Simply Socks Yarn Co. Blog

Hate me if you want....

But I still haven't gotten the new yarn and the Opal Sale up on the website!  I know, I know, I told you that it was likely to happen by today, but it's taking forever to get this done.  There have been so many orders coming in the past couple days that I can't find a moment to get all the new product images completed!  You're going to hate me, especially those of you e-mailing today, but I just don't think it's all going to be up today.  Please forgive me and check back tomorrow.  I'll post here when everything's up!

And for your wonderful patience, what do you get tomorrow?  A contest.  And the prize is a super cool Lexie Barnes needle case (15"x5").  Lexie was nice enough to send a sample of this  "Betty" needle case, and while it won't work for the store, it's a great case.  The pockets are just too long for double point and circular needles.  BUT Lexie's coming out with a double point/crochet needle case late this year, which you will find here.  BTW-  This "Betty" does have two short pockets though, so it would make a good combination needle case for those of you who have special single points, double points, and circulars that you want to store in a high quality case.  All you have to do is win it.  Tomorrow.

Like being in Love

James is becoming so fun.  He's standing up, chattering, making monster sounds instead of crying, and giving me lopsided grins with his tongue stuck halfway out.  Running my own business lets me have a flexible schedule, and I get to spend lots of time with him.  You'd think that seeing him and all his little faces would grow old over time- you'd think I'd get used to seeing his little chin and roly poly thighs.  But I haven't at all.  Each time he wakes up from a nap, or each time I walk through the door after being gone for even a few minutes, I get so excited to see him!  It's like he's all new all over again- like I need to see how he's changed in the few minutes or hours since I last gazed at that goofy face.  And I was thinking today, Is this how it's going to be my entire life?  When he's 35 years old and comes to visit, will I want to smooch his grown-up cheek just like I plant them his little baby lips now?  Will he be embarrassed?  Will I care?

I don't know why I'm thinking this way.  Perhaps it's because Joe's family lives a couple states away and I wonder if his mom feels that something is missing, just like I do when I leave the house for a couple hours.  And if so, how am I going to handle that when little James leaves for college?

Tell me I'm crazy if you want.  I know I shouldn't think so far ahead when I have such exciting things to look forward to until then.  But it's just what I do.  Why enjoy what you have when you can worry about what's to come??

Lest you think I have forgotten that you do want to hear about yarn, I have some fiber-related things to tell you about!  None of these are on the website this morning (that's why there are no links), but here's a preview of what's to come later today or tomorrow:

Cherry Tree Hill has dyed a new colorway, Cherry Blossom.  This colorway was specially dyed for their UK distributor and is now available here.  I'm told it's a limited run- I don't know if this means that they won't be adding it to their regular line up or what.  But I did order quite a few so that I wouldn't run out right away.  If you do see it disappear though, I'll reorder and get it back as quickly, so that as many of you can snag some as possible!

ALPACA SOX.  The new sock yarn from Classic Elite.  Super soft and fuzzy. Lots of colors. Yes, it's so tasty that I could only put together small sentences.  It's the first alpaca sock yarn that I've found that I like.... and I'm looking for others if you have suggestions.

Spread the news: Many of the Opal collections I have in stock will soon, and permanently, go on sale.  These collections are no longer being shipped to the US, and the distributor is clearing out their stock, so I'm able to get a fabulous deal and pass it on to you.  I'm not talking a tiny discount- I'm talking 40%.  If you are on a yarn diet, this could break you...

And as if all that weren't enough, I have some more Lexie Barnes bags here in two sizes and three fabric options.  The larger size is perfect for your current sock project, and the smaller size fits your notions.  I adore these bags.  Fun fabrics and very high quality.

sKNITches yarn- just a few

I have a few skeins leftover of the sKNITches striping yarn- since I don't have many and they sell at the speed of light, I'm selling them here.  Don't feel bad if you miss out on these, as I do have a new shipment coming sometime before Christmas (but in other colors).  So here are the colors/amounts I have (float your mouse over the picture to see the name):

Candy-3  2 SOLD

Wickedness-2  1 SOLD

Lagoon- 2 SOLD

Rugby-1 SOLD

Handsome Devil-1 SOLD

Each skein is $24, plus $4.60 for shipping (tax will be added if you are in Indiana).  I'll post SOLD next to the name when these are gone.  If interested in one or several, e-mail me at allison@simplysockyarn.com asap.  I'll e-mail you a Paypal invoice that you can pay with a credit card or however you like.  I'll hold the yarn only for an hour for you to complete Paypal payment, and then it goes to the next person!

Bruhaha

I've finished one of my Brouhaha socks- the special edition colorway Dream in Color dyed for the sock yarn club.  And I've already turned the heel of the second sock- quite quick knitting for me, considering I don't have much spare time.  I think it's because I've made time to knit this colorway- I love it.  And Dream in Color is coming out with 8 new colors for the 400 series in December.  I already have lots on preorder so that you can get your hands on some as soon as it's available.  I'm sure it will sell quickly, so be sure to keep on reading the blog around that time, b/c I post things to the blog before I send out newsletters- sometimes you blog readers get several days head start!

But back to my Brouhaha socks... I ended up knitting a simple basketweave stitch, which isn't to evident from this picture, but I really like how it's turned out.  I used Addi aluminum needles for the first time, and love love LOVE them.  They are super smooth, lightweight, and while I didn't know if I would like knitting with 8" needles, I really do- the ends don't hit the palm of my hand when I knit, like 6" needles do.

Anyone else have any Brouhaha socks to share yet?

Mmmmm, pudding.

Yes, I'm obsessed.  Not just with yarn, but lately with pudding.  Seriously.  I don't know what it is, but I've made it over and over, and can't get enough.  So below is a recipe that I'm quite happy with- it's thick like a pudding pie filling, and super tasty.  And, if you want, you can leave out the Chai tea and just have tasty vanilla.  Or add chopped up banana in the end.

*Disclaimer- I am, by no means, a good writer- especially of recipes.  Hell, I've barely gotten a cup of coffee in this morning... but this is gooooood pudding.  So forgive my poor following of recipe writing procedure.  And sorry, there are no pics b/c the last thing I'm thinking about when sitting down to a bowl of warm, sweet pudding is taking a picture of it.

Allison's Chai Pudding

2 cups whole milk

2/3 c sugar

1/3 c flour

1/4 t salt

3 egg yolks, slightly beaten

1 T butter

1/2 t vanilla

2 Chai tea bags, or 2 t loose Chai tea

Combine chai tea with milk and scald (heat until small bubble form at edges of pan).  Take out teabags or filter out loose tea.

Combine flour, sugar and salt.  Pour milk slowly over this dry mixture, stirring to ensure no lumps form.  Pour this combination back into pan and onto stove.  Stir constantly over medium heat until boiling, then stir continue for an addition minute.  Remove from heat.

Temper the eggs by pouring a small amount of the hot milk mixture into the eggs while stirring.  Once half of the milk mixture is combined with eggs, pour this all back into the hot pan.  Add the vanilla and cook for one more minute.  Remove from heat and stir in the butter until it melts completely.

Pour this mixture into 4 small bowls and let cool slightly before eating.  Or let cool and refrigerate up to 2 days.

*                    *                    *

OMG, I just thought of something wonderful.  Replacing some of the sugar with honey and steeping LAVENDER in the milk instead of Chai.  mmmmmmm.  I have to go find lavender now.  Oh, jasime would be great too!  Man, I wish I had time to make more pudding right how.  JASMINE PUDDING.  I'll let you know how it turns out...

More Dream in Color and Sleeping Dragon Yarns

I just wanted to let you all know that I just put the newest batch of Dream in Color and Sleeping Dragon yarns on the website.  Sleeping Dragon even has 2 new colors- Zen and Maples Leaves, shown below.  Pretty, eh?

Sorry some of the Trekking colors flew outta here so quickly!  I have ordered more of the missing colors, plus new colors, and all should arrive late next week.  I'm looking forward to seeing the new colors myself!

Next week I'm going to post a picture of the sock I've finished in the Dream in Color sock club yarn- Bruhaha- so if you haven't gotten your club yarn yet, comment below so I know not to post a picture!!  Everyone should have gotten theirs by now, so I think it'll be okay.

I've been on a pudding kick.  No, not an instant pudding, but real-super-tasty-homemade-pudding.  It's sooooo good.  First vanilla, then butterscotch, and yesterday I made a chai pudding.  It was SUPER tasty and I'll likely post the recipe.  If you like chai and you like pudding, you'll LOVE this pudding.

Super cute bib

I just want to give a shout out to Lisa, who sent red-eyed James this adorable bib last week.  THANK YOU!  I love the color, don't you all?  It's bright and cherry- and I haven't met a green I haven't liked.  Well, James has left me some greenish presents in his diaper that I haven't been very fond of...anyway... This is the perfect gift for a friend who is having a baby.  Lisa, where did you get the pattern and the cute football button?  Leave a comment below or e-mail me b/c I'd love to knit it for gifts.  This bib is coming in very handy b/c James has been drooling uncontrollably.

James is now 3 months old, and he's given Joe and me the best gift- for over a week he's slept about 10 hours straight each night.  Seriously. I've been getting 8-9 hours of sleep each night.  This is the little guy who two months ago refused to sleep more than 20 minutes for a 36-hour stretch .  Remember that?  I DO.  Look at how big he is, standing there with me and my mom!  I've been proud of things before, but having a healthy, growing baby really makes me proud because I'm the one making it happen.  Well, Joe obviously has an equal part in James, but I'm the one responsible for feeding him. Joe's parts don't work that way, as I'm sure you could deduce on your own.  TMI?

So it's pretty obvious from the e-mails and comments I get that you all are loving your Dream in Color special edition yarn from the SSYC Sock Club.  I've already started knitting mine, and while I started knitting it with this pattern (scroll to the bottom of the article to see the pattern), I tore it out and ended up just knitting a basket weave that is turning out fabulously.  Has anyone else cast on this yarn yet?  If so, leave me a link!  I don't want to post a pic of mine here yet b/c there are still a few people in the US (and especially Canada) who haven't gotten theirs yet.  I do have a few extra skeins available for members of the sock club to buy, so e-mail me if you are interested for yourself or a friend who isn't in the club.  FYI- our next shipment of Dream in Color yarn should arrive late this week.

Notice some of the products added to the store this weekend?  For over 2 years, you've been asking for Addi needles.  And the company that sells Addi's finally took on online-store accounts, so I have them now in 8" Double Point, 24" Turbo circs, and 24" Turbo Lace circs (great sharp tips for sock knitting).  E-mail me if you want other sizes/styles that I don't have right now, b/c I will be expanding the offerings.  And you may have already noticed that there are a few colors of Trekking available.  I'm so excited about this - Joe has already picked out a color for socks for him, but I'm not too enthused about doing black/gray socks AGAIN for him.  I'm also thinking of doing a pair for myself in color 100-  I was inspired by Cindy's beautiful socks. Austermann Step (the yarn that's treated with aloe and jojoba) is soon to come as well.  I have it here, but haven't had a chance to get it up on the website yet- check later this afternoon.  Later this week, you will find Sockina Cotton, which is another option for those of you who want to go wool-free.  October is turning out to be a big month for new products!!

Dream in Color- the Interview

Well, by this morning, those gorgeous little skeins of special edition Dream in Color sock yarn are making their way to their new homes in the hot hands of the sock club members.  This was the final shipment for the club, and I hope you adore it.  I've already started knitting mine!!!  I'm going to refrain from showing a picture b/c, well, that would spoil the surprise for you club members.  I'll show a pic of my socks-in-progress in a few weeks, after the international sock club members have received their packages.

Until then, read the mini-interview below.  Veronica Van, one of the owners of Dream in Color, took time out of her busy dyeing and shop running schedule to help us learn more about this fabulous yarn.  Read on!

Veronica's Disclaimer: Questions are answered by Veronica Van. Nancy Leuer (the other owner) let her do all the talking. That's the way Veronica likes it (evil laugh).

Allison: How long have you been dyeing yarn?

Veronica: I have been dyeing yarn off and on for about the last 12 years. I started with a friend doing natural dyes. Natural dyes are amazing work with and I love the colors that you achieve. Even though I have gone on to use acid dyes the colors that I design for Dream in Color are inspired by the colors found in nature.

Allison: What inspired you to begin?

Veronica: Dream in Color was created to fill a need at our own knitting shop, Fringe. We wanted a beautiful, hand painted, machine washable, soft wool yarn that would work well especially for children. Tough thing to find. We looked and looked but could not really find exactly what we were looking for so we decided to make it ourselves. The funny thing is that because we don't want to compete with the shops that are our local accounts our shop, Fringe, does not sell Dream in Color.

Allison: What inspired the color combination of the yarn you designed for the SSYC Sock Yarn Club?

Veronica: I was looking for a way to create an orange that many would find appealing. Orange is a very difficult color for most people to wear. Very few people really feel drawn to orange because of this. By adding the cooler purples and greens the orange is shifted to a more flattering color.

Allison: What are some of your favorite sock patterns and pattern sources?

Veronica: I love Knitty and all the awesome sock patterns that you can find there. Cookie A's patterns on Knitty and her patterns that she publishes herself are incredible. I also am amazed by our own designer Monica Nappe. She has done two sock patterns for us and we have a third coming soon. I am blown away by the way she thinks "socks".

Allison: How did you learn to knit?

Veronica: Mostly by being thrown into the fire. I had a very brief introduction to knitting in 1989 on a trip to Germany. A young woman there taught me so that I would have something to do on the train while I was straining to understand if this was my stop or not (no reading allowed unless I wanted to end up in Russia). I floundered along until about 1996 until the Waldorf school that I was involved with needed a handwork teacher. Here is the trial by fire part: Teaching a bunch of 6 and 7 years old the basics of knitting (casting on, knitting, casting off, fixing all those mistakes, untangling all that yarn) is about the best teacher you can get. Sink or swim...

Allison: Which color from your line is your favorite and why?

Veronica: Not a fair question! They are all my babies. If I tell someone is bound to be jealous. (okay...I do love Spring Tickle... I think ST already knows this because out of all of our colors this one always turns out right).

Allison: If you could plan the perfect day, how would you spend it?

Veronica: Sitting somewhere beautiful with a friend (probably Nancy since she and I are joined at the hip) knitting, drinking margaritas, talking and eating great food. Sounds like heaven. When do we leave!

Allison: How do you balance your time designing colors, running a shop, and still being able to relax and spend time with your friends and family?

Veronica: Well, as far as the friend thing goes I am with Nancy all day long. We love our work and we have a great time doing it. Our employees are the greatest and who could ask for more. It is my dream. To love what I do everyday and love the people that I do it with. Gorgeous colors, yarn, laughter, friendship, knitting, creating -- to sum it up the best job in the world. Awesome... sigh....

Designing colors is a blast. I can always find time for that. Color is what moves me. I walk into the drying room in the morning and see all of the yarn hanging there and I am struck fresh by the beauty of the colors.

As far as our families are concerned we try to keep our work time normal "office" hours ie 9 am to 5 pm. One or the other of us might leave early to take care of our children (Nancy has four, I have three). We support each other and take turns being there for the children. We also trade out a lot in the summer when they are off school. They also love to come to the shop (in small doses -- for us and them). Juggle, juggle, juggle. Just your average working moms.

Allison: Yeah... average.  That's what we all think of when we see Dream in Color's gorgeous dye jobs, right?  Ha.  A hearty THANK YOU to the ladies at Dream in Color for taking time out of their busy dye schedule to design and dye such a gorgeous colorway for the club.  I'm enjoying knitting it up already, and I know the club members will too!

Keep reading the blog in the coming months for info on how to get into the next 3-month-long sock club.  Again, b/c the yarn is hand dyed spaces are limited and likely to sell out in 1-2 days.

More Schaefer Heather Sock Yarn

SSYC's most recent shipment has arrived of the new Heather sock yarn from Schaefer Yarns.  I think that all the new colors should be up on the website later today, so feel free to check it out then, as there are just two colors there at the time of this post.  I really like how the Heather yarn base takes dye- it's nicely saturated and really shows off the lovely hues that the dyers at Schaefer are known for.  My favorites from this batch are Rafael and Rosa Parks, so check those out later and tell me if you agree.

I also have back in stock the Georgia O'Keeffe colorway of Schaefer Anne.  This color seems to fly out of here almost as quickly as it goes on the website.  I ordered several dozen this time, and we'll see how long it lasts.  I'll keep reordering it so that hopefully you'll just continue to see the color all the time.

James is over 12 weeks old now, and he's doing really well. It's so hard to believe that when Joe and I brought him home he weighed less than 6 pounds.  He actually slept more than 9 hours straight last night! ...I hope he still naps well today.  I really appreciate all the comments on the blog, e-mails, and phone conversations I've had with many of you.  It's really nice having a little group of support.  So my new question for you is this- Do your kids knit?  And if you don't have kids yet, do you plan on teaching him or her to knit?  How early did you/will you start?  I'm definitely going to teach James to knit, and I hope that he eventually finds it as fulfilling as I do.

Look at those little roly poly thighs!  Why are his so adorable, and mine... well, the exact opposite??  At what age are those not OK?  Apparently 29 or younger.

Opal Zirkus

Opal's newest collection, Zirkus (Circus), is now available.  Check out the 8 fun self-patterning styles that are part of this collection- get a closer look by clicking on the pic at left.  Very fun and colorful collection, and still at the new lower price of $16.50.

For the past 2+ years, I've had requests from many knitters for me to carry Trekking yarn, and soon you'll find it at SSYC!  I'm really pleased to be carrying this line, as well as Austermann Step- the yarn with aloe and jojoba.  Addi needles will soon be available too, hopefully within a couple weeks.

More yarn is soon to arrive from Karen at Sleeping Dragon Yarns.  So if you are one of the many who are waiting for the Roses and Chocolate colorway to arrive again, I don't think the wait will be longer than a week.

An actual finished pair!

I've actually finished a pair of socks.  The last pair I finished was before James was born, so that's like THREE months ago!  These are for ME.  I chose the color I liked, Artyarns 154, with a coordinating toe and heel, and a pattern I really liked, Monkey by Cookie A.

While I thought James was over his cold, it has either reappeared or he's gotten a new one as of today.  It seems to have just popped out of nowhere with yellow boogers and a raspy cough.  He just had his 2 month vaccines, so I'm wondering if that has anything to do with it.  But I do have to say that James is now over his sleepless hump and has been sleeping 5-8 hours at a stretch at night.  That makes Mama VERY happy.  It's almost 9am here in Indiana, and he's still sleeping- Aw YEAH.

So when you had kids, or another life changing event, did you find that your home suddenly seamed way to small?  I feel like my walls are closing in around me.  There are large baby-centric items everywhere; there isn't a room that isn't dominated by a seldom used swing, a bouncy chair, or a no-longer-used cradle.  Even my yard seems small.  I feel like I need to stretch out somewhere and everywhere I look there's no space larger than three feet that's empty.  And then I think about a few months down the road when I'll have to baby-proof the house.  Oh, how do I secure my yarn stash and projects in progress?  Have I mentioned that Joe's a potter?  We have art everywhere- on every wobbly table and antique pedestal.  What do I do with it once James starts moving?  Hear that?  That was my brain exploding.

Knitters Tea Swap

Many of you have e-mailed or commented that you wanted to know how to get into the Knitters Tea Swap that I participate in.  Round 4 JUST opened, so if you are truely interested, check it out.  Sign ups are limited and will close when the magic number is hit.  I've really enjoyed being in this swap for the past 2 rounds and Suzi does a great job of fostering everyone's generosity and knitterly love.

Also check out Lolly's blog to be a part of Socktoberfest, the fun celebration of socks!  Socktoberfest has been going on for at least 2 years and always gets a HUGE response.