the T-shirts! they're coming!

Do you know that people have been asking me for at least seven years for T-shirts? I've always thought they were a good idea. But somehow, they got pushed to the back burner. Every day. For seven + years.

I am a complete and utter T-shirt failure.

Well, no more.

The T-shirts.

They are coming.

I'm placing a T-shirt order for some of our amazing, awe-inspiring contributors, and want to give you a chance to snag one too. These are pre-orders, which will help me gauge how many of each size to order. Because I'm not a multinational clothing conglomerate, I don't need an extra 500 XXXXL T-shirts sitting around. Pre-orders guarantee there will be one to fit you.

These shirts are just like the ones we wear in the studio!

1. There are two adult styles. This is the more fitted women's style. It's narrower through the waist, and has shorter, less full sleeves. It also runs a bit small. (I'll post size charts below.) If you're familiar with T-shirt brands, it's made by American Apparel, which is very nice quality. Sizes XS-XL. If in doubt, size up.

2. This is the more unisex fit, with longer, fuller sleeves and a longer, less fitted body. It comes in sizes S-4X. This is a heavyweight cotton as well, and it still feels soft after 2.5 years of washing.

3. Youth sizes. My big kids (ages 10, 8, and 5) are going to be excited to wear these. These are also a nice heavyweight cotton, and -- ahem -- the black hides everything.  Why can't these be my kids' school uniforms? These come in sizes YXS-YXL.

4. Toddler sizes. I am dying to see some little ones running around in a logo shirt! These come in sizes 2T-4T.

5. I just couldn't leave Mrs. Baby Shamrock out. Onesies. Oh yes. (This is not Mrs. Baby Shamrock in the picture.) Black seemed a bit harsh for a baby, so we're going with a nice gender neutral yellow. Sizes 3-6m, 6-12m, 12-18m, 18-24m.

We'll be taking pre-orders through Wednesday, November 21st.  We'll then send in our order, which will take about two weeks to arrive, and then we'll ship them out ASAP. You will have them in time for holiday gift giving!

Here are the size charts:

Style 1: (Fitted Women's). This shows what the shirt looks like on women of different body types, and then gives actual garment measurements at the bottom. Not that the "click model for close up" link is not enabled.

2. Size chart for adult unisex style shirts. You can ignore the youth sizing on this chart. Note that the "click model for close up" is not enabled, as are the arrows for additional sizing. These are static images, they won't take you anywhere else.

3. Youth size chart. The "click model for close up" is not enabled, and neither are the right and left arrows.

4. Toddler size chart. "Click model for close up" is not enabled.

5. Onesie size chart. I can't wait to see my sweetie in hers!

Now that you know all about the sizes and styles, let's get to the ordering info:

Adult T-shirts are $23, with free shipping to the US and Canada, and $2 shipping elsewhere. Click here to order the fitted style. Click here to order the unisex style.

Youth T-shirts are $19, with free shipping to the US and Canada, and $2 shipping elsewhere. Click here to order.

Toddler T-shirts are $17, with free shipping to the US and Canada, and $2 shipping elsewhere. Click here to order.

Onesies are $15, with free shipping to the US and Canada, and $1.50 shipping elsewhere. Click here to order.

Or, see all your options here.

YAY, T-shirts!

If you leave questions in the comments, I will stop back and answer. You can also use the contact button in the upper right to send us an email. Remember to get your orders in before the end of the day on the 21st!

coming along

We are hard at work on the new studio. We have a little more than two weeks to get it operational.

I won't pretend this doesn't frighten me just a little. But everyone assures me it can be done, so that's what I'm going with.

This is Nick. Nick has a beard and a ponytail.

Just thought I'd let you know.

Nick is spearheading the construction portion of this shebang, and by that I mean he's tearing down walls, putting up walls, and doing other important construction-y things.

He calls Shamrock "Mrs. Baby." The other day he told me, "I'm going to pick up a lead testing kit, because if you're going to have Mrs. Baby down here a lot, you don't want her to eat any paint chips and get lead poisoning."

True.

Given a choice, I would prefer that Mrs. Baby not eat lead paint.

Some of the peg board has been taken down to expose the brick and the wood posts.

I would like to offer a home decor suggestion for you. When in doubt, don't go with the pegboard option.

Unless you want to live inside a connect-the-dots book, in which case, exercise your right to peg.

Soon, a portion of this will be the office, with new flooring and new wall colors. Mrs. Baby approves.

Today, the building owner had a worker there installing the new bathroom. New bathrooms are good, especially since we won't have lots of barefoot, stinky kettlebell worker-outers trying to use ours all the time.

Are you a worker-outer?

I'm not, why do you ask?

I checked on the bathroom progress, and the dude (not Nick, not anyone I hired) was installing the counter with the sink and faucet. The countertop was -- I kid you not -- two inches above my knee.

"Hmmm, that's kind of low, don't you think?" I asked him.

"Well, you're pretty tall," he replied.

"Yes... But standard counter height is not to my knees. Unless I've grown 10 inches overnight. Most counters come up to my hip."

He thought about this for a while.

We stared at each other.

He said, "Do you want me to raise the counter?"

"Yeah, let's just put in a standard counter height counter," I responded.

He looked at his tape measure. "What do you suppose that is?" he asked.

Nick was able to jump in with some standard counter height options. I picked one. The other worker pulled out his tape measure and stared at the number, trying to fix "36" into his mind.

We'll see what happened when I go back in the morning.

I'm thinking about putting down cork flooring instead of hardwood or laminate in the office area -- anyone have thoughts on that?

instock clearance happening this week!

Getting started with a little instock clearance today. More to come tomorrow!

Check it out here.

our new studio!

It doesn't look like much yet. But bear with me, and it will.

If you follow this blog at all, you know that we've outgrown the space we're currently in. And also, we live next door to a kettle bell gym that sounds like they're setting off explosions 80 times a day, and below a super lame nightclub, neither of which were here when I moved in.

I have good news and bad news about this move.

The good news is that WE FOUND AN AWESOME NEW SPACE IN A FREESTANDING BUILDING!

The bad news is that we don't have much time before we have to be out of our current studio (35 days, to be exact).

The good news is that we will probably never need to move again!

The bad news is that there is a lot of work to accomplish in 35 days.

The good news is that we are hard-working, motivated, and handy. We can get it done!

The bad news is that it will be very expensive to pick up and move our entire operation to a new facility. That's a lot for a small business like this to absorb, and we have to operate under the assumption that we won't be able to recoup any of the cost from our current landlord.

The good news is that our new building has AIR CONDITIONING AND PARKING!!!! (There are not enough exclamation points to show my feelings about this.)

Despite the cost and hassle, I am excited to get in there, roll up my sleeves, and make it into the awesome place I know it can be.

This is going to be the new dyeing room. We'll have all our work tables, sinks, and washing machines in here.

Another view of the same room from the back.

This building was built at the turn of the century, and I am giddy about the fact that no one can build anything adjacent to or on top of it, because we will have all three levels of this place.

This is going to be our new packing area. Tons of workspace and natural light! I love this part of the studio.

This is going to be the break area. The little black square in the middle of the picture? Those are the stairs to the basement.

The basement is also huge, with 12 foot ceilings and stone walls. You can see the one lonely hot water heater down here -- that's for the bathroom. Soon there will be five more, and we will never run out of hot water again! (We actually run out of hot water fairly regularly in our current space.)

My mom suggested installing an employee bowling alley down here. I think that will be phase "ZZZZZZ" of this project.

This is going to be a spacious new bathroom.

Hello, office! New floors are needed in here.

The third floor is going to be where all of our yarn dries and where all of our ballroom dancing will occur.

You can see that the building needs some repair work. It has a new roof, but there was previous water damage to the plaster.

I can't tell you how much we're all looking forward to this move. Last week I opened the studio door to go home and there was a large crowd of fighting people immediately outside. They were screaming obscenities, on the verge of swinging their fists (or who knows what else), and I didn't feel safe just saying, "Pardon me, excuse me, can I just exit my studio and lock my door?" But I also didn't feel safe leaving out the back into a dark alley and walking around the block to my car, which was parked right in front of the fight. The week before last, my departure from the studio was delayed an hour because my car was completely boxed in with police cars responding to a call from the nightclub. When they finished their arrests, they moved and let me leave.

It hit me on my way home: I missed dinner because they were arresting people next to my car.

Not only will we be leaving the noise, crime, and inconvenience of our current space, we're moving into a bigger, better space that will function far more efficiently for us, which can only mean good things for you, our awesome customers.

But there is a significant cost involved in relocating. There are no abandoned yarn studios looking for new tenants. We have to have all of our plumbing and electrical work installed custom.

Which brings me to this: we could use a little help from you. We have to be out of our current studio in 35 days, which means that we need to begin work on our new studio immediately. Outfitting a new studio is not just a lot of work, it's a lot of money that needs to be paid in the very near future.

Could you possibly make a donation to help us? If you can, I have some pretty sweet incentives for you.

If you can donate $10: we'll read your name at our morning meeting and clap and cheer for you. (No really, we will. Enthusiastically, too.)

If you can donate $20: we'll read your name at our morning meeting, clap and cheer for you, and send you any three of our dozens of knitting patterns that you'd like.

If you can donate $50, you'll get all of the previous incentives, plus a care package with a one-of-a-kind colorway and a handwritten thank you card.

If you can donate $100, you'll get all of the previous incentives, plus a super awesome Three Irish Girls logo T-shirt in the size of your choice.

If you can donate $250, you'll get all of the previous incentives, plus a nifty Three Irish Girls tote bag.

If you can donate $500, you'll get all of the previous incentives, plus Sharon will make you five skeins of ANY COLORWAY(S) YOU WANT on any yarn you want. Previous limited editions? Done. A special custom just for you? ANY COLORWAY.

If you can donate $1,000, you'll get all of the previous incentives, plus Sharon will personally knit you a scarf in the yarn and colorway of your choice. You can pick the pattern, too.

If you can donate $2,000, you'll get all of the previous incentives, plus Sharon will personally bake you a large care package full of dozens of goodies. She specializes in fudgy brownies, homemade toffee, and to-die-for pumpkin bread. We'll give you lots of options, and then we'll overnight them to you so they'll arrive fresh and yummy. (We'll even try to see if this is feasible for international shipments! If it's not, we'll work out something just as awesome.)

You can use the link below to donate. It's totally secure, and you can use your Paypal account or credit card.

We truly appreciate your generosity. I promise we'll pay it forward.

Help us get a safe new home here!

as promised... name that colorway contest winners!

Long ago, and not so far away, I had a contest.

A contest to name our new colorway collection.

Now that the colorways are out, I can announce the winners who have waited patiently for their prizes.

Kelly, you win a skein of Amazonia!

Amy, you win Appalachian Trail!

Barb, you get Blue Hawaii!

Carrie, Cottage Garden is yours!

Guinness is going to live with Kathy!

Spinnergirl, High Seas is going to come live with you!

Carol thinks Kale is yummy! (At least I hope so...)

Susan K better like Marmalade!

Ellen, Mediterranean is heading your way.

Becca, Orange You Glad I didn't say bananas? (Remember that joke?)

And Steph, Summer Magic is your new baby!

The winners will have a choice of their colorway in Springvale Worsted or Adorn Sock. If you won, please send us an email at threeirishgirls AT gmail DOT com to claim your prize.