Jetlagged

Well I have to say that in retrospect, I am really blessed to have had the vacation in Ireland. It really came at the right time. To think, I was almost on a yarn diet.....hahahaahahahaha. Riiiiiight. I am going to land of plentiful sheep and wool. The focus of my fiber searching was none other than Kilcarra Donegal Tweed. I made Wendy drive all the way to Kilcar on our way down to Galway city. We stopped at Studio Donegal in Kilcar for some fiber fondling and oogling at the hand knits. We spoke with some very nice folks running the shop and made our purchases. I think Wendy may have commented that I was glowing and touching EVERYTHING in the shop. Got to feel out the fiber, right? So this is what I ended up buying for a cabled sweater I'm planning in the near future. I bought 18 skeins.

Wendy surprised me by gravitating to a lovely orange tweed in the sale bin. It was a STEAL for how much she bought. Now Wendy is not a knitter, but she ADORES this sweater she's wearing below. She calls it her "woobie". It is an Aran Island sweater that she purchased on a whim at the Cincinnati Care Tower Galleria Mall TJ Max because she was freezing. (Our company headquarters is there). So here's what's sick about this story. She bought this lovely sweater for $20. We went to Ireland and saw it everywhere for 60-80 euro. Wow. We saw it in so many different colors all over Ireland in the sweater shops.
So hence, the orange tweed. She would like an orange woobie for the next Ireland trip, hopefully in the Fall (crosses fingers). She purchased 14 skeins which are currently in my possession to recreate her sweater in the color of her choice below.

Next up: There has actually been some knitting going on around here. Of course, I don't have too much progress to show because, well, it's hard to knit and drink Guinness folks. I'd rather drink the my luscious stout while still frothy and yummy.

I did start the Lush and Lacy Cardigan for my mom. It's in a reddish brown wool I purchased in India. This is the back with the first repeat of the diamond pattern complete.
This is the Green Gable sweater (no not the one from the Zephyr gals). This is a pattern that was available on the author's website which I found through Ravelry. I downloaded the pattern and saved it. It's currently no longer available as the pattern is being published in the Fall Vogue Knitting. Lucky me, it'll be done before that's even published. The yarn is Nature Wool Chunky and I swear the color in this picture is way off. It's more of a bright evergreen with a lot of shade variation.
So I will have some pretty picture-heavy posts this weekend to recap the Ireland vacation. In fact, the infamous "Sunday Session" may require it's own post alllllll together. Trust me.

Happy Friday Everyone!