The Adventures of Woolgirl and Abby

Only 25 days till Christmas....

Today is cloudy and rainy, with a chance of snow, and it just puts me right into the holiday knitting mode. Somehow the bad weather just makes me want to curl up with a hot cocoa and knit all day long - why is that? Believe me, I'm not questioning it at all, just a little curious as to why we do certain things during certain weather.

Our plan is to get the tree up this weekend and I've already got lots of presents to wrap and put under the tree. Can you believe it's only 25 days till Christmas? Yikes! Better get to knitting those holiday gifts!

First thing on my knitting list are the Holiday Candlelight socks for a special someone in my life. I have been eyeing this colorway since it first arrived in the shop, and it did not disappoint. Kelly from Liisu is a color genious, I believe, and the yellow, with hints of darker and lighter blue throughout are just a gorgeous blend.

Oh, and not sure if I mentioned, right now if you purchase 2 skeins of the Holiday Candlelight yarn, you will receive this lovely matching stitch marker from Mama Llama free!

Another knitting project I am trying desperately to finish is the blue and green felted bag for my lovely sis. This bag will be so cute when finished, as I just found the perfect button, along with brown suede handles to compliment it.

 

I have several other projects currently on the needles - like a pair of socks for my niece, a pair of wrist warmers for my nephew, a pair of socks for my MIL, and a hat for my FIL. Most of these are in mid-status, so I have lots of knitting to accomplish before Christmas is finally here. I better get to it!

I wanted to make sure that I announced the Irish winner from Wednesday's contest - can you guess this Irish town? If you guessed Kinsale, you were correct! This was and I think will always be one of my favorite towns ever! We stayed in a lovely guesthouse in downtown Kinsale, called The Old Bank House. The owners were so sweet and the rooms (each one very unique) were decorated in Georgian architecture and overlooked the city. Breakfast was served each morning in the quaint little dining room of this guest house, and each and every little thing was homemade. It was surely one of the most relaxing and memorable vacations I have had.

The winner of this fun contest is Amanda! I will be in touch soon to discuss your winning loot Amanda! :) Thanks to everyone who entered!

Next week starts our series of Christmas contests, along with lots of fun items being added to the shop, so be sure to visit us often to see what's new! First things first, I must announce that we will be receiving about 12 skeins of the Charlie Brown Christmas colorway from White Oak Studio early next week, along with a few skeins of some of her Christmas colorways - including....Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman, and Elf. We will also have a couple of skeins of Nightmare Before Christmas coming in, so watch for that early next week. We also have these cute Charlie Brown knitting accessory bags from ZigZag Stitches which will only be available by purchasing the Charlie Brown Christmas yarn...

So, here's how it will work. 12 of the Charlie Brown Christmas sock kits will be posted in the shop early next week - if you purchase the kit you will be receiving a skein of either fingering or sport weight yarn in the Charlie Brown Christmas theme, a Charlie Brown Christmas bag (as shown above), and some cute Charlie Brown hot cocoa. The cost of each of the kits will be $40 + shipping. The kits will most likely be posted on Tuesday of next week, so watch for updates on the blog! Also, a lucky special someone will win one of these cute Charlie Brown bags next week!

We will also have several shop updates this Sunday, including the following...

Miss Babs Fingering, Sport and Worsted weight yarns

Oceanwind Knits

Patterns, patterns, and more patterns

And our Christmas sale starts this Sunday, which will include the following great deals....

40% off the following:
All T-shirts
Sheila D Pouches and Totes

30% off the following:
All Union Center Yarns
Zen String Bliss Bulky
Irish Baby Knits Bulky
Lantern Moon Bags

25% off the following:
Liisu Anna's yarns
Fiber Denn Zebrato
All Painted Tiger Yarns

20% off the following:
Spunky Eclectic Super Sport
Seacoast Fingering weight
All magazines

And Noro will remain on sale throughout the month of December!

Happy Friday!

Can you guess that Irish town?

It's the last Wednesday in November, which means that we're going to have our last Irish contest! Before we get on to that, though, I want to take this opportunity to post some of the photos of the Fall Union Center socks we've received in this month, and they are gorgeous! I will be posting some additional ones this Friday and throughout next week. Remember, everyone who sent us a photo of their Fall socks this month has the opportunity to win one of 2 fun gift basket from Woolgirl! These are great gift baskets, so if you want a chance to win one of these, you have 2 days remaining to send me your photos! A variety of patterns were used, and each pair of socks is amazing! So, without further ado, here are some Fall Socks....

(The socks to the left were knit with the Ivy Fall Colorway from Union Center)

Aren't these some gorgeous socks? WOW! Lots of Fall colorway in the air today! :)

So, you are probably wondering about the contest for today, right? Well, this one might take just a little detective work...but some (or most!) of you seem to be pretty good little detectives, so I think you'll probably pick up on it pretty quickly. :) Let's just see, shall we?

There's a quaint little town in Ireland that we stayed at during our trip there last year, and we stayed in this town longer than any other  - for several reasons - but mainly because of the town's beauty and Irish charm. In fact, this town had such a lasting impact on me, that I decided to knit a sweater based on a pattern named after this town which I found in Alice Starmore's Fishermen's Sweaters book. 

You can get to this town by boat, train, plane, and automobile. It's easy, you just travel through the villages of Riverstick and Belgooly, and you should find it no problem! This town is famous for several things, but a big one is that this was  the site of a battle in 1601 that was a major turning point in Irish history. The town was guarded by two major forts, which together guarded the narrow harbor entrance into the town. The largest of these forts is one of the most intact examples of a 17th century star-shaped fort, and it's this fort that is still open for tours today!

This town is known as a Fisherman's town, and it has lots of quaint old Georgian and Victorian architecture which just adds to the appeal of the town. The people are friendly, there's lots of pub hopping that takes place, and after just a week here, you feel you never want to leave.

So, the question I have is....can you guess the name of this Irish town?

If you guess correctly, you will be entered to win the following:

A couple of fun framed Irish cards from Thomas Joseph...

A couple of skeins of sock yarn from Union Center Knits in a surprise color choice!

and, a big bag of green candy to celebrate Ireland! (that's the only clue I'm giving!)

Happy Wednesday, and may the luck of the Irish be with you!

Calling all Test Knitters!

So, this is the thing....I am in need of 3 test knitters in the month of December - and just need each person to test knit one sock each (not a pair of socks, just one sock). For one of the socks I need someone who is experienced with using cables - not anything too complex, but cables non-the-less. The 2nd two socks will be a lace patterned sock, so I will ask that you have some experience with lace knitting.

Also, if you are enrolled in any of the upcoming sock clubs (or even the current sock club) or kits, you can't be a test knitter. Sorry about that!

So basically we're looking for 3 speedy knitters who can knit one sock in a week's time - and for doing this, we will give you each 2 free skeins of sock yarn from the shop. If you are interested, please send me an email at jennifer@woolgirl.com as soon as  possible.

I hope you were able to check out some of the new additions to the shop yesterday - oh boy! The new Macek Designs yarn is to dye for...literally! The colors are outstanding and the yarn is so scrumptious and soft. Be sure to check it out if you haven't already!

We also added some new Cherry Blossom colorways, including one of my favorites....Grape Poupon! Talk about gorgeous!

And don't forget that we added some VanCalCar Acres in some of the Harry Potter colorways, in addition to some sock kits!

Check back with us Wednesday when we plan to have another fun Irish contest (the last one of the month!), and bring your detective cap!

Happy Monday!

Looking for that special something?

If you're looking for that special something to top off your Christmas gifts this year, look no further. There are lots of great accessory gift ideas here in the shop, just waiting for you to discover them!

Looking for that little something for a knitter who seems to have everything? How about some fun stitch markers from Zephyr...

These cute stitch markers are available in a variety of designs and come with a little tin to store them in...how handy is that?

We also carry several others selections of stitch markers in the shop in a variety of colors and designs. Just want one stitch marker to compliment your gift? Check out the stitch markers from Heidi Petach Designs.  Have a particular theme in mind? Be sure to check out Knit Wit Momma! From Curly Brunette's Creations to Wee-Ones, we have a variety of stitch markers to compliment any package!

Looking for something "unique"? These fun knitting bangle bracelets from Liana Kabel fit that perfectly!

These completely adorable bangle bracelets from Liana Kabel are hand shaped from a retro plastic knitting needle. Each bracelet is completely unique and one-of-a-kind - and available in a variety of colors to compliment any wardrobe!

Have you thought about adding a fun keychain or tape measure to the top of your Christmas packages? What a great addition either of these would make. The String Doll Gang keychains are too cute for words and are sure to bring a smile to any knitters face! Can you believe that these dolls are each made with one continuous piece of string? No joke! How amazing is that? 

Each doll comes with it's own little personal message too. 

And tape measures? You've come to the right place! We have such a variety of cute tape measures available to compliment any knitters accessory pouch. Check them out here and here.

Does that special knitter in your life love the scent of fresh lavender?

Be sure to look through the variety of lavender soaps and body butter bars we have available from Biggs and Featherbelle. This is some of my favorite soap, not only because it smells great, but also because each soap is free of synthetic ingredients and very healthy conscious. I just love this! Also, sisters Kelly and Kasey started this business much as many of our Indie dyers start dyeing - right out of their own home! It's a small operation with lots of healthy goodness in mind!

We also have several other varieties of soaps and hand cream, including Havenhill Lavender (which is based right here in Oregon!), Moore Naturally, Northern Essence, and Vancalcar Acres soaps! Any of these would make a great addition to your holiday gift (not to mention making it smell wonderfully!)

Take a peek through our awesome selection of knitting accessories and fun items next time you're browsing the shop. There are lots of fun items available for any knitter!

Keep in mind too that we are always adding new items to the shop. This Sunday we will be adding...

Macek Designs

Cherry Blossom Fibers

Vancalcar Acres

And remember, next Friday is the last day of the November Sale, where you can save 20-40% on a variety of yarns, including Hip Knits, Noro, Fiber Company, Curious Creek, Dancing Leaf, Honeypot, and many others! You can check out the sale items here.

Also, thank you to everyone who submitted a comment on Wednesday's blog...wow! Thank you for sharing your favorite Thanksgiving dishes...I really enjoyed reading all of these! The winner of Wednesday's contest (drawing) is Cindy! Congrats Cindy! You will be receiving an email from me in the next couple of days regarding your winnings! :)

Stay tuned next week for our last Irish contest, which will involve a little bit of detective work. :) And then it's on to December, and boy do we have some fun things coming up in December! I can't wait! It's my favorite month of the year!

Happy Friday everyone!

Mashed Potatoes, Irish Style

Isn't this picture cute? A friend of mine sent this to me last week and it just reminded me so much of my dog and cat, Abby and Snuggles. They definitely have a love-hate relationship (as I guess most dogs and cats do!)

This has been a slow week on the blog, and I apologize. I think it's the combination of rain we've been having along with the Thanksgiving holiday this week that's made me a little sluggish. I know that turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and pie will definitely kick start my blog action once again. :)

In continuation of our Irish theme, I thought I'd share a little recipe I found on the internet this week. It's a traditional recipe, but with a slight Irish twist.

Irish Champ Mashed Potatoes

These are mashed potatoes, Irish-style, with butter and green onions. Instead of gravy, they are traditionally served with a well of butter in the center for dipping each bite. Use red potatoes and leave the skins on for added color and nutrition.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 pounds (1.8kg) potatoes
• 1/2 pint (300ml) milk
• 1 cup (225g) chopped spring onions (green onions)
• 1/2 cup (110g) butter
• Salt and black pepper

PREPARATION:

Peel potatoes and cook in boiling water.

Simmer milk and spring onions together for five minutes. Strain potatoes and mash thoroughly. Add hot milk, and the spring onions, salt and pepper, and half the butter.

Champ is served piled high on the dish, with a well of melted butter in the center. It is eaten with a spoon from the outside, each spoonful being dipped in the well of melted butter.

Yummmmmm!!!!!! Talk about a healthy dose of butter to kick start your Thanksgiving!

This recipe leads me to our contest this week. Well, it's not really a contest, but more of a chance to share something about your ideal Thanksgiving. We want to know what your favorite Thanksgiving dish is! You don't need to include a recipe - just list the dish. Of course, if it's a good one we hope you will share it! This Friday morning we will draw a name out of those who have submitted a comment and the winner will win some fun stuff from the shop, including....

"Me Lucky Charms" Stitch Markers from Zephyr

   

An Irish 2008 calendar from The Whimsical World of Thomas Joseph

and some yarn to fit this week's theme. :)

I wish you each a wonderful Thanksgiving, and will leave you with these words to ponder as you're enjoying your gobble gobble....

May your stuffing be tasty,
May your turkey be plump,
May your potatoes 'n gravy have not a lump,
May your yams be delicious,
May your pies take the prize,
May your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs.  :)

What's New This Weekend...

Thank you to everyone who entered this week's Irish contest! And if you guessed Ulean Pipes, you are soooo correct! Congratulations to Deb on being the winner of the blog contest this week! Deb will be receiving a fun package in the mail next week, including the fantastic Airbrush yarn shown on Wednesday's blog! :)

Look for lots of shop updates this Sunday, including the following....

Das Schneeschaf Airbrush Yarns

colors shown (from left to right): Frosch konzert (Frog Concert), Pink Rose, and Bergsee (Mountain Lake)


Liisu Yarns - Holiday collection

color shown: Holiday Heirloom

Dream in Color - Smooshy Sock Yarn (all colors!)

color shown: In Vino Veritas

Madelinetosh

colors shown (from left to right): Vintage Apron & Home

Sivia Harding Moonshadow Stole Kits

Each kit includes 1000 yards of Liisu fingering weight yarn in the Moonshadow colorway, over 500 beads, and the Moonshadow Stole pattern.

We also have the kits available in the following colorways, and can order custom colorways (email me at info@woolgirl.com for additional details):

Patterns, Patterns, and more Patterns














Additional Cards and Calendars from The Whimsical World of Thomas Joseph in Ireland

Happy Friday!

The Sea of Dreams - A Fun Irish Contest

While in Ireland last year, my husband and I became very fond of Irish music. Irish music seemed to be everywhere - and was especially popular in the pubs. Yes, they really do sing in the pubs in Ireland! It's great fun (especially if you've enjoyed some Guinness also!) Danny Boy, Believe Me If All Those Youthful Charms, and Jug of Punch were among some of our favorite Irish tunes - I believe we had at least 20 songs memorized by the end of the 3rd week when it was time to return home.

We also had the opportunity to see the famous "Riverdance" while in Dublin, which also included some fantastic Irish music. We absolutely fell in love with one of the main instruments used in this production - one that is used in quite a few Irish songs actually. It's a very unique instrument which has a long history in Ireland - in fact, it's considered the bagpipe of Ireland. It's this instrument that brings us to the question of the week...

This Irish instrument can be heard throughout the production of Riverdance. Although this instrument is considered the Irish bagpipe, it has a much sweeter and and quieter sound than the traditional bagpipe. Davy Spillane is one of the best players of this instrument in the world, and in his famous album called "The Sea of Dreams" it's evident why he's one of the best.

What is this instrument?

Answer correctly and you will win the yarn shown at the beginning of this post. What is it, you ask? It's the Das Schneeschaf Airbrush Yarn in the 75% wool/ 25% bamboo - colorway: Rosegarden. Das Schneeschaf, along with several other yarns, will be featured in the shop on Sunday of this week! If you are the winner this week, you will also receive a fun stitch marker to coordinate with the yarn. I will also include in your package some of this gloriously dangerous candy that I just discovered this week - minty Hershey's Kisses. Yummm! I thought they fit in perfectly with our Irish theme...

The winner will be announced this Friday!

A little shop news:
I will be out of town this week visiting my sister in Boise from Wednesday through Friday, so if you place an order this week your order will be packaged by Woolboy (he will be busy packaging orders in the evenings after his day job, so your order may be shipped the following day after you place it!) And he has promised to put in some special little touches of his own. :)

If you email me during this time, I will return your email on Saturday or Sunday of this week.

I will still be blogging on Friday - just from another location. :) This Friday I will announce the yarns we'll be featuring this Sunday in the shop - here's a little sneak peak....

Rudolph - by Liisu

Happy Wednesday!

"Live every day as if it were your last"

"Dance as if no one's watching, sing as if no one's listening, and live everyday as if it were your last." an Irish saying.

It was so much fun to see all of your responses to the Irish contest this week! WOW! It's evident that many of us love Ireland, and for good reason. Ireland is full of rich history, and after all, it is the 20th largest island in the world. Did you know that?

Many famous proverbs and sayings come from Ireland...in fact, some that you may have heard before (and others not so much, but that are still fun anyway)!

"It is better to be a coward for a minute than dead the rest of your life." Irish Proverb

"A wet and windy May fills the barn with corn and hay." Irish Proverb

''Tis better to spend money like there's no tomorrow than to spend tonight like there's no money!" Irish saying
(I personally like this one! Does this mean we should spend more money on yarn?)

"Here's to your roof,
may it be well thatched
And  here's to all under it -
May they be well matched". Irish toast

"May your blessings outnumber
The shamrocks that grow,
and may trouble avoid you
Wherever you go!"  Irish saying

"There are many good reasons for drinking,
One has just entered my head.
If a man doesn't drink when he's living,
How in the hell can he drink when he's dead?" Irish saying
(This makes wonderful sense too!)

"As you slide down the banister of life, may the splinters never point in the wrong direction." Irish saying

The Irish have such a way with words, don't they? Ha!

The winner of our first "Celebration of Ireland" contest is Nancy Miller! Congratulations Nancy! I will be in touch soon to discuss your winnings! :)
The answers to the questions were as most of you guessed...

Part I: "May the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you"
Part II: Lisu Anna's Yarn - in the New Grass colorway (one of my favorites!)










Speaking of Liisu, we have some gorgeous new holiday colorways coming in next week that will be in our shop update next weekend (November 18th). Also in that same shop update will be Das Schneeschaf Airbrush yarns from Germany, along with Dream in Color Smooshy sock yarn in every color, Cherry Blossom Fibers, Sivia Harding Moonshadow Stole kits, and a few other things which will remain a surprise until next week!

There will not be a shop update this weekend. However, remember that we still have some great deals in the shop on many of our sale yarns and we will have the sale going on throughout the month of November!

See our website for additional details!

Happy Friday!

 

The Luck O' the Irish

As you may have read in our recent newsletter, we are celebrating Ireland here at Woolgirl this month, so something about Ireland will be included in each and every one of my posts this month. And we will have some fun contests to celebrate! :)

Ireland is very near and dear to my heart, and it's a land that's filled with lots of really cool history, so it's time to brush up on your Irish facts! It doesn't have to be St. Patrick's Day to celebrate Ireland...so let's get ready for a month long celebration of this wonderfully magic place!

The Luck O' the Irish...what does that mean exactly? Some say that it means good luck and that people use it when a person of Irish descent inexplicably beats the odds. Others say that 'The Luck of the Irish' is a sarcastic term...meaning, you have very bad luck. Some believe it means if you have good luck one day, you will have bad luck the next and still others believe it's the magic of the little people, meaning leprechauns, bringing good luck to those all around. I tend to believe that it means good luck and I use it to mean that someone has very good luck...

Whatever its meaning is for you, put that aside, because today's contest is all about YOUR 'Luck O' the Irish' and in this sense it does mean good luck and there is yarn involved! :) How can that be anything other than good luck? 

Which yarn, you might ask? Well...that's half of this week's contest question! There are 2 parts to this week's contest, and you have to get both of them right in order to be entered to win.

Part 1:

The last sentence in this popular Irish quote is missing...complete the last sentence and you're half way there!

"May the Irish hills caress you.
May her lakes and rivers bless you...
May the luck of the Irish enfold you...

Part 2:

This gorgeous yarn is stocked in our shop right now.
 


   

Guess which yarn this is and you're on your way to winning 2 skeins of it, along with this really cute matching mini Sock Monkey bag!

Best of luck! I look forward to reading your responses! A winner will be announced this Friday!

Happy Wednesday!

The Attack of the Killer Boxes

What do you get when you decide to schedule a sock club shipment, a Christmas sock kit shipment, and have a huge sale and shop update in one weekend? You get attack of the killer boxes, that's what!

No joke...we literally have over 400 boxes + lining the walls in our house at this very moment. Everywhere I look, there's a box, and most of the orders from the sale and shop update are still being filled as we speak and are not included in these photos! Yikes! So...I apologize if you have emailed me and I have not gotten back to you in a few days. I plan on getting caught up on email tomorrow and Wednesday, so if you have emailed me and haven't heard back from me, that's when you will hear from me. I appreciate your patience!

I wanted to mention too...when we started Woolgirl in April 2007, about 7 months ago, it was just me running the show - managing website issues, filling your orders, wrapping packages, ordering more yarn, putting together sock kits, and did I mention ordering more yarn?, taking photos, and managing the financial aspect of all of this...oh, and ordering more yarn (I may have already mentioned that!) Today, 7 months later, it is still just me running the show (with a little help at times from Woolboy), and it has gotten quite busy. I appreciate each and every one of you being patient with me in getting back to you via email, phone, and mail lately....I just appreciate all of you so much! I am not at the point where I am able to hire an assistant yet, so I do appreciate your continued patience and support!

Also, the Christmas Story sock kits shipped out today, so those should reach most of you by mid-week this week. They are cute kits! We also shipped all International sock club packages out today and will ship the US packages out on Friday of this week. I will post some information on the Sock Club Blog sometime this week!

Today we will also be shipping out about half of the orders that came in over the weekend, with the remaining orders to be shipped out tomorrow. You will receive a confirmation when your package ships!

Don't forget also that this month we will be posting photos of all of the "Fall" Union Center sock photos we have received in October, along with the photos we receive in November. At the end of November names will be drawn from all of the photos we receive and the 2 names drawn will receive a fun fall package from Woolgirl! These are fun packages we've put together, so you want to be sure to send us your photos of completed Fall  socks! The socks above were knit by Teri! Gorgeous!

This Wednesday we will have our first "Celebration of Ireland" contest, so check back with us then!

Happy Monday!