Good things.

1. Fresh flowers. I try to buy them as often as I can when I know I'll be home to enjoy them. My rule of thumb, under $10. Mostly thanks to Trader Joe's :)



2. Reading. Actual books. It has been awhile, but with summer upon us, I've been making more time to sit and read. My current faves.



3. The love of a doggy. Our sweet Puddles went to heaven two weeks ago. It happened suddenly. Her heart was literally too big. Oh, I miss her so. And so does Pa and Bailey. But we were blessed with that sweet girl for 12 years. I never, ever, ever thought I was a dog person until these sweet doggies entered my life. I'm misty-eyed now just thinking about how she was always the first to greet me at the door (Bailey is a bit too, um...lazy, dare I say?! ha.). You guys were awesome with your love and prayers on IG and FB. Thank you. But, dear Puddy filled this blog with her sweet little eyelashes and tongue, so I had to share a few more pics. My heart.



 And for a trip down memory lane, here's all the posts with Puddles in them...oh my sweet girl.

4. Designing. And seeing you guys knit the things I design. I've released another hat pattern, Chugach. Remember, the glaciers and that crazy 2 mile tunnel in Alaska?!  Finally that hat pattern is done. Next up. The matching mitts.

When my fabulous friend, knitter, model, and graphic designer, Knitterella shared her picture of her finished Chugach this week, I thought, heck let's have a sale! So grab the pattern now for $3 til tomorrow night! Jill is such a talented designer, I have to say I'm honored and flattered that she still enjoys knitting my patterns once in awhile :)





And Sarah of the Plucky Knitter shared the sneak peek of her June Classics in my Steward Hat pattern so I couldn't help but put that on sale for the month of June too! I'm so blessed to be part of this awesome, support knitting community!! Sarah is celebrating her 10-year anniversary sale this weekend so grab a skein and cast on!





5. Quiet. I'm craving it so much lately. The peace and quiet and solitude. Whether it is the quiet of my morning swims, the silence of my mind while I'm journaling, or meditating or praying, I find myself anxious if I don't get enough of it during the day. I've been listening to Shauna Niequist's Present over Perfect (LOVE!) and here are a few quotes that I just loved from the book. So many.





6. Cooking. New recipes too.



Blueberry Crisp



Summer Salad

Any new easy recipes you've guys recommend for all the lovely summer fruits and veggies at the farmer's market?

7. A lovely weekend with Pa and Bailey Boo, in my town :)



8. Casting on new things. Simple garter stitch of Cobh.



Hope your weekend is filled with good things too.

With love and gratitude xoxo
Happy Knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Peek...a....

BOO!



It's fall. And even here in California, it is knitting weather time! Definitely time to dust off the keyboard and get back to blogging. I MISS you guys! Fortunately, I'm still around on Instagram and love seeing so many of you there.

There has been a bit of knitting the past few months. Not much, to be honest. But some. Hats. The same hat. A long meditation of hat knitting.



Trying not to jinx it, but hopefully an easy hat pattern soon to come!

The munchkins got bigger. Someone started preschool!!!



And someone turned ONE!!



What a year!



And since it is October, which is normally, Plucktober....a month to celebrate our beloved Plucky Knitter yarns, it is time to offer a bit of a sale. This year it is Plucktovember (go figure!)! Have fun shopping for all your fall and holiday knitting Irishgirlie pattern!



And as a special extra, Ballydesmond, last year's favorite fingerless gloves pattern, is also on sale for an additional 30% off, through October 31. No coupon needed. These are such a quick knit, especially in worsted! Check out all these knit up here.



Nice to see you all back here and I hope to be back soon! Happy Knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Blog Love

Let's celebrate the last of our blogiversary sales with a fun one! These seven patterns are 50% off from now until Monday, Dec. 21, 11:59pm PST, with the coupon code: BLOGLOVE.



(top: left to right) Fiar, Peek-a-boo Penelope, Kenmare Lace Hat, Ballydesmond, Wish I Might, Naylor Street, and Golden State.

A few of my favorites and a few of this year's new ones! A little something for everyone.

Happy Knitting!!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Comfort & Joy

Happy Happy Blogiversary!

I can't believe that 9 years has passed. I met Irish Girlie through our local Knit Nite (I've met the best people that way) and have enjoyed being part of her posse as she discovered and shared her wonderful design skills. The picture above is from our 2009 trip to Port Ludlow and my first Sock Camp so so long ago. So much knitting, food, and fun.

It didn't take long for IGK Designs to start going gangbusters and I got to take pictures of the gorgeous designs usually with the stunning Thayer to model.

 

Miss you so much Thayer!
The shoot for the Comfort Food  mitts and cowl set was a blast and just looking at the pictures makes me want to head to a cafe for some comforting hot chocolate.

I love how a soft chunky yarn makes them feel like a warm hug. Especially if you do them in a luxurious Plucky Knitter yarn like the ones above.

The pattern of cables is so easy to memorize that I chose it to accompany me to Italy last year.

So many good memories come back whenever I slip these on.

Comfort Food mitts knit in Neighborhood Fiber Co. Studio Chunky

This pattern has become my go-to holiday knit. And paired with the cowl or separately, they are sure to be treasured by anyone who receives them. The pattern is 50% off from now until Dec. 13, 11:59pm PST.

Be sure to check out what other IGK designs are popular gifts for the holidays over in the Irish Girlie Ravelry Group December KAL So much loveliness to choose from.


Pattern: Comfort Food  

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A Note from Irishgirlie~~ CONTEST TIME & MORE SALE PATTERNS

Since it is the weekend, let's celebrate with a contest and a few other patterns on sale. First, Tricia mentions that Comfort Food is one of her go-to holiday gifts. What are your go-to holiday gifts this year? They can be knitting related or not...leave you suggestion in the comments and you'll be entered to win an IGK pattern of your choice and a few Knitterella gift tags and cards that I'll put in the mail to you next week!

Gift knits for the babies in your life....Sweet Baby Kate and Dear Baby Francis are both 50% off this weekend, until Dec. 13, 11:59pm PST with Comfort Food.





And one of my favorite go-to knits from last year, Sorin and Sorin Fingerless Gloves, also on sale this weekend!

Have a great weekend!! More blogiversary fun next week!

Happy Knitting!

xoxo Irishgirlieknits & Tricia aka CheekyAttitude

Giftalong

Happy December!! Are you guys all working on your holiday knitting? Or are you opting for a little less stress this year...hahaha! I'm busy working on a design deadline but I'm still hoping to get a few holiday gifts in. We'll see.

I can't believe this will be my 9th year of blogging! Happy blogiversary month! We've got a few fun things planned in the next few weeks for you. To kick it off, I thought we'd have a guest post! Erica is going to talk a little about some of her favorite designs she's seen over in the Indie Design Gift-A-Long. I'm so excited to be one of the Designers participating this year! And be sure to read to the end....we're starting blogiversary month off with some fun!!
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Tick tock, tick tock...19 days left until Christmas. Can you believe it? I can't! I bet you want to knit a couple things and get them under the tree or in a stocking. Me too. I went searching through the Indie Design Gift-A-Long designs and thought I'd share my discoveries.

Mikkey by Lee Meredith



A chunky cowl using slip stitches, one of my favorite techniques for working with color that is deceptively simple with a super cool result. Imagine how striking it would be in black and white!

Snowy Woods Cowl by Michele Bernstein



I love the reverse stockinette design, leaving the tree branches highly visible. Fun, quick knit in Aran weight.

Faro by Jen Lucas



Slip stitches. Stripes. Aran weight. What a fun and fast knit!

Owl in the Thicket by Sara Burch



Cables and lace, with beads or buttons to accentuate the owl's eyes. Too cute!

Bluet by Bonnie Sennott



Cables and lace? How could you go wrong?

X-Intercept by Star Athena



Knits and purls that spiral! Simple technique, yet a striking striped effect.

There are 335 designers participating in the Indie Giftalong, with several KALs to participate in with oodles of prizes. It's not too late to join in the fun (details here) and get some gift knitting started and finished by December 31. Speaking of KALs, our Q4 KAL has started and the theme is Gift Knitting! Join in the fun here and also double dip by entering your WIPs and FOs into both ravelry group contests. I have SO MANY Irish Girlie favorites, as you may have guessed, but I thought I'd highlight a few of my go-tos for gift knitting.

Seamus by Irishgirlieknits



I can't even remember how many of these I knit. So quick and so fun because the cables are easy, plus you have a ton of vacation rows in between. I recently knit one for Padraig in a tweed and he is obsessed with how squishy it is!

Alpine Lake by Irishgirlieknits



This textured cowl is a dream to knit and works up in a flash in bulky. The loop is easily doubled for a warmer cowl and I love that the striking stitch pattern is unisex. I loved the version I knit in a bulky single



and I'm going to stash dive to whip up another for a quick teacher gift.

Rathmore by Irishgirlieknits



I love this for a gift knit! Stripes and lace make this a unique and impressive knit, that definitely delights the recipient. I knit this as a gift for a friend, and I must admit that I was a little sad when the knitting was done. It was such a dream to work up!

So tell me, tell me! What's your favorite IGK pattern to gift? And, hey, why not come on over and join us in the Irish Girlie Ravelry Group December KAL which is all about gift knitting to tie in with the Indie Design GAL! See you there. - Erica

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We usually celebrate blogiversary month with some fabulous specials and this time is no different. For the next two weeks, I'll be picking a few favorite patterns, with a little help from Erica and Tricia aka Cheeky Attitude, and marking them down for 50% off for 2-days only! So you'll need to check back here frequently so you don't miss out!

Erica's post reminded me of an old favorite, Alpine Lake. It really does knit up quickly in Bulky. The pattern is easy to memorize too! Don't have any bulky yarn? Double up some worsted and you are good to go...go up a needle size maybe if you aren't getting gauge.

So, from now until Dec. 8, 11:59pm PST, Alpine Lake is 50%, just $3.00! No coupon necessary!


Happy Knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Good Things.

Two very good things.

1. This past weekend I wasn't at TNNA, the knitting industry's trade show, but my designs were. I love working with Anzula Yarns, and I have a new design that I'll be releasing soon featuring their new yarn, Croquet. Can you see it below?

Cannon Beach in For Better or Worsted, at Anzula's Booth at TNNA

There is one day left of TNNA, so if you are there, be sure to stop by Anzula in Booth #747 to see my designs and then stop by Deep South Fibers in Booth #1048, my wholesale distributor to order them! 

2. One reason I'm not at TNNA is because at the end of June, I'm moving to Anchorage, Alaska! Yes, this San Francisco Bay Area born and raised girlie is going on an Alaska Adventure! I have an exciting job opportunity working at a small, ABA company with children with autism, and I'll be able to see that new special guy everyday too! My current job has been really stressful given my health issues this past few years, so I'm looking forward to a little less responsibility, while still doing the same work. I'll still be home every few months for my preventative treatments, so I'm hoping I won't miss my family too much (who am I kidding! I'm heartbroken that I won't be seeing Magpie, Lil Snowboarder, and Lil Guy whenever I want, but thank goodness for FaceTime!). 

To help celebrate, I'm having an Alaska Adventure sale on all my patterns $6.00 or less all month long! Receive 20% off by entering the code: adventure  This includes my new pattern, Kenmare Lace Fingerless Gloves, which is already on sale until June 10.

Lots of good things happening. Hope good things are happening for you too!

xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Happy Birthday IGK!

SPECIAL GUEST BLOG POST

Welcome to the start of something new - a guest blogger from time to time. I thought it would be fun to kick off this series today, giving Irish Girlie an extra special birthday treat - a day off of  blogging! And hopefully lots of extra knitting time! I chatted with Irish Girlie's knitting friend Erica and she was super excited to start the fun! 
Enjoy, 
Tricia

I  pondered about what I could talk about today. I had all kinds of ideas about IGK's favorite things. Then it hit me! I could take an afternoon celebrating her with my lil man and document our adventure. He loves Auntie Irishgirlie



and loves birthday celebrations!

I buckled him into his car seat and whispered in his ear, "we're going out for cupcakes". He was beside himself. All the way to Royal Oak he chanted "cupcakes, cupcakes"! We walked inside Taste Love Cupcakes and it was like they knew a 2 1/2 year old with a pancake obsession would be stopping by.

Flavor of the day - Chocolate Chip Pancake. He had no idea his two favorite things could be morphed together. We ordered Chocolate Salted Caramel for Auntie.

Padraig slid over her chocolate cupcake to the empty seat next to him.



I told him Auntie wouldn't be coming, but we could talk about her and sing to her. He immediately chanted "Let's Go Irish"! Isn't that a hoot!? It wasn't Happy Birthday, but I knew it would melt Irishgirlie's heart. We dove into our cupcakes and happily chanted "Let's Go Irish" between every bite!

Happy Birthday IGK! I hope today is filled with baked goods and laughs and Irish-themed music. Even if it's a cheer you would hear at a Notre Dame football game. Mwah from us!



To keep the birthday fun going, let's leave LOTS of comments on this post so when Irishgirlie's home tonight knitting and relaxing she'll have lots of fun birthday wishes to read! Cheers to virtual presents!

Just a reminder... Irish Girlie Knits patterns are 20% off in honor of birthday month!



You can browse her catalog of patterns here. I suggest Keegan if you want a quick, cute knit. My mom knit Padraig another one last week!

The design has such a generous fit due to its construction. The largest size on the pattern still fits a toddler!

Another reminder...don't forget to enter Tricia's contest here. You have until February 12 for a chance to win!

Happy Birthday IGK and Happy Knitting on your new Anzula design!
Erica (kzooerica on ravelry)