Simply Socks Yarn Co. Blog

SSYC's Charley Harper Inspired Holiday Knit Kits are Live!

We have two exclusive Holiday Knit Kits for you this morning, both inspired by the artistry of Charley Harper! Take a Look at the Tis the Season and Crimson Cardinal Knit Kits! You'll find both of these at the Kits & Clubs link until they sell out- our Knit Kits typically sell out in a half day, so please don't hesitate if you'd like one. We do have two different Holiday Knit Kits coming in December if you miss out.

 

I hope you adore one or both of these as much as I do. I love the illustrations of Charley Harper and how they are displayed in these fabrics- the geometric nature gives the bags a mod look, and our dyers did such a great job making festive skeins to go with.

And these stitch markers are just so perfectly coordinated with the fabric. I hope this photo shows off some of the detail work- like the texture in the trees, the adorable face of the cardinal and the marled look of the branch. Our artisan takes a lot of pride in her work and I just can't get enough of her craft. It makes me smile when I randomly choose one to mark my place- a special glow-in-the-dark candy cane from Halloween or a cute dog from the holidays two years ago. Hint- we are giving markers away next week. Details soon.

We also have our limited edtion Jolly Elf Sock-It Set from Dream in Color! This yarn stripes up as shown above (on a different color - the August color, but you can see the effect) in greens and pinks and melons with speckles and comes with a mini skein of emerald for toes and heels. I knit a pair of Halloween socks in this yarn and it was a supremely satisfying knit. If you want a bit of a knitting mind-vacation, I highly recommend anything self patterning or self striping. To get the stripes to show up, the circumference of the sock needs to be 64 stitches or less for this particular one.

If you want more holiday yarn, we have the Hanukkah-inspired sock kit from Urth Yarns as well as the Christmas-inspired one. These come with two matching 50g balls so you get a matching pair of socks. I knit a men's size 12-13 out of one set earlier this year in this color, so one kit is definitely enough for a large pair of socks. There's a basic sock pattern that comes with this yarn, and if you just respond to your e-mailed receipt and ask for the pattern, I'll e-mail the pattern back. Please make sure to add service@simplysockyarn.com to your contacts so you get our e-mails.

I also wanted to share that we have received the most gorgeous ever restock of Vrinda Yarn in Shakti DK and Pada Sock.

We also added their Asana Sport to our line up, and it's even more amazing than the Sock and DK b/c it uses a grade of merino that's even better than is typically used in hand dyed yarn. So you'll notice that it's even softer than you'd expect and still durable enough for socks because of the way the yarn is plied. This yarn that uses the "opposing ply" spinning method to create a more durable yarn with no nylon. One of the four singles is spun in the opposite direction so that when the four are plied together the opposing strand gets tighter. The resulting yarn is more durable and takes the dye differently, creating the subtle barber pole effect seen in the finished yarn.

I've caked up a skein of Grindylow, shown above, for myself and it could just be my Thanksgiving break project. If I get the below socks done.... which are part of one of our two remaining Holiday Knit Kits coming in December. It's a super cute set from Yarn Love and I look forward to sharing more details with you soon.

I'll continue to share awesome holiday goodies and yarn as they come in. We just received more Dream in Color Colossal Sock in the Sale Section, and we'll have a huge array of sale Vintage (worsted weight) from Madelinetosh likely on Cyber Monday. In December, also expect restocks of all the West Yorkshire Spinner holiday colors, new Opal Yarn collections, two more Holiday Knit Kits, holiday SSYC Sock Sets and more! We really are going to have a jolly holiday season here!

Oh, and look at the kit Dream in Color created to celebrate Small Business Saturday this weekend! I'll have details later this week. It includes a bag, stitch marker, pattern and the yarn for this super cute pattern.

Holiday Knit Kits, a preview

We have some lovely things to share with you next week.... two Holiday Knit Kits... inspired by modern artist Charley Harper!

I love putting these together. It's an adventure, figuring out fabrics for the bags (especially when there's a shortage during the pandemic!) deciding what dyer I'd like to use and working with that person to get things just right, and then choosing the accessories. I really have been enjoying working with our artisan who makes our stitch markers lately. She has such a good eye, and all I have to do is show her the fabric we're going with and she immediately has a dozen ideas. I think you'll agree that the markers she designed for these two kits are on point. 

The kit above is has a medium wedge sized project bag, so fits a 2-3 skein project, a skein of Knitterly Things Vesper Striping Sock Yarn and three adorable Christmas tree stitch markers. I love the modern Charley Harper fabric and how well the striping yarn and the markers match the fabric. It's really festive and colorful. 

The kit below features the classic Charley Harper cardinal bag (also holds a 2-3 skein project) with a striping fingering weight yarn from Urth Yarns that knits up like this worsted weight one that I knit into a cowl. It would be super fun for a holiday Sockhead Cowl or Hat. And aren't these little stitch markers just perfect? You really have to see the little branch in person to appreciate it. It's so marled with color and who would have thought that I loved a stitch marker that looks like a twig, but there ya go! It's juts so cute. Both kits will cost around $60 and will be found at the Kits & Clubs link.

The plan is to release these two kits on Monday, Nov 23. Typically things like this go live mid morning EST. I know a lot of you are waiting for these, and they typically do sell fast. So if you really want one please don't hesitate. And if you miss out, please know I have two other Holiday Knit Kit options coming in early December plus a slew of other knitworthy holiday goodies.

Next week is a bit of a different shipping week for us. Usually we'd take off Wednesday through Friday to be with our families and then have a Small Business Saturday type of event in the shop. We aren't offering in-person shopping this year, which is hard for us, but we hope to celebrate online with you and I'll share next week just how. Plus we have the 12 Days of Sock Yarn contests starting in mid-December here on the blog, and that's always fun!

After these two knit kits, I hope to have two more. I also have some super awesome sock sets like this one that Dream in Color made for us. It stripes up like their Sock It Sets do. The picture below is a picture to show you how it stripes up, but it's a color from a few months ago so no longer available. But it gives you an idea of how it stripes. We named it Jolly Elf. So festive, right?

I have other goodies that I'll have for you after Thanksgiving as well, but I wanted to at least give you a preview of the two Holiday Knit Kits that will be live on Monday. I'm super excited about them!

Stress baking

This morning I got the kids around, James started his online schooling (Henry's back for in-person for a whole three days before a 10 day Thanksgiving break) and then decided I needed to make something. Which quickly turned out to be some things. I used up an entire bag of Costco pecans, and my kitchen is already cleaned up, so I feel I can now go about my work day. Although my work day is here at home today.

Here's what I made.

I think I mentioned this recipe before as one I was considering for Thanksgiving. Well, since there really is no big get together this year, I'm making the 6 pound beef tenderloin tonight (talk about leftovers), these green beans, these potatoes and the above dessert. We're going to sit down and have our own little Thanksgiving here at home, a week early, and perhaps I'll do a part two next week with some pie and other goodies. But I had to get the beef tenderloin cooked now, since my family's Thanksgiving was supposed to have been last weekend and we all opted to not gather this year b/c the COVID rates are so high. 

And then.... I had a lot of pecans left so I decided to make a double batch of this. It makes me think of Liz, one of my knitting friends, who brings me and my team some amazing goodies at our holiday open house each year. We're talking pecans, cookies, a rum bread, and more. I thought that if I made these, I might feel a little bit less lonely. I mean, I'm surrounded by my own little family all the time, but it's just not the same, is it? I miss my whole circle of people and all the connection.

They turned out really well, but I didn't line the baking sheet with parchment or foil and that was a big mistake. I left them on the sheet while I started dishes, and by the time I got back to them it took quite a bit of chiseling to get the pecans off the sheet. Then even more work to salvage the baking sheet and wash it well. Note to self - use parchment paper.

I added a bit of cardamom and cayenne to this. I wanted them to have a bit of a chai-inspired flavor and a bit of heat at the end. Just a few pinches of both.

Tomorrow I will get back to the yarn and share with you the two Holiday Knit Kits I have for you. I do believe they will go up for sale early next week. And they are super amazing.

I'm leaving you with this. Henry is so super proud of this little art project he did while he was home-schooling the past two weeks. It's a sticker mosaic. If you have littles, or grand-littles, I highly recommend this as a gift. Or just search "sticker mosaic" at your fave online shop. We also have this set of magnet mosaics and they are great too. I don't see our set on Amazon anymore though, as they are from like 10 years ago.

 

All our kids are spending so much time on screens for learning that I'm going out of my way to find things they can do that don't require a screen. If you have ideas for an 8 and 13 year old, send them my way please!

Picture Post

Teaser of things I’ll have for you soon!

A Stripey Mind Vacation

Trekking XXL color 723

Thank goodness for good yarn, am I right? This sock has been my much needed "mind vacation" in the past week or so, as life has gotten quite a bit more difficult here. Changes brought by the pandemic have made operating a business very difficult, and while not impossible, certainly more time consuming and costly. I'm sure I'll share more later, when my mind is right. But importing, exchange rates, the unpredictability of raw materials and shipments.... well, the constant changes are a lot. And we haven't even been able to be open to the public for seven months, which is a big hit as well. Thank goodness we are safely shipping.

Now we've added back the unpredictability of schooling, as my kids' school currently (as of a week ago) only has 3 of the 13 grades in person. The rest are all remote again until after Thanksgiving break. Which is fine in a way because with COVID rates rising the way they are all over, I want them home and safe (our hospitals are full here and staff overworked). But they have had so few cases at their schools and were really doing a marvelous job at keeping the kids safe. But I know it takes more than just kids to make a school work, and there has to be staff, subs, admins.... so here we are again in the remote learning for a few weeks.

How are you all doing? Are you keeping up? Are you carving out times for joy? Is your life same as always or are you, like me, just trying to figure it out day to day?

Volleyball has long been my stress relief and such a wonderful part of my life, but that's just not something I'm able to do right now, with COVID rates the way they are. So instead cooking new things lately has brought me a lot of good feels. The kids are enjoying having three hot squares again, rather than a rushed breakfast, a packed lunch and a good dinner. They are really getting fed here (as are me and Terry). This morning it was pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes and green smoothies. Lunch will be leftovers of this Chicken Gnocchi soup, and dinner has yet to be determined. It might be take out. And there's also leftover pineapple upside down cake. Cooking and knitting are my go-to's for stress relief, I guess. So if you have receipes that you love to make (I've made that soup twice in the past 10 days- highly recommend) please do send them my way!

I hope you're healthy and well. I hope you have a shoulder to lean on and a good knit next to you. 

More Trekking XXL

Wow, I'm so excited with our new batch of Trekking XXL. So excited that I'm going throw myself a little cast on party tonight and infuse some cheery color into my life. I'm definitely due for some, that's for sure.

Here's what I'm considering. 550 on the left is a color that I knit several years ago when it was first released - which according to my records was 2014. But it's just so bright that I think I want to knit it again. And six years is long enough to knit something again, right? 723 is a new color that, darn it, if it doesn't remind me of a circus (second from the right, above). If you want to see what I choose, I'm sure I'll post it on Insta later tonight as I'm knitting it up.

Then I really really like color 722 too - top picture, second from the left. I love a good stripe, and this one is colorful but more muted, and so I think it will be a good second project. I plan on spending my whole weekend basically giving the kids whatever they want so they will just let me knit, so I might even get to this one by Sunday. Want to watch Frozen 2 again Henry? No problem. James, want to put together that LEGO Christmas Train that I bought just for this type of occasion? Go at it. Mama needs to knit. 

We also got a restock of colors J01, J02 and J03 which are Zitron's 30th anniversary colors from last year, shown below. These were super popular and I'm glad to have them again.

For those who like the Trekking Solids I was able to get earlier this year, I have a restock of those as well.

If you're like me and you want a mindless, meditative project, do cast on some Trekking XXL with me! Let's see how fast we can get a pair done.

Holiday Colors are here!

Today is our first release of some of our Thanksgiving Sock Sets and holiday hues. Read on to see what's new!

First off, these Thanksgiving Sock Sets. I've paired a full sized skein from various dyers (details in each listing) with a limited edition little jewel of a mini from Hedgehog Fibres, These color combos are meant to help you knit outside your normal crayon box of colors and take you on an autumnal color adventure. And boy, do I need one of those! They can all be found here. As always, these things do tend to sell out but I have some awesome Christmas sock sets coming as well as our traditional Knit Kits in a few weeks.

Then I have these gorgeous Flock Sock Sets from Kim at Flock Fibre. She is a wizard with color, and I love what she's sent us from her studio in the Canadian Rockies. These are perfect for the Coffee Talk socks, Lemon and Lavender. or Apollo.

Yule Ball + Butterbeer

Holly Days + Berry

Winter Lights + Snow Globe

Gingerbread Party + Cookie

One Foggy Christmas Eve + It Glows

Yeah, all the above are meant for sock sets so you have contrasting toes and heels for your socks. But I love the idea of knitting a Sockhead Cowl with a set and every 10 rows switching to two rows of the contrasting color. I think that would make a really festive cowl for whenever it actually gets cold. It's still 70 degrees here in NE Indiana. In mid November. It's crazy. But not unwelcome.

Speaking of cowls, I made this from SSYC's holiday striping color from Urth Yarns! I have this right now on Uneek Worsted, but barring any more importing issues I should have the fingering weight version before Thanksgiving. Want to know what pattern I used? It's just this.

Using Urth's Uneek Worsted yarn and a 16" US 7 needle I cast on 120 stitches and joined into a round.

k2p2 rib for 2-4 inches. When you've made your rib section as long as you want, weight your work so you save that same amount of yarn for the end of your project. 10-20g depending on length of your rib section.

Switch to stockinette and knit for the bulk of the cowl, until you have that same 10-20g left of the skein.

Switch back to your k2p2 rib and cast off when appropriate.

Then. THEN. I'm super excited to share my work with Antonio at Malabrigo. I adore greens and this is the most perfect green for me. It has vivid yet brooding hues, a bit of dark emerald and verdant grass. It has all the things I love about a tonal/variegated green. And we put it together virtually... during a pandemic. It's shown above in Sock and below in worsted weight Rios. It's called Las Fiestas and Antonio and I chose that name because it references a holiday party or vacation- something we all want right now.

What might you want to make with this? Well, socks of course. Some cabled ones would be awesome. Or a bit of Snowflake Lace. Or you could make the best cabled sweater. Like joji Locatelli's See You There or Adventurous or All of the Lights. What about some Christmas stockings? OK, I totally want to make those stockings now.

Then in the Sale Section I have three festive colors from Dream in Color on the super Colossal Sock- The Naughty List, Gettin' Blitzen and Santa-gria.

And later today I hope to share some super duper holiday deals in the Sale Section on some OnLine Supersocke yarn. It's been hard to get restocks of imported German self-patterning yarns right now, and so all these self patterning colors are amazing to have in stock, and at 40-50% off on yarn that is really gift friendly (think machine wash/dry), you can't go wrong getting lots.

This stripey cotton collection is the one I'm most excited about. I mean the striping colors are fab. But it seems like so many non-knitters are so used to wearing cotton socks that they aren't sure about wearing gifted wool ones. Since this blend includes washable wool, cotton and nylon it's kind of the best of all worlds for gifting. And it's going to cost you less than $10 a skein in our Sale Section (give me until later this afternoon on Tuesday to get all seven OnLine collection up). I'll also have some DK weight colors, silk blend sock yarns, and even ones infused with aloe and jojoba.

I hope this holiday update infuses your fall knitting with color! We also have more holiday colors coming, including a restock of the five West Yorkshire Spinners holiday hues, but the timeline on those keeps getting pushed back due to importing delays. If you miss out on something here that you really like, just know that I will have more awesome goodies here all season long!

More Sock options from Madelinetosh

I had such a wonderful time photographing our new restock of Twist Light sock yarn that I just had to share. Last week was a tough one here in the US, not only because we had an election that so many of us had so many hopes pinned on, but it also took so long to give us an answer. Then the COVID numbers are just rising and rising, the hospitals in our area are nearly at max (I keep hearing talk from medical professionals I know about how stressed the system is and will become worse), and although the weather here in Indiana was downright gorgeous this week (in the 70's and blue skies in November?!) it's a reminder that our lives will soon be indoors. Which is going to be a huge change for my family and many others and we've basically moved our entire lives outside as much as possible for seven months to battle the COVID blues.

GAH. I'm being Debby Downer. I guess my point is that I really, REALLY loved seeing all these gorgeous hues from Tosh. There's something theraputic about getting out of your head for 30 seconds and focusing on capturing color. Just like there's something special about looking at a brightly colored sock develop. Having control over that little piece of work, while also allowing the colors to play out in a way that might have been unexpected. Seeing that one pink stitch in a sea of Accra Evening (shown above) in a sea of blues.

If you want to enjoy a bit of color therapy, here are a few suggestions for a heck of a sock. It's Lit (one of Tosh's holiday colors) above or Mansfield Garden Party. Maybe someone with an all over light pattern like Life's a Peach?

Campfire Socks, Anastasia Socks, or Leyburn Socks in Cotton Candy Daydreams or TexasBama both above, or Spectrum or Pixel below. Sidenote- I knit Texasbama into a Sockhead cowl a couple years ago and watching those crazy colors develop was like a little yarny adventure.

Or how about an Easy Goes It shawl in Mermaids Unite or Popoki.

And then I'm thinking about a simple colorway like Sky Wash. How if knit into a sweater it would look like weathered wood. Something simple like Pavement.

While we're on the sweater topic, I also like the idea of combining two colors of Twist Light into a Confetti  or Breathing Space. Of course, you could use Tosh Sock if you don't want the nylon, but I think both yarns would be lovely in a sweater and since it's hard to even get the exact Tosh you want right now, and if you find the colors you like in one base and not the other, then go for it. What about something bold like Soft Carmine with Resistance.

Not sure about something as large as asweater? What about a two-color shawl like Spring Tease  or Glass Houses?

Thanks for indulging my fall down the rabbit hole. It's much needed. Why not use color to elevate your mood too?

Madelinetosh's Tosh Sock

It's been MONTHS, but our order of Madelinetosh Tosh Sock is here! It's been like five months or so since we have gotten a nice restock of this yarn due to pandemic related mill closers and import issues and it's finally here. Gosh, all this color makes me happy.

We have more than 200 colors in stock right now, and this includes previously discontinued color that the new owners of Madelinetosh brought back last year. So if you've been waiting on Betty Draper Blues, Mansfield Garden Party, Gilded, Cherry, William Morris, and more, you'll find them. And if you need help choosing color for a project or making sure that colors go together as well as Outlander and Nocturne above or Manatee and Sideshow (new hues) below, just e-mail me as usual and ask. We are always happy to help!

I want to share that I take a lot of time and effort to take new photos with new batches/lots of hand dyed yarn. Sometimes colors like Tart or Onyx don't need rephotoed. But more often than not, the skeins look different enough when they arrive that I rephoto the yarn myself. I want you to receive yarn that looks as much like what you expect as I can. Of course, if we get 20 skeins of something and the picture can show just three, there could be differences in a hand made item you receive. But I think that most knitters understand the limitations of ordering hand dyed yarn online.

Here's an example of the differences one can see in just one colorway. Above is the new photo I took of our latest batch of Tosh Sock in Rosehipster in diffused natural light. Below is the photo from our last batch.

Now if you saw the top picture and were expecting a large amount of speckles across the entire skein, but instead got a skein from the photo below, wouldn't you be a bit miffed? I would. To me, they are very different colors. But this is the nature of hand dyed yarn that is basically a fiber artist's canvas. Depending on who is doing the dye mixing, the speckling and such, you could get a different skein. And it's my job to do my best to show you the most accuare representation of what I have.

I know a lot of sellers don't see it that way. Most simply use the photos that a dyer provides to them - it's often years old and sometimes even on a different yarn base. Sometimes it's so small that you can't even see the whole skein but just a few inches. But I do take pride in providing the best photos I'm able to, and I hope it shows.

Thanksgiving Goodies Coming Soon!

Next week I'll have some super awesome Thanksgiving and Holiday goodies to share. Not only will I have the below fall/Thanksgiving themed sock sets, but also just a bit of Christmas stuff.

Aren't these five sock sets awesome? I love that each has something unexpected about it- a bit of aqua with rusty orange or an unexpected pop of fuschia. I think each of these allows you to stretch your normal color preferences a bit and look forward to seeing what each little mini skein will bring to an otherwise solid or tonal sock.  Each full sized skein (from different dyers) is paired with a limited edition mini skein from Hedgehog Fibres. There's plenty for a large pair of socks with contrasting toes and heels. You'll find those in the kits/clubs section next week. Likely Tuesday.

Then we will be releasing the first half of two of our special holiday colors. First is Las Fiestas from Malabrigo. I worked with Antonio (in Uruguay) to create this gorgeous, vivid green that would be wonderful for a cabled sweater in Rios, or socks or a shawl in Sock. Green has long been my favorite color, and I love that he was able to interpret my idea into a squishy skein. I'll have this on both Rios and Sock next week.

Then you may have seen me knitting up a holiday cowl recently, and this is the yarn that made it. This is our limited edition holiday striping colorway from Urth Yarn. Next week I'll have it for you on the worsted weight, and I do have some coming on fingering if all goes well with the importing from Turkey. Here's the cowl pattern I used:

Using Urth's Uneek Worsted yarn and a 16" US 7 needle I cast on 120 stitches and joined into a round.

k2p2 rib for 2-4 inches. When you've made your rib section as long as you want, weight your work so you save that same amount of yarn for the end of your project. 10-20g depending on length of your rib section.

Switch to stockinette and knit for the bulk of the cowl, until you have that same 10-20g left of the skein.

Switch back to your k2p2 rib and cast off when appropriate.

While I knit my test skein into a cowl, it would also be super awesome as a Christmas stocking, some legwarmers, a hat, mittens.... just such a cool way to wear some holiday hues.

Late November/early December we'll have our Holiday Knit Kits, more holiday sock sets, a new batch of the five West Yorkshire Spinners holiday colors that sold out in the US fast earlier this fall (but the timeline keeps getting delayed due to importing delays), and some other really cool things from our small dyers. I can't wait to share it all with you!

Thanksgiving Recipe Ideas

For Thanksgiving this year, my household and I are getting together with my mom and my brothers family. And that's it. That's just 8 people (my oldest nephew is training to become a police officer so can't join us), and I feel good about that number. We all see each other pretty regularly anyway. But it's very different from the number that we usually have, which is closer to 20.

My contribution this year are the rolls, as usual. This year instead of a turkey we are doing a beef tenderloin. If you have recipe ideas for marinating and cooking, I'd love your input. I've used a really nice recipe before that usd a knife to cut little holes in the tenderloin where you would insert garlic cloves. And the marinade has red wine and soy sauce, I believe. Obviously, this isn't my thing, b/c I can't even recall how I cooked it the last time.

I'm also going to make a tray of rolls (I do love a good homemade roll) and this pecan bar. And perhaps something else....

Photo courtesy of Half Baked Harvest

Do you have your Thanksgiving meal already planned? I'm buying up things now that I'll need b/c I'm a bit concerned about things being available in a few weeks. Already I can't find things like boxed yellow cake mix and the good cottage cheese.  Is there a recipe that impresses everyone every year and you couldn't do without? Do tell!

 

Free pattern w/ Dream in Color purchase!

Dream in Color is offering SSYC knitters an awesome pattern this month- the Victorious Shawl! Isn't this a great way to combine three colors?

If you purchase three skeins of Dream in Color Smooshy or Smooshy with Cashmere, I'll e-mail you a Ravelry coupon code to get this pattern for free. Just order your three skeins online before November 20, and respond to your e-mailed receipt and ask me for the pattern code. I'll e-mail it back asap. The code expires at the end of November, so even if you forget to ask for it for a week or so, you can still ask and redeem yours. If you're not on Ravelry, I can e-mail you a pdf instead.

Above photos used with permission of Dream in Color

Here are a few color combos that we like with this yarn. Of course, you might love this pattern and already have yarn in your stash to knit it and that's awesome. Just go here to purchase your pattern if you don't want to order three skeins of Dream in Color. It's a great one to have on hand either way.

On Smooshy with Cashmere above Whetstone + Do Re Me + Time Machine. Below is Petrified Forest + Cottonwick + Federal Bank

Above is Smooshy with Cashmere in Her Beacon Hand + Indigo + Unimaginable. Below is Indigo + Naked Shame + Whisper

Above on Smooshy (superwash merino/nylon) Kyoto Sunset + Tiny Blue + Galaxy. Below is Surf + Guthrie Peak + Blue Fish

On Smooshy above Navy Zeal + Uptown Electric + Melon Bomb. Below on Pickle Ball + Fable + Indigo

Which combo is your fave? I'm not sure I can pin down just one. But I bought a new coat online at Target yesterday, and it's nice and long and a lovely light camel color - it looks much nicer on me than in the model shots (which is a rare thing to say, right?) - I think it needs someone with a bit of shape to make it not look like a bathrobe. I'm thinking I need to give it a punch of color with perhaps the Surf+Guthrie Peak+Blue Fish combo. But that's so in my wheelhouse already. I've long loved the color Angelica. So maybe Angelica+Time Machine+ Lavender Bloom? Or maybe Tucson+True to Life+Do Re Me? Gah. I've fallen down the color combo rabbit hole! If you want to join me down here and want to know if you're preffered color combo works, just e-mail me at service@simplysockyarn.com as usual! It's nice down here at the bottom.... cozy and warm with color and wool.

Halloween 2020

Halloween 2020 looks very different than previous years. We can't necessarily safely trick-or-treat, there aren't any fall or Halloween school festivals, we can't go into the classrooms for our kids' class parties (if your kids can even go to school in person) and it just seems a bit lonlier than usual. I guess all of 2020 seems a bit lonely. Facetime definitely isn't the same as hugging a friend.

This year, my family and I are doing things a bit differently on the 31st. Instead of trick-or-treating with a big group of friends and family, we will instead be celebrating outdoors with the neighbors next to us who are already in our "bubble". We will be doing some field day type activities, eating pizza and chili and pigs-in-a-blanket outside, and I've created a Halloween Treasure Hunt that will take the kids around our part of the neighborhood a bit, with bowls of treats to get at each clue. I'm trying to make this memorable, but in a different way I guess. My mom has some elaborate idea for giving out candy to kids in our front yard that involves numbered flags in the ground and candy next to them instead of having kids come to the door. We'll see how this works out- hahaha!

Us, two years ago. We miss seeing you in the shop and look forward to celebrating all the things with you when it's safe!

How are you adjusting to this? And what are you making for Thanksgiving plans? We usually get together with a lot of family for Thanksgiving, but won't be this year. We just don't feel comfortable combining too many "bubbles" for a big indoor event. So we will put it off and hope to see people in the spring or summer.

Socktober Monday No. 4

This last Socktober Monday at SSYC we are featuring some awesome sales, Halloween treats and gifts with purchase! Read on to see how we're ending the month that celebrates the sock knitter!

First off, with all your orders that we ship this week (Monday through the 31st) we are giving out these super cute stitch markers- yarn ball with some locking markers. You don't have to do anything special to get yours, other than order something that we ship out.... a set of needles, a pom pom or three, a hand made leather shawl cuff, a Halloween Knit Kit or limited edition fall skein (two options shown below), some awesome sale yarn (we have a really nice selection right now)... just place your order online as usual and we'll automatically tuck a set of stitch markers into your parcel before it ships out.

Treat Yo'self Knit Kit above, Candy Corn Glitter Knit Kit below

What might you like to order? We have some super Halloween and Fall skeins that are special just for this month in the Kits & Clubs section. And we have a stunning array of yarn in the sale section today- tweeds, sock yarn, and as of today some Tosh DK and Vintage (worsted weight) from Madelinetish! This is the "accidentally" stripey yarn base that sometimes happens when one of the plies is spun tighter, in the opposite direction, or has a bit of fiber that dyes up different than usual, so you kind of see a barberpole effect in the yarn. I don't think of these as seconds because they have the same beautiful texture and dyeing that Tosh always has, but they are just beautiful anomolies. Just a bit different than expected, so you get $10 off each skein! I have a few dozen colors, but some I have three skeins and some I have twenty, so please don't hesitate if you really like something.

I have Malmo and Tart on worsted weight Vintage, both shown above, should you want to knit something red or green for Christmas too. Like some stockings or a striped scarf or a holiday hat. Or a striped red and green scarf. And I knit up this hat in Coffee Grounds for my man two holidays ago, and it's worn really well. Don't ask if he's washed it. I have no answer to that one. I'm now thinking of knitting the boys the same color hat, but with a different colored contrasting stripe in the middle of the hat for each guy, just for something the same but different. I know there will be an age where I won't be able to convince the dudes in my household to wear matching PJs or knits, but that day isn't here yet. And don't forget- not only are you getting a deal in our Sale Section but you're also getting a free gift this week!

We also have a long awaited restock of Hedgehog Fibres, including the four special Halloween/fall colors below (listed as Potluck 11a- 11d at this link). It could be 2021 before we are able to get more Hedgehog Fibres, as this Irish dyer is now out of their Sock and Skinny Singles base yarn to dye due to pandemic related mill closures and delays. I'm told they expect more in December, which means by the time an order is dyed, dried, labeled and shipped to us again, we're talking early 2021 if we are lucky.

Been waiting for the Flock Fibre Halloween Sock Sets?! Me too! This straggler-of-a-box finally got here through Customs and we have these three awesome options for you:

Ghosts of Halloween Past with a toe/heel skein of Ectoplasm (try with this Coffee Talk sock pattern)

Gothic + Batwing what about with the Hello Sunshine pattern?

Owloween + Pumpkin Juice - I love it with this Honeypie sock pattern

I hope you've found something today that will make you smile when you knit. If you have questions about any of these lovelies, please do fee free to e-mail me, Allison, at service@simplysockyarn.com.

Preview of the 4th Socktober Monday

This coming Monday is our last Monday in Socktober and we've saved some awesome goodies for this last week! Read below to see what's coming to SSYC, but first I want to share that we have an awesome gift with purchase starting Monday through the end of the month. With each shipment you'll get a cute set of stitch markers- a little hand made yarn ball marker plus a selection of the little pear-shaped locking markers. It's just our way of saying THANK YOU for keeping us going through such a difficult and odd 2020! You are made of awesome!

You don't have to do anything special to get your gift (you don't add it to your cart or anything), simply place your order online and usual and we'll tuck your markers into your package before it leaves here. All orders get one if placed Oct 26-31 (if you order more than once and we see it, we will combine as usual to save you and us on shipping and we will include your set in your combined shipment as usual). What might you like to order on Monday to get your gift? Well, you'll soon see a super special deal in the Sale Section. If you like a heavier weight yarn this time of year, we'll have stripey Tosh DK and Tosh Vintage (worsted) for $10 off! What does "stripey" mean? Well basically you might be able to see that one of the four plies didn't take the dye the same way as the rest- it could be because it's spun tighter or in the opposite direction or it could have a bit of unexpected fiber in it that didn't dye up the same. It feels the same as typical Tosh does and it still looks wonderful. I don't even call these "seconds" because to me, they are really great quality, they just didn't soak up the dye as evenly as usual. I like the effect it gives to the skein, which is more noticeable in some colors as you can see, and nearly imperceptable in other colors. Some dyers like Vrinda even purposely ply their yarn so that it has this barberpole effect - it gives the yarn added dimension. But b/c Tosh didn't intend this look, they offered it to us at a lower price than usual. And who doesn't want to save ten bucks?! So you'll see this added to the sale section on Monday.

A big thanks to Madelinetosh for sharing this with us. I don't have a whole lot of it, and if I can get more I will. So if you see something you like on Monday (listed likely mid-morning) I don't recommend hesitating too long. And I'm always happy to help you color-coordinate for a project if you like, but it's likely that b/c I don't have tons of these that by the time I get a look at these and get back to you then it will be sold. It's that kind of deal- some of these I have three skeins of, some ten.

What else will you find in the shop? We have a few other Halloween goodies in the Kits/Clubs section, so don't miss those. Or revisit the post from this week to see what else you might like to grab to get your free gift with purchase. It could be there's more I'm forgetting, but I'll let you know on Monday if there's more I remember. I'm hoping to have our huge new batch of Hedgehog Fibres completely up on the website for you Monday. This could be the last we get for awhile b/c they shared with me that they are now out of Skinny Singles and Sock to dye (due to pandemic related mill closures and shipping delays) until December, so it could be early 2021 before they dye those for shops again and we can get more. Shown below is the awesome DRK color on Skinny Singles. J'adore.

Edited to add: Oh my gosh, our Flock Fibre Halloween Sock Sets have just now finally gotten through Customs (expected a month ago) so I'll be sharing those too. I'll try and share the sets this weekend on Instagram so you can see them before they go up for sale on Monday.

Recent contest winners include Nancy and Vasiliki for the Rattlesnake sweater. And the winner of the $30 gift certificate is Julie. Winners have been e-mailed and received their codes. Thank you for playing along with us this month as we celebrate Socktober!