Simply Socks Yarn Co. Blog

Halloween (Basic) Mitt Pattern

One of the many perks of being a mom is that I get to go trick-or-treating again.  It's awesome.  But my role has changed from that of an 11-year old who dresses up and collects candy to that of a 32-year old who follows behind her three-year old son who instead of asking for candy at each door, requests cottage cheese.  Seriously, that's what this little elephant said last year at 2, "Cottage cheese, please?"  Oh, my those cheeks.  I just want to nom-nom on them.

 

Last year I didn't have anything festive to wear and I vowed that this year I would have a little something to show off my Halloween spirit, but in a more adult way.  I could wear a witch hat or a mask, but instead I thought some boldly striping mitts would be awesome- and I can wear them all October long.  And while I originally considered using Simply Socks Yarn Solids to stripe my mitts, I instead approached Caitlin at String Theory Colorworks to dye up some special orange and black striping yarn for me.  I liked it so much that I'm offering the same color in the store.  It's called Little Ghost Nebula and like I promised a couple weeks ago, here's the pattern that I used to create my Halloween Mitts.

You don't have to be celebrating Halloween to knit this mitts- it's really just my basic ribbed mitt pattern that you can use with any fingering weight yarn.  It's a quick project for yourself or someone you love.  Mitts are awesome because they keep your hands warm, but leave your fingers free for using your iPhone, typing on your keyboard, or fastening your son's carseat.  And if you want mitts with a more intricate pattern, consider these.

 

Materials: Yarn pictured is String Theory Colorworks Continuum striping yarn in the Little Ghost Nebula colorway.  The skein is 100 grams and I used about 1/3 of that for my mitts.  You'll need 5 double point needles in size US 1 (I used these) - you'll knit with 4 and use the 5th for holding the thumb stitches.  You'll also need a needle for weaving in ends, and two stitch markers.

Size: I knit these for myself, and I have somewhat large hands and thick wrists.  I used size 1 Kollage square double point needles- *love*.  So if you are knitting these for someone with less man-ish hands, you might consider casting on less stitches and then at the thumb gusset instead of knitting through the first 15 stitches, you would knit through 1/4 of the number of stitches you cast on, and the adjust from there.  It's really quite simple to change the size of this pair of mitts if you decrease in multiples of 4 stitches to keep with the rib pattern.

Instructions:

Cast on 60 stitches.  Distribute as follows: 24 sts on needle 1, 20 sts on needle 2, 16 sts on needle 3.  Join in a round.

Arm: The stitch pattern for the arm is a simple k2,p2 rib.  Knit this pattern for approximately 66 rounds.

Thumb Gusset: After completing your arm the desired length in the rib pattern, you'll start increasing to allow for a thumb.

Row 1: Knit rib pattern through first 15 stitches, PM, M1, PM.  Knit the rest of the round, keeping in the rib pattern.  You have added one stitch between the markers on needle 1.  Needles 2 and 3 remain the same.

Row 2: Knit in rib pattern through first 15 stitches (to 1st marker), SM, M1, K1, M1, SM, continue rest of round in rib pattern.  You now have three stitches between the markers on needle 1.  Needles 2 and 3 remain the same.

Row 3: Knit in rib pattern to first marker.  SM, K1, M1 K1, M1, K1, SM, continue rest of round in rib pattern.

Continue increasing by making two stitches per row in this manner (between the markers) until you have made 17 stitches.

Hand:  Knit each round 9 more times, knittting the knit stiches and purling the purl stitches to keep in the rib pattern for the non-thumb part of the mitt.

Slip the 17 thumb stitches to the 5th (spare) needle to be held there while you knit the hand.  You will come back and complete the thumb after you cast-off the hand.

Setup stitches for the hand as follows: 24 sts on needle 1, 20 sts on needle 2, 16 sts on needle 3.

Now you'll knit the hand, keeping with the rib pattern, for 16-20 rounds, depending on the size of the hand, then cast off.  You'll want the finished mitt to come below your middle knuckles, as pictured.

 

Now you'll knit the thumb.  Join yarn, then knit the 17 held stitches.  Pick up 7 stitches along the thumb gusset and continue to knit.  Knit this for 9 rounds, then cast off.

Weave in all ends.

PM = place marker

SM = slip marker

K2 = knit 2

P2 = purl 2

M1 = Make one stitch by picking up the bar between two stitches and knitting it.

*It's worth noting that instead of knitting the stitches on the thumb for the pictured mitts, I continued in the k2p2 rib.  If I knit these mitts again (which I plan to), I'm likely to knit the plain stockinette thumb as I've written in these instructions.  I wrote the pattern with a non-rib thumb because increasing for the thumb while also keeping in the rib pattern is VERY tedious and I didn't want to deter any new mitt knitters by making it more complicated than it has to be.

Did you find an error?  Then e-mail me at allison@simplysockyarn.com and you'll see verified errors typed in RED.

Are you on Ravelry?  You can queue these mitts up here.

This pattern is print-friendly.  Simply click on the "permalink" button on the bottom of this post.  Then do a print-preview and you'll see that the pages are already printer-friendly and within proper margins.

SSYC's New Sock Yarn Club

 

Well, the wait is over.  I've finalized the details of the newest SSYC Sock Yarn Club, and it's now available for subscription!

I received so many nice e-mails asking when they next club would be available, and each month these e-mails increase in frequency.  After all, it's been quite awhile since the Four Seasons of Sock Yarn club ended, and you (and I) expected the next one a few months sooner.  But this club required a bit more planning and patience.  Mostly because of the theme.  What's the theme this time around?  Super Skeins.  Skeins of superb yarns that have 50% more yardage than average.  And this isn't easy to accomplish.  Many mills won't put up skeins in different-than-standard amounts if you aren't getting a ridiculously huge amount (and I'm just one small store), and I just wasn't going to settle for any less than exactly what I want. I can be pushy and relentless if I have to. :)

If you are a yarn aficianado, then this club is for you.  Not only will you receive limited edition colors, but you'll have that extra yardage to knit longer socks, shawls, or matching sets of socks/hats/mitts.

What does the subscription include?  Let me start with what this club does not include.  It does not include patterns or gadgets or bags or candy or jewelry.  While I do offer kits for special occasions that include fun items, my 3-month sock yarn clubs are for the discerning knitter who wants a truely special yarn and colorway.  It's all about the yarn, people.

What it does include is a monthly selection of a special edition colorway dyed on a superb base.  In  December, January and February you'll receive one (approx) 150 gram (likely over 600 yards) skein of fingering weight yarn that's dyed by Sweet Georgia (on her superb Silk Crush base), or Dream in Color or a third dyer whose selection I'm keeping secret until you open your package.  These dyers are in high demand, so that's why the club doesn't start until December- it takes quite awhile to dye up these special orders.

The cost of the club is about 50% higher than my other clubs, and the reason is fairly obvious- there's 50% more yarn.  If you've been part of a SSYC Club before, I welcome you to leave your comments below to tell new Clubbers about your past experience.  And if you are new to SSYC or the Club, I encourage you to sign up, or sign up a knitter you love to show you support her/his passion and that all the time she/he spends knitting deserves the very best quality.  Afterall, our time is precious and what fiber we use in our craft should reflect that.  Don'cha think?

To give you an idea of the awesomeness that the club dyers create, here's my socks in Pagewood Farm's Alyeska in the special edition Garden Party colorway.  Pattern: Embossed Leaves pattern from IK Favorite Socks book.

 
 

Malabrigo Sock in back in stock

Been waiting for a particular color of Malabrigo's sock yarn?  I received a big shipment yesterday, so you'll find all but two colors in the store right now.  I know a few of these will go quickly, but you really should be able to get what you want for at least a few days.

I also have for you a restock of some of Schaefer's Nichole colors (still waiting on a few though), as well as three new colors: Saffron, Julia Child and Gerturde Ederle.  It seems that Nichole is quite popular, and with good reason.  The yardage is good, it's very sproingy, there's just enough nylon in it to make it more durable, and the merino is of the best quality.  Nichole is definitely on my to-knit list.

But after finishing my Opal Hundertwasser 3 socks in color 750 (pictures to come), I've already started my next project.  I've cast on another pair of plain-ol'-vanilla stockinette socks using CTH's Fingerpaints in one of the new colors- Java Jive.  I hate the name, but I love the color.  It's neutral, but not boring neutral.  The browns are rich with tints of maroon, mustard and forest, and it's making a very interesting knit.  And since I'm knitting just a plain sock, I can watch new evening TV that I've been waiting for without staring down at a sock.  The perfect TV-watching pattern.

All week I was looking forward to the new Modern Family, and it didn't disappoint.  What show are you looking forward to, or did you enjoy, this week?

Felicia's sent new colors!

Each time Felicia at Sweet Georgia sends me a new shipment of her yarn, Tough Love, it's obvious to me where her talents lie.  Her way with color is truely expert.  They way she combines just a few colors into a skein, rather than 7 or more like some dyers, well, it's just perfect for her talent.  The color saturation, the combination of bright and rich with more subtle tones, well, it's awesome.

There are all sorts of new fallish colors to choose from including Autumn Flame, Violet Hill and Black Plum:

 

 

 

Perfectly rich color, am I right?

I also have restocks of some of your faves, like Boheme and Riptide.

 

 

And in case you haven't gotten enough of summer, consider these beauties to help you hold on to these last warm days. Peashoot, Summer Skin and Summer Dusk

 

 

 

If you had to choose just one Tough Love color, which one is your fave?  I think Autumn Flame.  You?

Harvest Mist Kit

Thanks to all you zealous sock knitters, all 200 of the Harvest Mist sock knit kit sold out on Labor Day, which means that I'll be donating $1000 to Community Harvest Foodbank!  That's the most kits I've sold in a day before, which shows me that not only are you all an awesomely generous bunch, but you also liked the kit!

 

Shown above is the special edition colorway of Fleece Artist's Casbah, available only with the kit.

I received many e-mails from knitters who weren't able to make it onto the computer on the holiday and really wanted one.  So to accomodate you, I've convinced the artisans to make just a handful more kits for you.  If you definitely want one, you can preorder it here.  These kits won't be shipped to you for another 6 weeks, so just know that when you order the kit today, it won't actually get to you until late October or early November.  But there were just so many of you who felt bad that you missed out that I wanted to give you the opportunity to get one.  Please note that the link will no longer work when the preordered spaces are all taken.

If you want to read the details of the kit or see close up picture, this is the blog post to visit before you go to the store to snag one.

I have a new collection to share.  Austermann has releasted a limited edition collection called Zodiac.  which includes a colorway for each astrological sign.  I'll continue to order this for as long as it's available, but I don't know how much longer that will be.  It's a cool collection!  (Click on the image to see it in greater detail.)

 

 

Seriously? Fall?

I think I've been in denial.  It seems like every summer I can't wait for fall to begin- the cooler temperatures and the smell of rain dampened leaves.   Fall festivals.  Root vegetables straight from the garden.  HALLOWEEN. There's nothing like it.  For the last week, temperatures have been perfect for keeping the windows open all day and not feeling cooped up in the drying a/c.

 

But I guess I didn't realize that fall was really getting here until today's shipment from Cherry Tree Hill arrived, announcing the Fall 2010 color collection of Fingerpaints.  If things are arriving in the store now that are marked as the Fall Collection, well, I guess I have to resign myself to the fact that it's fall.  Which is awesome, until I consider that in about a month it will be too cold to have those windows open and I'll have to bundle up against the cold winter wind.

 

These colors are beautiful, aren't they?  I love how it's striping, but not in a bold way.  I hope to have these (and 7 others) up on the website for sale later this weekend or Monday.  For now, if you go look at the Fingerpaints, you'll just see 10 of last season's colors, which are also very lovely.

 

James has finished his second week of preschool and he loves it.  He goes twice a week, and today when he saw a school, he said "I miss school."  I've warmed to the idea too.  While the first two days were hard, this week I looked forward to having a few uninterupted hours to get things done without my little "assistant."  Next week he has school pictures, which seems odd for a three-year-old, but there it is.  I feel obligated to buy them because how could I not buy his first school pictures?  But you have to prepay the day they are taken without seeing how good/bad the pictures are.  And it's not like I get to stand there and make sure his hair isn't wild and that he isn't looking down.  This is just playing on the weakness of parents, if you ask me.  I don't want to pay $30 for a horrible, canned shot of my son with some 80's background.  But at the same time, I keep thinking that if the shots turn out really awesome I'm going to feel like a dummy for not getting them.  So, of course, I'm going to shell out cash just-in-case.

And so it begins.

Free Sock Patterns from Summer of Color Contest

The Summer of Color Contest produced some awesome socks using Simply Sock Yarn.  The three winners even received credits to the store totalling $500.  It also produced a new patterns, as many of the entrants developed their own pattern for their socks.  Three of these knitters shared their patterns with me and gave permission to post them here.

Keep in mind when knitting these that while they have been tested by their authors, I'm not going to come to your house and help you, should there be any mistakes in the patterns.  Ha!  But if you or the authors do find errors and send me new files, I'll may update them to correct errors.

If you are on Ravelry, you can queue up any of these patterns here.

Susan B. knit these socks using Simply Sock Yarn in Black, Finch and Cerulean and she designed the Walk Across Texas pattern.

Download Walk Across Texas sock Susan B

Diane E knit the socks above using Simply Sock Yarnin Rose, Blush, Wasabi, Buttercup and Wheatgrass.  She improvised a feather-and-fan-type stitch, and her Peace Rose sock pattern is below.

 Download PeaceRoseGardenSockPattern DianeE

And finally, the adorable little sheep socks that so many of you have e-mailed about.  Amy's Flock Socks were a close second in the Best of Show category, and I can see why, can't you?  Amy R knit these socks using Simply Sock Yarnin Blue Skies, Natural, Black, Wheatgrass and Wasabi.  It's her own pattern featuring tiny little sheep, based on the construction on Add Budd's sock in The Knitters Handy Book of Patterns.  You can download it below, and I'd love to see your variations on this pattern, and the ones shown above, if you want to e-mail them to me.

Download Flock Socks Amy R
 

Opal's Hundertwasser 3 Sock Yarn

I enjoyed quite a bit of knitting time this weekend and I have an almost-finished sock to show for it.  This new project is from Opal's third collection celebrating the work of Austrian artist Friedenreich Hundertwasser.  Color is 750.

I'm really pleased with this simple stockinette sock. I cast on 68 stitches and knit about an inch and an half of 2x2 rib before starting the meditative knit after knit after knit. It fits perfectly and it's the kind of sock that I'll like wearing around the house or with jeans.  It's a little, colorful secret that I'll forget about until I look down and it brings a smile.

New projects!

It's been a nutso week here.  Not only did James start preschool, which prompted a mini-breakdown on my part, but all 200 of the Harvest Mist kits sold out on the 6th!  This means that I will soon be writing out a $1000 check to the Community Harvest Foodbank.  Several of you even e-mailed that you were making your own donation to your local foodbank.  Awesome.

For those of you who missed out on the kit and definitely want one, please e-mail me. I can accommodate you with a kit in a month or so if I can get all the artisans to do a little more.  But this is only for a handful of people, so please e-mail me asap if you are interested.

One of the great things about this week being so busy with kit-shipping is that it really helped keep me sane.  There's just something about the idea that James now has his own little life- things he'll do without me, snacks that I don't know about, and friends that I haven't yet met- it's been an emotional roller coaster for me this week.  I bounce from oh-God-my-baby-is-GONE to get-over-yourself-mothers-do-this-everyday to I-really-have-THREE-HOURS-to-work/blog/knit-uninterrupted??  But I've been so busy getting this kits out to you that I haven't had to time to really stew in my angst.  Thank you all for indirectly helping me through this.

I've made sure to stop working in the evening this week and knit.  And, boy, have I.  Not only did I start a project, but I already finished it and am writing up the pattern for you.  A couple months ago, I asked Caitlin at String Theory Colorworks to come up with an orange and black stripe for me for Halloween.  I wanted to knit myself a little something that I could wear with James when he goes to Trick-or-Treat.  Something that would be slightly festive.  So Caitlin dyed up the following yarn:

And then I turned it into this:

Do you want some too?  You can find this Little Ghost Nebula stripe and a restock of STC's striping yarn here.  If Little Ghost sells out quickly, I'll try and get more before Halloween.  But Caitlin dyed a large batch for me.

In case I haven't completely impressed you with my ability to actually get a project finished in a timely manner for once, I've also started a pair of socks.  Back in January, I couldn't resist Opal's Antonia collection and knit color 2802.  I don't knit self-patterning yarns much, but I'm finding that I'm being drawn to them more often- watching the pattern develop is addictive and they seem to almost knit themselves. Opal just released the Hundertwasser 3 collection, and I again couldn't resist and cast on the day it arrived.  I'm knitting color 750 (bottom left) and am about half way through my first sock.  I'm knitting a plain-ol'-vanilla stockinette sock, which I don't ever do.  But I decided that I just wanted the simplest of knits and I'm glad that's what I chose.  It's showing off the color pattern nicely and when I looked down after Castle was over last night, I had half a sock! 

First Day of Preschool

Sigh.

Harvest Mist Kit Now Available

Edited to add: The kit is now sold out, but you are welcome to e-mail service@simplysockyarn.com for possible inclusion if there is a cancellation.

Just wanted to let you know that the Harvest Mist kit is now available.  If you want to get it while it's available, you can go here and snatch one.  And if you would like to read the details and see what's included, just scroll down to the previous posts or click here and here.  Remember, for each kit purchased on Labor Day, I'm donating $5 to the Community Harvest Foodbank.

Hope you all have a wonderfully relaxing Labor Day.  Thanks to the timer I set to launch this post, I'm likely knitting a pair of mitts (which I'll show off later this week) or enjoying a cup of coffee and some quiche with Joe and James.  For those of you who aren't in the US, this is a federal holiday for us, so I'm taking it easy and spending one more special day with James before he starts pre-school (I'm having a slight panic attack just thinking about it).  How about this wonderful weather (at least in the midwest)??  'Bout time.

Midsummer Morning

Edited to add: The kit sold out within 24 hours (you all ROCK!), but you are welcome to e-mail service@simplysockyarn.com to be put on a list should there be any cancellations.

That's the name of this awesome colorway that Fleece Artist created specially for the Harvest Mist sock kit, on sale Monday Sept. 6 at Simply Socks Yarn Company.  (I recommend clicking on the picture below to get a close-up.  It's such luscious yarn.)

 
 

I have to admit that the inspiration came from my scary obsession with Amy Butler fabric, specifically the August Fields line that inspired the rug I bought a few months ago.  The color palette is just so me- pale blues, greens, gray and just a tinge of pale butter.  I feel like it's the palette of my life.  So of course, when I was dreaming up the next SSYC kit, this is the direction I gave Fleece Artist.  And boy, did Kathryn and her ladies really produce something that, to me, is perfect.  The colors are so hip and wearable.  The skein would make a perfect shawlette as well as socks.  But I used my skein (which was the prototype, so these socks have a bit less butter than you skeins will have- this skein pictured above is what yours looks like) for a pair of Spring Forward socks.

 

It was at least 5 months ago that I started the process of designing this kit.  First, Stacey at Silver Moon Studios designed the bags and mailed me one to approve.  The bag is different than the bags I usually carry in the store, as it's made from decorator weight (think drape) fabric.  So it's even more sturdy than her usual bags.  I will even share that it gave Stacey an excuse to purchase a sturdier commercial sewing machine so that she could more easily sew such a large amount of heavier weight fabric.  Talk about high quality.  Like all of the SMS bags I carry, it's fully reversible and has no velcro or zippers to snag your work.  The large loop simply slips through the small loop to close it.  Each bag is the perfect size to hold your project in progress and a set of needles, along with any tiny items you might need like tapestry needles or stitch markers.  And the bag is so lovely that, if you're like me, you'll want to leave it out all the time to show off to everyone.

 

 

Now, if you are like me, you usually have a little bit of yarn leftover from each project and you don't know exactly what to do with it.  So in this kit I've included a small sock blocker keychain.  Each one comes with a pattern for a tiny sock so you can adorn your keychain with a mini Midsummer Morning sock.  Or you can knit a whole slew of the tiny socks out of all your scraps and use them as ornaments for your Christmas tree this year.  Or give them as little gifts on holiday packages.  The wheels are already turning...

 

Finally, you'll see four free pattern ideas in the kit for projects that would really show off the Midsummer Morning colorway.  The seletion includes two sock patterns, a shawlette and a pair of gloves.  Because I know that many of you like using sock yarn for more than just socks and there are so many awesome free patterns that support this.

Again, this kit goes on sale Monday, September 6.  For each kit sold on Labor Day, I'll donate $5 to Community Harvest Foodbank.  There are many in the US who would like to be employed and aren't this Labor Day, so I'm hoping to help feed a few families in need.

I've received many e-mails about preordering (sorry, to make it fair for everyone it's not an option) or when exactly the kit will go up for sale.  It will go up on the website on Monday, featured on the homepage so you won't miss it.  I'll also post here on the blog notify the newsletter list.  The kit will be $52, and you are welcome to order other items to qualify for free US shipping.  I'm hoping to be able to keep up with shipping quickly, but if you all order at once, orders may take an extra day or so.  Just keeping it real.

I hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day weekend here in the US, or a lovely relaxing non-holiday weekend for those of you who aren't in the US.  Monday is a federal holiday in the US, so there's no shipping from now until Tuesday.  We have some family coming to visit for the ACD Festival, and since once is enough for me, I'll be hanging out at home knitting and relaxing with James.  And enjoying this FINALLY temperate weather.  Let's hope this is the end of the heat and humidty that I know we've all experienced this summer.  Wow, it was a bad one, eh?

Paying it Forward this Labor Day

September 6th marks Labor Day in the US.  This day is significant for several reasons: it's seen as the end of summer, the beginning of the football season, the official start of school.  And it's a day in the US to attend a parade, grill out with friends, and hopefully celebrate our part in a functioning and prospering economy.  But for many, it will be another year without work, a year of need. If you are one of those who are the most affected by the downturn the US economy, you might be faced with the harsh reality of not even being able to put food on the table for your family.  I hope that no one reading this is facing this.

But the fact is that many are.  And so this Labor Day I'm introducing a special Harvest Mist sock knit kit.  For each kit that is sold on Sept. 6, I'll donate $5 out of my own pocket to Community Harvest Foodbank.  This means that if all 200 kits (I'm aiming big because I know knitters are an awesomely responsive group) are sold on September 6, I'll be writing out a $1000 check and sending it to those in need.  I'm hoping that this will at least bring a good meal to a few dozen families in time for Thanksgiving.

 

I'll have more details for you at the end of the week.  And if you are a newsletter subscriber, you'll know when the kit is in the store.  Shown above is a little taste of what's to come- my own socks knit in the special edition colorway, nestled in the accompanying bag.