A Plucky Knitter Trunk Show!!

I still can't believe that just yesterday, Madeleine, Sarah, and I had the pleasure of hosting over 50 Bay Area knitters for a Plucky Trunk Show!

Madeleine and Sarah....we had too much fun!

The morning flew by so quickly that there are gorgeous skeins of yarn that I am looking at now while posting these pictures that I can't believe didn't come home with me! Too much pretty!

Decision time. Which pretty? These pictures were taken about 30 minutes into the fun....to be honest, the table was surrounded prior to that and there was no way to take a photo!

These were some of my favorite photos...the ones where everyone was hugging their yarn babies and happy happy! Betsy and Sarah are pleased as punch here!

Look at those colors Thayer grabbed!

And the handknits!! Just lovely Marisol and Sarah! Marisol took some great pictures of the event too...check that out here!



Then there was food! Madeleine has promised to share her delicious scones recipe! They were a hit!



Lots of Plucky project sharing as well! So much fun to hang out a bit with Sarah and meeting new Plucky friends as well! Next time, more knitting and chatting definitely!



Look what is on Sarah's needles!! Winter Wonder :) Sarah and I are looking forward to collaborating on a few kits this year, particularly for Sock Summit!! So excited!!



Sock campers unite :)





We had such a fun day. Thank you Madeleine and Sarah for so much fun!! Sarah is just as fun, sweet, and fabulous as you could imagine! And her yarns are even prettier in person! I did gather quite a pretty pile of yarn to take home with me...next post! Today, I'm knitting away on my new Plucky sock design!

Happy Plucky Knitting!!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Party at Verb!

Last night, despite the Friday night Bay Area traffic, Thayer and I headed to A Verb for Keeping Warm to hear Ysolda discuss her design process and what inspires her.

I'm looking forward to her new book (available for preorder now....you can get it online or call the shop). Just hearing her talk about things to consider when knitting to fit your body gave me lots of helpful information and the sample patterns are gorgeous!

Thayer and I couldn't resist a picture! Ysolda was too fun!

Cookie A. was also there signing her gorgeous new book, Knit. Sock. Love. Her and Judy seem to be having fun discussing something fabulous!

We would have stayed longer, but we had to head home to get ready for today's festivities with Sarah, aka The Plucky Knitter. Too. much. fun. today. Pictures tomorrow...promise!

Happy Knitting!

xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Overwhelming

TNNA was quite overwhelming in all the good ways you can imagine! I wish I could better articulate how much energy and excitement that events like this create. And I love being part of this knitting community. I was a bit nervous about what to expect, but I met so many wonderful designers and indie dyers and other artists in our community, I had no need to be nervous.

I did get my smackdown on and went for a morning walk along the harbor Saturday.

Now my brain is just overwhelmed with all of the ideas buzzing around in my brain. From designs, to following up on ideas and with new friends, it sure has been a busy week.

Pico Accuardi Dyeworks, Naturally Dyed Worsted in colorway Aunt Honey

Gorgeous yarn was in abundance! I loved the yarns from Anzula Yarns (yay! they'll be at Stitches West!), loved Madelinetosh's new yarn and colors, so many other yarns too. I finally met Deb from Pico Accuardi Dyeworks. I felt like I knew her a bit already because Marisol and her are good friends. Plus I met Lorajean from Knitted Wits and her adorable son O.

Such a cutie in his hat from Sarah (too cute!!).

A few other goodies included fabulous gift tags from Knitterella, an Annie Adams' shawl pin, and perfect project bag! The new Schacht Sidekick spinning wheel is definitely a goodie I'll ask Santa for (I know he'll say no, but a girl can dream, right?).

And if you can believe it, that is the extend of my pictures from the trip. Yeap. None, nada. I'll try better Friday night when I head over to A Verb for Keeping Warm for an event with Ysolda and Cookie A. and Saturday when I get to hang out with Sarah, aka The Plucky Knitter! Crazy fun!!!

Happy just about Friday!

xoxo Irishgirlieknits

It is official!

I'm at TNNA in Long Beach! So excited!!

I helped Kollage during the Sample It! event tonight, where the My Kind of Saturday cowl was featured in a kit! Check out that fabulous poster of ilikecake (great photo cheekyattitude!)!

Tomorrow is the first day to see everything, then a class with Shannon Oakey on Sunday morning, more trade show on Sunday and a quick flight home! It is sure to be a busy, fun weekend!

Happy Friday!

xoxo Irishgirlieknits

WIP Wednesday

I'm smitten.

The Plucky Knitter's Primo Fingering Yarn + a new design = LOVE

Happy Wednesday!

xoxo Irishgirlieknits

My Kind of....

Monday?

Why yes, today was a good Monday.

I survived reentry at work. I love my job, so it really wasn't so bad.

I ate healthy. Surprisingly, getting back into my regular routine of work, etc., made it much easier to focus on eating well. Thank goodness, because those cookies were getting the best of me.

I made it to my new exercise class, The Dailey Method. I'm almost certain that my abs and thighs will be killing me tomorrow. But I even packed my gym bag for tomorrow. Crazy girl!

And my new design for Kollage Yarns was released today! Now that is my kind of Monday....

wait....

I mean....

My Kind of Saturday!

You know what my kind of Saturday is, right?

A quick trip to the farmers market, a bit of time to read and relax before the day gets underway, toss on my comfy jeans, a t-shirt, and this easy-to-wear cowl....and there you have it.

My kind of Saturday.

Riveting, Kollage Yarns' new yarn made from recycled jeans, is pretty awesome. I LOVE the colorways and loved knitting with it. This one skein project is knit in the round, features an easy-t0-memorize lace pattern, combined with stockinette stitch sections, and the hardest part will be deciding which color to use (charcoal denim and cloud denim are calling my name at the moment)!

Special thanks again to my fabulous team of ilikecake (gorgeous model) and cheekyattitude (how did she make it seem so bright and cheery when it was raining out, fabulous photographer) and cupcakefaerie (my stylist extraordinaire!)! I love you guys and don't know what I'd do without you!

My Kind of Saturday is available online at Patternfish, or the yarn and pattern through Kollage Yarns (coming soon to retailers!), or this week at TNNA featured in a kit for the Sample It night.

How many more days til Saturday?

Did you guys survive the first Monday of the new year? I hope so.

Happy Monday!

xoxo Irishgirlieknits

New Year, New Projects.

I cast on a new design project on New Year's Day. It felt good. And oh my goodness, why hadn't I tried The Plucky Knitter's Primo yarn yet?! It had been marinating in my stash for a few months now.



I'm a bit further along right now, and would actually have more done if I didn't keep stop and petting the yarn. Seriously squishy soft!




I also wound my STR to get ready for the Solstice Slip KAL over in the Socks that Rawk group! This will be the first pair of socks from my Stash Sock of the Month Club! I've matched up 12 skeins and patterns (and barely made a dent in my stash!) and I'm ready to go!

Just a reminder that Monday, January 3 is the last day of my 20% off individual IGK patterns sale, which includes Cotty, Dotty, Sweet Baby Kate, Uncle Frank, Winter Wonder and a few more. You can purchase from the pattern pages to the right or here on Ravelry.

Happy New Year!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

1.1.11

Happy New Year!!

Eleven is my favorite number (I was born on the 11th day of February, at 7:11 am, in '74...7+4 =11....I must have been a weird kid), so I just know 2011 is going to be a great year.

It started with a new infinity scarf to wear...



Look, I'm proudly wearing my ND shirt after our victory in the Sun Bowl!




And wearing my Christmas gift bling :)

Pattern: Pont Neuf
Yarn: BMFA BFL colorway True Blood Red...one skein has already made 2 Pont Neuf's and the rest of the yarn will be making it into part of a 3rd!
Mods: went down a needle size and cast on 32 additional stitches

The first day of this new year was perfect too. Sleep. Exercise. Catching up with friends. Football. Family. Doggies. Movie. Snowboarder. Knitting. And a moment to blog.

Happy New Year!
xoxo Irsihgirlieknits