Simply Socks Yarn Co. Blog

SSYC on Ravelry!

For the past year, many of you have e-mailed or messaged me through Ravelry asking if there was a group for Simply Socks Yarn Company.  And like a lot of things, it's been on the top of my list but I just haven't had the time to start one, and I definitely don't have the time to moderate one effectively.  So I was so happy to hear from Cecilia that she started a Fan of Simply Socks Yarn Company group on Ravelry!  She just started the group a couple days ago, and already there are over 60 members!  You can join by going here, and then you can ask questions of knitters, share your recent projects, yarns purchased at SSYC, and blog posts.  Thanks so much to Cecilia and Swampette for moderating the group, and thank you to all of you for joining and supporting my little corner of the yarniverse.

In preparation for my trip to Portland next week, I'm doing absolutely nothing but relaxing with my family this weekend.  We'll be doing the same thing on Saturday morning that we like to do every weekend, which is go get omelets and visit the farmers markets.  I'm on the lookout for fruits and veggies that we didn't grow this year- maybe a yellow watermelon, some berries, and perhaps some great tomatoes, as ours aren't ripe yet.  The unseasonably cool summer has put our garden a few weeks behind.  I often buy a nice bouquet of wild flowers, but my hydrangeas and daisies did so well this year that I have plenty of flowers in the house.  And I'm making good use of my grandmother's ball jars as vases.

Do you have special things you try to do every weekend (other than the normal laundry and grocery shopping that I think EVERYONE does)?  Or any particular plans for this lovely weather?  Do tell!

*BTW, Jenny (JennyNance on Ravelry) is the winner of the vacation conest, winning two skeins of Alchemy's Juniper sock yarn.  Congrats!!

Super Sale!

I have a great deal to share with you all in the Sale Section!  I'm offering a "grab bag sale" on solid and variegated colors of Cherry Tree Hill's Supersock yarn!  Cherry Tree Hill has changed their yarn base and is also no longer offering solid colors, but instead is offering semi-solid colors instead.  So I've put what I have in stock on sale 25% off in the sale section as "grab bag" colors.  Which means that you'll get a surprise color and a great deal!  I have several hundred skeins of each left, as I made a few large purchases for the store before they stopped carrying the solids b/c I like them so much- they are very well saturated and superb quality.  So there shouldn't be any worries about them selling out so quickly that you have to rush to get the deal.

I've knit Cherry Tree Hill yarn several times, and each time it's been a complete pleasure.  So don't hesistate to get this deal- you'll love the fiber and and well-saturated colors in both the solids and variegated lines.

Shown here is the solid Teal color knit using the Embossed Leaves pattern from Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave .  If you don't have this book, you should consider it.  Really, it has lovely patterns that you don't want to miss.  These socks have held up wonderfully, and I've worn them at least a two dozen times.  I wash them with all my other laundry, but I try not to machine dry them.  I find that turning my handknit socks inside out before machine washing, and then letting them air dry gives them a much longer life.

On a non-fiber note, we are currently (at 7 pm) having a downpour here in NE Indiana.  And while we are lucky to have a generator for when the power goes out, it doesn't kick on until the power has been out for 30 seconds.  Now, this isn't really a big deal.  Unless you are an impatient toddler whose bedtime routine involves watching a DVR'ed episode of Imagination Movers.  And when the power goes out multiple times, the DVR and TV do too, which incites pint-sized anger and fury.  It's making me laugh to see how frustrated James is getting. Is that mean of me?!

The vacation, it is over

Thanks to all of you who welcomed me back with orders to fill and nice little notes in my e-mail box!  I had a very nice time vacationing in Michigan, but now it's back to the business of filling all your orders.  Not that I mind- I have to be honest that I went a bit stir crazy bring away from home and work for a week.  I can't remember the last time I didn't work for that long; I like what I do and I missed it!  Do you find that after a week of being away from home you can't wait to get back?

Joe, James and I had a relaxing and fun time in Northport (that's Joe and James in the hammock).  We visited several small towns in the area, we ate great food, bought pottery, went to the Traverse City Children's Museum (which was very geared toward toddlers- quite cool for little James) ate lots of pie, played in the sand and water, pillaged a couple yarn shops, and generally had a very nice week away. 

It's hard to believe that in just over a week I will be leaving for Portland for the Sock Summit.  I'm really looking forward to it!  And while it's the first time Simply Socks has had a booth at a conference or festival, I planned everything out perfectly and it's made for a completely no-stress situation.  I'm looking forward to a week in a city I've never been to with my knitting friends, selling and buying lots of yarn, and meeting new knitters.  It's going to be a vacation of a different kind- I'm looking at it as a working vacation, really.

The pictures below are from our trip: a cool little yarn display in a craft store in Northport, my new sock using Alchemy's Juniper sock yarn in the Underwater Moonlight color and Monkey pattern (which is about the classiest sock I've ever seen!), and the view from my knit spot.  I hope you all had a great week too and would love to hear what made you week special! Any addictive knitting projects to report?

 

 

Gone fishin'

Literally.

We are taking a week off for our first family vacation to have some family time at the lake!  What's this mean to you?  Well, any orders placed at Simply Socks Yarn Company from the afternoon of Friday, July 17 through Sunday, July 26 will start to ship on Monday, July 27.  I greatly appreciate your patience as we close up shop to take advantage of this lovely midwest weather and sit our bottoms in a boat and fish (or knit... or keep a certain toddler from getting into trouble).

I'm happy to tell you that my entire Sock Summit booth (and it's quite fabulously fiber filled... try saying that five times) is already waiting for me in Portland, which means that there's now huge load off my mind.  Perfect time for vacation, right?  If you are going to the Sock Summit, I can't wait to meet you!  The Simply Socks booth is right off the main stage, in booths 523/622 (one big booth).  So please stop by and say hello!  being a work-at-home-mom doesn't allow me to go to knitting events that often, so this is really special for me.  Simply Socks is sponsoring this wonderful convention of knitters, so I have to go, right??  I get to chat with you and get to know many of you through e-mail, this blog and Ravelry, but that's just not the same as acutally meeting someone in person. 

I'll be welcoming special guests at my booth during the Summit.... Come meet Beth Casey, owner of Lorna's Laces!  Laura Nelkin of Schaefer Yarn will grace us with her company as well!  You might also catch a glimpe of Chuck and Robin, the husband-wife team of Pagewood Farm. Buffy and Don from Shelridge Farm will have their own booth at the Summit (right off the main stage like me), as will the dyeing duo from The Unique Sheep and Babs of Miss Babs Fiber Goods.  So please visit them as well!  And I have a few surprises up my sleeve... special yarn from Dream in Color and special pricing on various goodies.  And if you don't get to come to Sock Summit, no worries, I have some special things in store for you when I return!

I'm going to try and do a picture post during the week I'm gone.  Til then, leave me a comment below before midnight on July 26, and tell me what is the best vacation you've ever taken.  I'll choose one person from the comments to win two skeins of Alchemy's Juniper sock yarn (new colors will be coming soon).

How old are you? NO.

For the past few days, we've been asking James the same question, "How old are you?" and trying to get him to say "I'm 2."  We thought it would be super cute when his family asked him how old he was at his birthday party that he'd actually have a response.  But instead his common response to this question is a simple, yet firm, "No."  He's also starting telling us to "Be Quuuuiiiiet," when we sing to him.  He's developed quite a personality lately, and it seems that every day is different.

This weekend marked James' second birthday.  I made lots of food, and James' cousins and friends played in the pond, kayaked, and ate cake.  It's just so cool to have everyone we love around us.  Before I had James, I remember being at family events and anticipating what it would be like when one of those kids running around the house was mine.  Seeing James connect with his family and friends makes me feel even more high than I could have imagined and I feel lucky to have such a happy and healthy little guy.

It's hard to believe that when we brought him home just 2 years ago he weighed less than 6 pounds.  After 42 weeks of pregnancy, 30 hours of labor without an epidural, and finally surgery, I thought I had made it through the toughest.  I had no idea how difficult those first few days would be- learning to breast feed him, feeling like a failure when he wouldn't sleep, and the guilt of being a working mom.  That first month was the toughtest time of my life, and now I figure that if I can get through a time like that and come away safely, I can get through about anything.

I remember women telling me during those first months "Enjoy this time.  It passes so quickly."  I wanted that time to pass quickly, but now I look back and wish I could have some of that back again.  If only for a few days (and with a few more hours of sleep).

And now I feel like I've won some sort of prize.  I feel like I'm in love every day- that infatuated, can't-live-without feeling of new love and I wonder if it will ever dissapate, or if I will be this enthralled ith James my entire life.  I hope, in time, I'm able to express to James how much he has changed my life, and how I would do everything exacly the same again, if given the choice.

Happy Birthday, Big Bear!

New Colors in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock

Lorna's Laces has introduced 5 new multicolors!

These colors here were inspired by the tonal nature of last season's Satsuma colorway.  So in Fiddlehead, Hermosa, Sheridan and Midway, you'll notice that a particular color is featured in each skein, and then it's played with to make it more dynamic.  Midway, named after the airport in Chicago, features grays tinged with  a bit of blues and lavenders.  It's a very calming color.  Hermosa, a Chicago neighborhood, features purples- some deep plum, some more violet and grayb/blue.  Fiddlehead features fern green touched with rosy brown and gray/blue. In Sheridan, blue is the star, some tinged with gray or purple.

The fifth color is Valentine, and you might notice that it's a color that Lorna's Laces took out of their dyeing rotation several years ago.  When coming up with new colors for this season, the dyers at LL realized that what they had in mind for a new color was so close to Valentine that they decided to bring it back for another round.

You'll find all these colors, and a restock of most others, in the store now.  You'll also be able to see these in person at the Sock Summit, as we welcome Beth Casey, owner of Lorna's Laces to show off her yarns there!  We're going to be in booths 523/622, a great space right off the main stage.  Stop by and see Beth on Friday, and take a look at all the lovely projects she's going to be showing off in our booth!

Ka-dots

That's what James calls them.  They aren't polka dots, they're ka-dots and I'm hoping he doesn't try to peel them off the walls.

James' room was the one room we painted before we moved in, and we painted it with the leftover paint that we had from his tiny room (which was originally a sleeping porch) in the old house.  The room was decorated the same way, with the furniture Joe built and the curtains my mom sewed.  The only thing on the walls was a cross stitch sampler I made for my nephew, over 10 years ago.  But now I've discovered the wonder that is a removable decal, and oh my it is fabulous.  A few months ago when Dooce was showing how she was decorating her soon-to-arrive baby's nursery, I took a look at Dali Decals and bought several things, including the polka dots for James' room.  I also bought white birds to put high in the walls of our foyer.  If you are looking for a quick and easy (and non permanent) way to decorate a space, I highly recommend a purchase from Dali, as they were quick and easy, and when I made a mistake on color, I was able to get someone on the phone to correct my error immediately.  I will definitely be buying more from them.

It feels good to finally get things done the way I want in our house.  It's finally feeling more like home,after a year and a half of being here.  Joe's doing his part too- we're having 10 cubic yards of mulch delivered this morning.  Which means that for the lovely Independence Day weekend, I will will likely be downing Aleve (and these muffins, which I just baked- YUM) after spreading a ridiculous amount of mulch.  Edited to add: Oh, God, it arrived and THIS is what 10 cubic yards of mulch looks like.  *faint*

I've received several nice e-mails lately asking why there hasn't been much blogging and why I've fallen off the face of the earth.  Summer's always a busy time for us, as Joe's not working, and we spend lots of time going to the park, zoo, or just hanging out.  So we're just busy relaxing and being a family and I blog less.  But also, my Sock Summit planning and organizing is taking quite a bit of time too.  I'm planning a wonderfully fiber-filled booth, and every facet of planning a event 2000 miles from here is a pain in the booty.  Oh, and there's one more thing that's been all-consuming.... and I'll share that with you after a bit..... NO, I'M NOT PREGNANT. 

I hope you all have a lovely holiday weekend!