Simply Socks Yarn Co. Blog

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Yarn

SSYC has received our most recent shipment of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Yarn, which includes many of the Multicolors that we were out of.  You can now find more of the following colorways:

Vera, Watercolor, Iris Garden   (below)

Camouflage, Glenwood, Jeans  (below)

Baltic Sea, Purple Club, Sand Ridge  (below)

We also received the rest of the Nearly Solid colorways below, Carrot, Charcoal and Douglas Fir

Also, lots of the Striping sock yarn- Pin Stripe, Bee Stripe, Baby Stripe

 

Girly Stripe, Fresh Stripe, and Amethyst Stripe

I have never seen so much Shepherds Sock yarn in one place.  I should seriously take pics of it all together, because it's crazy to actually have all the colors in stock at one time.  The box that arrived yesterday was so big that it barely fit in the door.  I think I owe the UPS man some cookies.  Or socks.

J'adore

While it would be completely wrong to keep these socks for myself, it doesn't mean that I haven't considered it.  Yeah, yeah, I know, this is my Pal's sock.  But I really like this pattern with this yarn.  I would like it even better if I would have better tension throughout this thing, but I'm hoping some of those issues will come out in the wash- literally.  heh.

So I've decided that I may do the Hedera sock FOR MYSELF in more Fleece Artist merino, but in the Polar Sea colorway.  I think those socks would look fabulous peaking out beneath some jeans.  The Polar Sea is like a blue version of the Ruby Red- that sounds stupid doesn't it?  What I mean, is that it is a nearly solid combo of navy and royal blue, whereas the Ruby Red Fleece Artist color is a nearly solid combo of deep red and bright red.  Of course, I'm making plans to knit sock for myself, but I rarely actually do it.  I end up deciding to knit for someone else.  It's just my way.

On a much better note, my mom is doing so much better.  It's hard to believe that 3 weeks ago she was in such a horrid state in the hospital.  But apparently the first week of induction chemo (24 hours a day for 7 days) did its job, b/c her blood counts show that she is probably in remission!  We find out the results of her bone marrow biopsy soon, which will prove or disprove this.  She will still have chemo one week a month for the next several months, but we're told its not as harsh as the last chemo (hell, it has to be if she won't be in isolation for 3 weeks as a result!).

I'm considering doing the Light the Night walk on September 24.  Has anyone else done this before?

SSYC Summer Newsletter

The SSYC Summer Newsletter is now available!  This newsletter features an interview with Holli Yeoh, the designer and owner of Bee's Knees Knits.  Her fun patterns for kids sweaters use self- patterning sock yarn in interesting ways.  Yet another use for yarn we love!  You can download the newsletter below, and it will also be coming soon to your e-mail box, if you are signed up for our newsletter and promotions list.  If you are not, then you can simply e-mail your request to promotions@simplysockyarn.com , and make sure you put that address on your "allowed" list so your spam filter doesn't filter it out!

Download ssyc_vol2_issue3.pdf

The above file requires Adobe Reader, which can be downloaded for free at Adobe's website.

Turning Hedera's Heel

Hedera is really a nice knit.  This is truly the first time I have ever knit a pattern exactly as it's written.  Usually, I knit a different cuff, or turn my heel slightly differently than a sock pattern calls for.  The long heel in this pattern caused me to pause and think if I should do something shorter for my pal, but I stuck to the long heel flap the pattern calls for.  Hedera calls for 24 repeats of two rows at the heel flap, and therefore picking up 24 stitches when turning the heel- usually I pick up 16 (and maybe one extra to avoid a hole at the heel).  Cookie A. has composed a very well written and thought out pattern here.  I think it's worth following through to the end!

I noticed that my Hedera sock, like others in blogland, has uneven/unmatching yarn overs.  This is due to the yarn over before a purl stitch creating a bigger hole than the other yo's.  I know that this will even out after a wash and dry (maybe more than one), but I wish that it was even RIGHT NOW (she wails as she stamps her feet in a stubborn temper tantrum).  Look at the pic- see what I mean?  Anyone else encounter this and have it even out after a few washes?  And, FYI, I adore this Ruby Red color with this pattern. **Ack, I just reread this and noticed all the possessive "I" and "my" in references to this sock.  I must remember that I have to give it up to my Toasty Toes pal.  I. Must.

As I'm quite smitten with this pattern, I would love to see and post pics of your Hedera socks, if you want to send them.  Just e-mail me your pic, what yarn you used, and I'll post 'em here in the near future.  Your socks don't even need to be finished to send a pic.  Progress pics are fine!

I joined the International Scarf Exchange yesterday.  I haven't knit a scarf for a couple years, so this will be a change of pace for me.  It's hard to believe that fall is just around the corner.... especially since it was in the mid 80's here in Fort Wayne today.  I think that there are still a few dozen spots left if you want to join the group.  Sign ups end when there are 225 people, or on Aug 31; whichever comes first.  Anyone else signed/signing up?

Opal Petticoat on Sale!

Now through September 3 at SSYC, Opal Petticoat yarn is 20% off!  Regularly priced at $18.50 a ball, this yarn is now $14.80.  We have all 8 colors shown at left, and we'll take these off the website as they sell out.

I'm partial to the pink and brown combo on the far right, as well as the bright blue combo third from the left!

Anges' Socks

Last night, I finished one of Agnes' socks, and am starting the second one now.  Like Agnes correctly guessed in the comments yesterday, the yarn used is:

Sweet Georgia Yarn

100% Superwash Merino Wool, handpainted

185 yards/ 50 grams (fingering weight)

**I used the pattern from the most recent Six Sock Knitalong

It's super nice, and I'm considering adding it to the SSYC lineup in the late fall.  What I like best about it is the color distribution.  The short bursts of color make pooling less likely, which is always a plus for me.

I hope that the socks fit Agnes- I cast on 68 stitches, but then narrowed down to 64 for the foot.  As I started these socks before she won the contest, the leg and heel were finished before I knew they would be for her.  I did make them to fit the length of her foot, so hopefully all is good. I'm not too worried though- they are short socks with a nice picot cuff- which means I'm not concerned too much about them bagging b/c the doubled over picot edge makes the cuff stiffer and more apt to stand up.  I also used a US 1 needle, and the yarn knit up into a pretty tight fabric, so that makes the sock a bit stiffer too.  Next time I knit this yarn, I may use a US 1.5, especially if I do a lacy pattern.

I also made a little bit of progress on my Hedera socks for my Toasty Toes sock pal.  I'm using Fleece Artist's merino in the Ruby Red colorway.  So far, so good, I think.  The pattern is just a repeat of 4 rows, but I still have to watch the pattern pretty closely, as I have forgotton to YO a few times and have had to make 1 on the next row to fix it!

And look what came in the mail on Saturday- a sock bag from Leah!  I made a trade with her so that I could gift this to my Yarn Aboard pal, along with some other tasty fiber bits, when the box comes my way.  I'm actually thinking ahead and collecting beforehand.  I hope that the colors are of my pal's liking.  We can all use a simple storage device for our socks so that needles don't get pulled out or stitches don't get dropped.  I plan on stuffing this bag with sock yarn and some other tidbits.

Cake for Breakfast

That's right, CAKE.  And it was go-od.  Nothin' like a big piece of sugary goodness with your coffee to make the day seem perfect.  I'm celebrating!

After a month in the hospital, Mom was discharged two days ago.  Her blood counts are normal and the first round of "induction chemo" was effective!  She now will go through "consolidation chemo" one week a month til January or so.  She's feeling so much better, and that makes me feel like a new woman!  I'm really, really happy.

I'm testing out a new yarn.  And with such an event, comes a little contest.  All you have to do is correctly guess what yarn this is, and what colorway.  The first person to correctly give me those TWO pieces of info in the comments section below, wins the socks I'm making out of this delightfully "sweet" yarn.  Here are your clues**:

1.Yarn from a small dyer, in the country that is directly north of the US.

2. Fingering weight, 100% merino wool, machine washable.

3.The logo/label is hot pink and white.

4.  The above pic comes from the dyer's website, so you can compare when you find it.

**If I don't get the right answers to the two questions (yarn and color), I will post more clues tomorrow.

Here's a pic of the sock-in progress, using the SSS pattern from this month's Six Sock Knit-along. A simple, short sock with a pretty picot edge.  It could be yours.  It just have to know how long to make this foot....

GOOD LUCK!

Finished Projects!

It's been awhile since I have shown my finished projects, so here goes!

Last week, I got around to working in the loose ends and seeming the border of the Baby Log Cabin Blanket from Mason Dixon Knitting.  I used the pattern provided in the book, but took lots of liberties, and made it a bit smaller than what the pattern called for.  I adore this thing.  I used Cascade 220 Superwash that I bought from my LYS.  I would have chosen different colors, if available, but there were only about 10 colors in stock.  I'm pretty happy with the colors, though.  I wanted something bright that incorporated some boyish and girlish colors.  But I think the final product looks more feminine that masculine, don't you?** Keep in mind that the purple is more periwinkle blue than the pic shows**  Would this be proper to gift to a friend who doesn't know what gender her soon-to-arrive baby is yet?  I have several friends who are expecting, so this may be an option for those that don't want to know the gender.  Please give me your opinions- as a woman with no babies, I don't know if someone would like this for their unknown-gender baby.

Also finished, are my Yarn Over Cable socks (from Sensational Knitted Socks) using the Schaefer Anne sample that I knit to see how it performed before carrying it in the store.  And, uh, yeah.  This is some good yarn.  Soft, slightly fuzzy, and well dyed.  No bleeding of colors when I handwashed it.  Soft, not itchy, on the feet.  I knit these on US 0 double point needles, which really is making me enjoy knitting on US 1 right now!  US 1 seems huge comparatively!  While knitting with Anne was definitely worth the length of time that it took to knit these long socks (FOR MESELF!!), it dure does make me appreciate knitting for people with more reasonable sized feet.  I cast on 75 stitches, made the leg of the sock 7 inches, and the feet are about 9.5 inches- and there is still about 25% of the skein left over.  So there is more than enough yarn in one skein of a pair of sock- perhaps baby socks too.

B/c I was so happy with the outcome of the socks, I placed the store's first Schaefer Anne order last week.  A very large shipment will arrive in about a month, then it will take a week to take pics and put on the SSYC website.  This order includes about a dozen nearly solid colors, and more than a dozen multicolors.  I took all of your suggestions from last month in placing the order.  The way Schaefer dyes, creates basically one-of-a-kind colors.  So when I place orders from them, I will request a certain color, like Eleanore Roosevelt, and they will duplicate it closely, but not exactly.  So when we get it in, I will most likely designate numbers to the yarn like "color 414" instead of names, b/c each time the colors will be different.  If you have any other suggestions for naming ideas, please let me know.

Here are some other Finished Projects, of the gardening kind.  Last year, Joe built some very nice flower boxes for our front windows, and this year, I found that impatiens work quite well in them.  I planted these from seed (indoors) in March, and they really like the dappled shade provided by the tall oak trees in our yard.  And all they need is watered every two days.  My kind of gardening!

Meilenweit Sock Yarn has Arrived!

Want a sneak peak?

Lana Grossa's Meilenweit sock yarn hs arrived and is now available at Simply Socks Yarn Co!  We now have available several lines of Meilenweit, including Mega Boots Stretch, Mega Boots Stretch Softcolor, Cotton Fantasy, Cotton Spirit, and ColorTweed.  You can view what we now have available by clicking on the link above- the yarn won't be added to the sidebar of the website til Tuesday, so this is the only way you can get a special preview or buy it before it is accessible on the site.

Many 50 gram balls of solid cotton and wool colors will also be available in a few days.  And even more colors of the previously mentioned lines will be available once the US distributor gets more in.  Most likely in a month or so. The Mega Boots Stretch and the Mega Boots Stretch Softcolor are especially hard to get in stock here, as they are selling quite well.

   

Lorna's Laces and Interlacements!

SSYC has just received another 1/3 of our BIG Lorna's Laces shipment!  This shipment brings back (among others not pictured) Nearly Solid colors like Bold Red, Cranberry and Pale Pink!

Also in this shipment were all those gorgeous multicolors that sold so quickly the first time that we got them in.  These include below: Aslan, Black Purl & Daffodil

Also  Purple Iris, Mt. Creek & Blackwatch, below:

SSYC also received part of our latest Interlacements Yarn shipment.  This shipment includes lots of Toasty Toes (DK weight) in several colors we sold out of.  We are still waiting on the Tiny Toes yarn, as that has been selling so quickly that Interlacements is OUT of the fiber that they use to dye this yarn!  I hope more arrives quickly, as we are out of several colors.  We still do have 22 of the colors in stock right now though. 

Some of the Toasty Toes colors that arrived included the 219-Scottish Lichen, 201-The Blues, and 208-Desert Lichen. FYI- in the Desert Lichen pic below, you'll notice that there is just a little bit of yellow at the top of the skein.  In this shipment, the skeins are about 20% yellow- I may be taking some new pics to show off this difference.

So tasty is all this yarn, that I'm already thinking about what to knit once I finish mom's second chemo cap and my Toasty Toes socks for my pal.  For my next post I PROMISE to show all this pics of projects I have finished over the past few weeks.  It's such a nice feeling to move those projects from the mental tally of works-in-progress to finished projects.

I'm crazy.

Remember the post about the two yarns I was choosing from for my Toasty Toes sock exchange pal?  Both were bold, very hot colors.  Well, call me crazy (GO AHEAD!), but I changed my mind.  Why?  'Cuz apparently I'm scared of color.  Really.  I just can't do it!  I could knit one of those for myself, but when I just kept replaying a scene of my pal opening up her box of handknit socks and thinking, "Ugh, I was hoping these weren't for me."  I'm completely insecure about knitting something so bold for someone I don't know!  So, I've changed gears. Which doesn't mean that I won't change gears again in a couple days.  Maybe I should cast on now so that it's harder for me to change my mind.

I've decided now on Fleece Artist Merino in Ruby Red.  The color is still bold, and hot, but now it's something that isn't as shocking.  Because while shocking and bold is great for me, how do I know that it is great for someone I've never met?  I know, I know, I'm playing it safe.  How BORING. And on the selfish side, this way I can use the Hedera pattern that I've been drooling over ever since seeing Erin's socks on her blog.  Those are some gorgeous socks.  And the tonal red in this yarn will look lovely with that pattern.

Opal Petticoat & Wool/Silk

Simply Socks Yarn Company has just received a huge order of Opal sock yarn!  Take a look:

First- Opal Wool/Silk- perfect for warm fall socks (I know- who wants to think about HEAT in this heatwave).  Only one color is available in the US, a self striping blend of yellow, light blue, pink, blue-violet, and rosy brown.  This yarn, more than the others, is in limited supply.

Second- Opal Petticoat-  SSYC now has all the colors that weren't available before: 1292 (sky blue, periwinkle, pink) 1293 (navy, blue, and orange), 1294 (brown orange and black), 1298 (pink, brown, black).  We also have replenished our stock of four other colors: 1291 (navy, blue, pink, and green), 1295 (pink, melon, peach, and rust), 1296 (lavender, green, yellow and purple), 1297 (yellow, gold, green and blue).

Third- Opal Rainforest-  Much of the first Rainforest Collection is making a quick appearance before the new Rainforest Collection comes to the US in the fall.  So if you have been hoping that these would come back, now's your chance to find them for a short period of time.

Above:  Fish, Flamingo, Parrot.  Below: Owl, Zebra, Chameleon

Fourth- Opal Handpainted, Summer Night Bouquet-  I may have listed this one last, but it's my favorite.  Deep, dark jewel tones of magenta, navy and hunter green.  Much like the Opal Rosehips handpainted yarn that was available a few months ago (and sold out in about 10 days), this is a special colorway with limited availability.