It's celebration time! This week marks Simply Socks Yarn Company's anniversary, and each one of you is to thank for supporting my family and my store for six years! I'm so grateful for your kind words, loyalty, and creativity. I truely believe that knitters are a unique and wonderous bunch, and I feel fortunate to label myself a knitter.... as well as a pusher. heh.
Many of you have been waiting for the Anniversary Kit, and if you want to snag one, then here's where you'll find it. And if the link no longer works, then that means it's sold out, which usually happens in a matter of hours. I then recommend e-mailing me at service@simplysockyarn.com to be put on a waitlist for extras. This colorway is a limited edition offering available only in the kit, but if you've ordered the kit and want an extra one to be dyed next month, then e-mail me as well. But keep in mind that the extra skein won't be from the same lot.
Want to know the details of the kit? Here goes!
My family and I moved to a rural area several years ago, and it so happens that we are near Amish communities. I enjoy driving from the city to my home- it's so relaxing to drive home and seeing the simple way my neighbors live. The colors displayed on an Amish clothesline are the inspiration for this kit, and their simple and inspired way of life is a constant reminder to me of what's important in life.
In this Simple Gifts kit, you'll find a 115 g skein of Tanis Fiber Arts Blue Label sock yarn (merino/nylon) in the Amish Clothesline colorway (thanks for your input on the color name), plus a 1/ 3 sized mini skein of the coordinating deep gray. This is perfect for those of us who like to knit coordinating toes and heels, or like to knit baby garments with a detailed solid edging.
When I first proposed the idea for the colorway to Tanis, she Googled images of Amish clothes to inspire her color selection. In my area, Amish don't wear yellow, red or orange, so cool tones and black were colors that were selected. When Tanis was designing the skein, she e-mailed me a link to a picture she found, that a photographer took in Allen County, Indiana. I took a look and realized that it was a neighbor's clothesline that the photographer had taken a picture of- can you imaging how horrified you'd be if someone took a picture of your laundry and was selling it on the internet?! Ha!
I've designed a two-pattern gift set for this kit- the first pattern is a purely selfish endeavor. It's a simple curved shawlette with a ruffled edge- something I've been scouring pattern sources for, but couldn't find exactly how I wanted it. The second is a short mitt that uses up the remainder of the yarn. You'll have just enough yarn to knit both patterns with the yarn included. I'm including a second, free, pattern set in the kit, so you can gift it to a knitting friend. Afterall, isn't a good friend one of life's greatest gifts?
The shawl knitting will be made easier with a handful of stitch markers, so I've had these simple ones designed (and they are snag free). You'll receive a set of 10 in your kit.
You're welcome to order other items along with this, if you'd like to qualify for free US shipping at $70, or pack as much into your international shipment. I just unpacked spankin' new colors of Fleece Artist Trail Sock and The Unique Sheep's Gradiance Sock Sets, should you want to add those.
I'm planning other fun things (think contests and sales) this month, so be sure to check back on the blog if you want to take part!
Yippee. I woke up at 5:30 AM CDT and thought that I'd look for the Anniversary kit on line just in case it was already live...and it was. Allison, I love your store,your blog,and your success. You chose a concept at exactly the right time and the rest is history. Congratulations and many more years of success and happiness.
Posted by: Natalie | May 31, 2011 at 07:10 AM
Whew! I got one! Really can't wait to see the new shop! Congratulations again!
Posted by: April | May 31, 2011 at 05:18 PM
I love, love, love this yarn! I've been waiting for it to be available. Can't believe that it hasn't sold out yet--I need to spread the word. It is gorgeous!
Posted by: Anna | June 01, 2011 at 09:07 PM
I got my yarn yesterdayin the mail. You are fast. It's even better than the pictures. I wound it and brought it to work with me this morning so I could just look at it.. loverly...
Posted by: natalie | June 02, 2011 at 10:11 AM
I just got my kit in the mail. I Love It!! The yarn is soft and the colors are my favorites all rolled into one skein. I can definitely use the little stitch markers too. Thanks for the lovely kit.
Posted by: Paula | June 02, 2011 at 12:53 PM