just add to Ravelry cart and discount is applied). Be sure to check back later this week for more patterns on sale too!

7. Tea. Thank goodness I love it, as I'm trying to slowly wean myself off of my beloved iced cafe au laits. #darnmilk

Ballydesmond featuring Plucky Knitter Primo Sport

8. Indie Design 2016 Gift-A-Long! I'm so excited to be a participating designer again this year. Jump on over to this group and check out the amazing indie designers, cast on a gift (for anyone! yourself included!), and let's enjoy this holiday season.

9. Knitting weather!! It has been chilly here for California weather...in the 40s and 50s. Just lovely.

Yep. Both new hat designs coming soon. 

10. This man.

Happy Knitting!

xoxo Irishgirlieknits

8 Years.

8 years of blogging! You guys rock for still stopping by this space- whether from the start, a few years ago, or just recently. It might be every few months, just to look at the pictures, it might be through a blog feeder (is that what they are called) or quickly on a break at work so I understand if the comments aren't as frequent. The main thing is that we have created this awesome knitting community through blogs, knitting, ravelry, twitter, instagram, LYS, retreats. You've become my friends, many in real life, and many more virtually. So thank you!!

The past few years we've celebrated here by putting some of my most popular patterns on sale for 50% off. This is the only time I do this, so please spread the word and take advantage! And since Tricia, aka Cheekyattitude, is on board this year as part of the IGK team and will be helping out, we are making this EXTRA fun! There will be three separate groups of patterns on sale over the next week or two, but they'll be a surprise. Plus we have some other fun things planned. It is the holiday season after all!

First up..... IGK Favorites: Accessories! All the patterns shown below are 50% through Dec. 8, NO COUPON NEEDED.



One of the most popular IGK designs this past year has been Fiar. It saw a revival this past year with the lovely gradient yarns, especially those of Black Trillium Fibres.





I also released a new sock pattern this year, Contorta, in the lovely Bare Naked Wools Breakfast Blend fingering. It had been awhile since I had designed a sock pattern so it was nice to see so many of you respond so positively to it. Thank you!



The Sleepy Hollow Collection, San Mateo,  and Cotty Socks are also on sale.



And of course, my most popular pattern by far, Summer Wind. This one and Cotty really jumpstarted my design career. But this infinity scarf (and San Mateo too) continue to be "potato chip" knitting! You can't knit just one. It also featured my fabulous duo of Thayer as my model and Tricia behind the camera, with one of my favorite yarns Plucky Knitter Primo.

Any of these would make great holiday gifts if you started now too. By the way, how is your holiday knitting going? Don't forget about our IGK fall/holiday KAL over on Ravelry. My holiday knitting is slow going while I finish prepping the new pattern that Tricia showed you in the last post. But our holiday celebrating did start last weekend with our annual trip to the Dickens' Fair.





Magpie is awake for tea this year!



And she didn't quite know what to make of Father Christmas.

Next on the holiday list is to get our Christmas tree this weekend. I'd love to hear how your holiday plans/knitting/merry-making is coming. Are you in the holiday spirit or is this time of year a harder time for you? If you don't particularly celebrate the holidays how is your December going? Any special knitting?

I did a little Black Friday shopping for you guys from Knitterella. Leave a comment sharing something about your holiday plans, traditions, knitting, etc. and one of you will win the prize below. And if you mention in the same comment that you'll spread the news about the contest or sale (e.g., twitter, instagram, ravelry, Facebook, on your blog) you'll be entered twice. Be sure to leave a way for us to contact you (e.g., rav id).



Oh, and one more sale I have to tell you about because you know I LOVE all things Knitted Wit. Lorajean's birthday is Sunday and she is celebrating with a birthday sale. Everything in her shop is 34% off with the coupon code: birthday34  More details here I'm definitely getting some Sassy Santa!!


Have a  great weekend!!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

It's A Plucky Party!

I knit my first project with Plucky Knitter yarn back in 2008.  Mad Color Weave socks for my sister-in-law.



It was love at first knit.



Then the cashmere Toasties. I've been hooked on Sarah's kicky colors and scumptious yarns ever since.  And this week, Sarah is celebrating 6 years of Plucky Knitter Yarns!

To help celebrate the party, we've planned a special coupon for all of you who love plucky yarns too!  Today only, through 11:59pm PST, receive 40% off any Irish Girlie Knit pattern (excludes The Sullivan Family and Woods Family Collection) with the coupon code: pluckyparty

My first design that I sold was designed with Sarah's lovely yarn.



Cotty socks.



Another favorite design, Summer Wind. Check out all these Summer Winds in Plucky yarns!

Can you believe 27 of my designs have featured Plucky Knitter yarns?!?!  I know plucky knitters, especially those in the fabulous Plucky Knitter group on Ravelry, have been so supportive of my designs. Thank you so much!!

A few more of my favorites....



Winnie, featured in the August 2009 Plucky Classics shipment (I remembered being over the moon that I was designing for this!!)



Dancette, specially designed for Sock Summit and then the mystery kits began right after!



Fiar

Sarah's also having a big plucky update on Thursday with free shipping ANYWHERE! With some old favorite colorways, such as Honey Wilkes. One of my absolute favorite plucky colors (who knew?! It isn't blue or pink!).



Honey Bunches

Thank you Sarah for designing such lovely yarns, and more importantly for being such a supportive friend over the years!!  Remember one of the first trunk shows!  Then Sock Summit! I can't wait to see what the next 6 years brings you!!

Reminder, 40% off today only with the coupon code: pluckyparty

Happy Plucky Anniversary!!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

More Knitting

I love long weekends, especially when I don't really need to go anywhere.  It makes cleaning not so bad when you have a  few days off.  It allows time for blogging and knitting and adding projects to Ravelry!  Like this Naylor Street hat.  I finished it this summer and I'm just now getting around to adding it to ravelry.  My sis was kind enough to model it for me at Thanksgiving dinner.







 Yarn: Madelinetosh Vintage, colorway Fragrant

I've been working on my Cotty mitts this weekend while enjoying tea out of my new Jennie the Potter mug.  One done in STR mediumweight and the other in progress in Plucky Knitter Primo Worsted.



I resisted the Black Friday sales yesterday.  I was tempted by some of the yarn store ones, but who am I kidding.  I still have lots of yarn!  And upon cleaning, found a few more skeins that I haven't put away yet.





I can't wait to try the new Plucky Knitter Bulky yarn.



I fell in love with Studio June's Springy Sport when designing Granlibakken.  I think either of these would make lovely Naylor St. hats, but I'm thinking of using them together.  We'll see.  FYI, Studio June extended her Black Friday sale through Cyber Monday.  Receive 25% off when you enter code GIVETHANKS at checkout.  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!

Another finished project was my Go Giants World Series Cowl!  When we were at SOAR, I knew I wanted to knit an orange cowl during the World Series and fell in love with Floating, a 70% Superfine Alpaca, 20% Silk, 10% cashmere fingering weight yarn, from A Verb for Keeping Warm.  It is a little bit of heaven and the Thai Iced Tea colorway was just perfect!   I doubled it and make a Comfort Food cowl.





Don't forget my Irish Girlie Knits Designs After-Thanksgiving Holiday sale is still going through Monday, Nov. 26!  Receive 25% off any of my patterns or collections...no coupon necessary!



Please feel free to add any other holiday sales that your favorite etsy or yarn dyers are having in the comments :)  And if you are looking for gifts for the knitters in your life, definitely check out Kate from Hello Knitty's gift guide for knitters.  It covers just about everything!

The rest of my weekend is going to include some baking, knitting, catching up on my grad school class (ugh!), working out, and most importantly, watching the Fightin' Irish beat USC!!!  Go Irish!!  Really hoping to keep that #1 ranking!!!  We haven't been number one since I was a sophomore at Notre Dame!

What are you guys up to?  Hope you have a lovely weekend!!

GO IRISH!!!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Happy October!

A week of my favorite month has already flown by and it sure has been a busy week!

Two design deadlines were met!  Yay!  And while I'm working on one more, I finally caved and cast on some comfort knitting....



Last Friday I had a minor surgical procedure...really hoping we see good results finally!  But first, it was a weekend of sleeping and pain meds and ice...kind of like this...





Despite still not feeling great on Sunday, my mom drove me and the kiddos to the pool....I slept while they did this...



Off to the deep end go my two favorite fish!





Check out little guy without training wheels!!! His mom was just standing close, but he can do it all by himself!



I have to say the kids were awesome with taking care of me!  "Okay, we'll be quiet....we know you have "frankenstein stitches" (the stitches are right above my eye).  After another day of rest today, I'm hoping I'm up for heading back to work tomorrow.  Stitches come out tomorrow too!  Yay!!

How's your October going?  Hopefully well.

Happy October!!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

p.s. Check out our IGK KAL for fall!  Plus there is a coupon code in the group good until Tuesday, Oct 9, midnight PST.
p.p.s.  I bought yarn today.  It has been 3 months since I've bought any yarn!!  And it was two yarns that I don't have in my stash.  And I had surgery.  There, that's my reason :)
p.p.p.s.  I love you guys!!!  Thanks for hanging in there with me :)

Summer of Socks!

Over in our Irish Girlie Knits Group on Ravelry, we are having an unofficial IGK Summer of Socks knitalong.  And believe it or not, I finally have a finished pair of socks!!  My BFF is going to be so happy to be getting her birthday socks....even if it is a few weeks late!

My Cotty socks, in The Plucky Knitter 80/20 Superwash Merino Nylon sock yarn.





It seems like forever since I have finished a pair of socks, but actually, I did finish a new sock design back in June for Knitted Wit's and Sincere Sheep's Among Friends Yarn Club.  And I can now release it for sale!

Here is Candy Necklace  

When you have fun, sassy variegated yarns, you need a design that allows those colors to shine.  This pattern does just that.  Plus, the easy-to-memorize lace that travels the length of the sock almost reminds me a bit of those fun Candy Necklaces that we wore with our friends as children.  I know Knitted Wit’s sweet, candy-colored yarn sure does too!

Pattern: Candy Necklace

Notes: Instructions are written for a cuff-down sock. Charts are provided on the last page.

Suggested Yarns: 340-400 yards of light fingering weight yarn such as Knitted Wit Superwash BFL, Sincere Sheep Keen

Materials:

Size US 1.0 (2.25mm) or size to obtain gauge, either DPNs or circular needles

Stitch markers

Tapesty needle

Gauge: 38 stitches and 54 rows = 4” over st st

Size: adult women’s Small (Medium, Large)

Finished measurements: 6 ¾ (7 ¾, 8 ¾)" foot circumference;  6” leg length

Since the summer is a perfect time to knit socks, I'm offering a special introductory price of $4.00 on the pattern until July 16, 2012!  No coupon needed! 
 

At TNNA last month, my other new sock design, Alpine Lake Socks, was released by Kollage Yarns. 





I designed these back in December when I designed the Alpine Lake Cowl- I loved the pattern so much I knit the cowl too!



The stitch pattern is perfect for solid or variegated yarns, and is also a great unisex pattern!  I actually knit dad a pair out of STR heavyweight (using the small size of the pattern with the heavier yarn) back in December as well.  I'll have to get a picture of those soon!

Size: Adult Small (Medium, Large)

Finished measurements: 6 ¼ (7 ½, 8 ¾)" foot circumference; 5 ¾ (5 ¾, 5 ¼)” approximate leg length

Materials:

·         1 (1, 2) skein(s) Kolláge Yarns Sock-a-licious, 70% merino, 20% nylon, 10% silk, 354 yds/100 g skein; Shown in color Sangria

·         Size US 2 (2.75 mm) or size to obtain gauge, either DPNs or circular needles

·         Stitch Markers

·         Tapestry needle

Gauge: 32 sts and 40 rows= 4” over st st

Pattern Notes: Instructions are written for a cuff-down sock. Charts are provided on the last page.  Written for Small size with instructions for (Medium, Large) sizes given in parentheses if different.

The lovely photos were taken by my awesome photographer, Tricia Soto (aka Cheekyattitude), and cupcakefaerie makes a great model too!

Both the Alpine Lake Socks and the Alpine Lake Cowl are available now either online or through your LYS that carries Kollage Yarns!

Now that my sock needles are free, I need to figure out what I want to cast on next.  I even have new sock yarn tempting me.


Studio June Yarn Eight Bells, colorway Crocus   



The colorway is just perfect!  I love it, but to be honest, I can't decide if it wants to be socks or a shawlette of some sort.  I've been thinking of Blackberry Brambles Shawl for quite some time...hmmmmm

While most of the country has been having record heat waves, we've had a nice warm summer so far.  The beach was 75 degrees last week!  Although it is supposed to get into the 90s in the next few days...eek!  I do know that the doggies love their morning sun spot.



Happy Summer!!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits