Simply Socks Yarn Co. Blog

One month!

Very soon we'll be partying it up yarn-style here in the shop for our 11th ANNIVERSARY! Woot! Come see us on Saturday, May 28 from 10-4 for awesome yarn, super sale stuff, tasty noshing, and contests. And, of course, we'll continue the party online- not just throughout the month, but through the WHOLE SUMMER with special kits, colors from our fave dyers, sales, MANY contests and all sorts of good things. I feel like celebrating passing the DECADE MARK as a yarn shop owner (some say Head Temptress) all because of YOU. My team and I are very, very appreciative of what you've done for us, and I hope it shows!

Hard to believe that nearly 11 years ago, I started Simply Socks Yarn Company in a spare bedroom of my house. For over 6 years, I did every job myself. I moved out to the country to have more room for the shop, then embarked on the adventure of restoring our 1940's post office into our shop and dye studio. Moving into this space allowed us to continue to grow to serve what you want in a yarn store. We continued to offer the best in sock yarn and shipped it to you super quick, but then we could also dye up special things like our Poste Yarn stripes and more. We are able to open our doors to you once a week for in-person shopping and encouragement, and I have to say that I love the balance that we have.

This past year I've dubbed "yarn overload," meaning I've added many new lines to the shop, new weights of yarn and doubled our shop fixtures to accommodate oh-so-much loveliness. I'm so glad you adore yarn as much as I do and I look forward to finding the newest and best for you for years to come!

Austen Inspired Knit Kits are now available!

If you are one of the many who commented or e-mailed about the Jane Austen themed kits, they are now available! Grab one (or both!) for yourself or someone special for Mother's Day, or simply to sit and knit and enjoy a hot beverage and a sweet treat.

Here's the Tea at Netherfield Knit Kit which features our exclusive 6-color striping Poste Yarn

And the Austen's Garden Knit Kit which features a skein of Lorna's Laces new speckle dye method

Thanks so much for your support of our creative endeavors! Designing these kits with craftspeople, yarn dyers and bakers is a highlight of what I do and I greatly appreciate that they are so popular. Since our kits tend to sell out quickly,  know that if you miss out on all this awesomeness that we have cool things planned for our 11th anniversary celebration all summer long. Please note that this is the last time we will have the Nest baskets from Bird Leg Bags for awhile. They are quite labor intensive and time consuming and I can't convince Vickie to sew them again for the foreseeable future. Please grab yours now if you like them as much as I do! I might have three of them from the past year alone.... I know good things when I see 'em!

Fleece Artist's Casbah

New colors and restocks! I'll let them speak for themselves. With an exchange rate from Canada that kept them well below regular retail of $32.

Cinnamon

Nebula

Puffin

Red Fox

And many more....

Mother's Day Knit Kits, a preview

It's nearly that time of year when we release a specially curated package to celebrate spring, just in time for Mother's Day! Should you want to treat yourself or someone you love to a beautiful selection of yarn, bag and goodies for the upcoming holiday, this is perfect. Or if you just like the selections and want to knit up something inspiring this spring, go ahead!

Next week, I'll have two Jane Austen themed kits for you. This awesome fabric was hunted down by Vickie at Bird Leg Bags, and she stitched us up two special edition fully-reversible baskets in the Ardently Austen fabric that's so sought after.

This first kit is perfect for the tea lover, as it comes with a selection of three teas and a package of the tastiest of shortbread cookies from our neighborhood bakery, Zinnia's Bakehouse. The beautiful Nest from Bird Leg Bags has teacups and teapots on the top of the outside, with a silhouette of Austen on the bottom. And on the inside you'll find text from her works.

The yarn for this kit was dyed up in our own Poste Yarn studios and is a stunning 6-color stripe.

Each kit also comes with a spool of elastic thread for those of us who want a little extra promise that our socks will stay up. Just knit it along with the yarn for a few rows at the cuff and you'll be good to go!

The second kit is adorned with spring flowers on top and Jane Austen's silhouette on the bottom. On the inside, you'll find the same inspiring text shown above in detail. Keep in mind that this Nest is completely reversible so you can show off whatever side you'd like. Each easily holds 5-6 skeins of yarn, so it is perfect for a larger project, or to simply keep on display like I do.

The main attraction in this kit shows off Lorna's Laces new speckled method of dyeing. This colorway is called Lyme Regis and is inspired by a popular summer locale visited by Austen and her family.

This kit includes a selection of hot cocoas and a package of superb shortbreads, so you can have a nice knit and nosh. It, too, comes with a spool of elastic thread.

These kits are expected to go up for sale the morning of Wednesday, April 20. As usual, the amount we have available is limited and we hope that if you really want one, you'll be ready around 9am as usual. Keep in mind that's not an exact time of release, but tends to be around the usual time we release them (anywhere from 8am- 10am EST). The prices should be in the $60s.

Thank you so much for your continued interest in our special edition kits. It's so fun to work with dyers and craftspeople to create just the right package. I have some spectacular plans to celebrate our 11th anniversary this summer, so should you miss out on these kits, just know we will continue to work on future offers that you can take advantage of.

Test Kitchen Sets

Last month, we offered these Test Kitchen Sets and they sold out within a day. Then we did preorders til those spots filled up in a few days. I've received many e-mails asking if we will be doing them again because you either missed out or you tried our all-US-made Targhee/nylon blend and loved it. So I have a few dozen more sets available at the 25% off price and this will be the end of it for awhile. We will be offering many of these colors in the shop for regular price of $23 a skein late this summer, but til then this is the only way to get your hands on some.

Thanks so much for your support and interest in our potluck Test Kitchen Sets! We love inventing them and I'm glad you like receiving them! I greatly value the feedback you've given us on the sets over the past month, and I look forward to releasing a superb selection of colors later this summer.

New Poste Yarn Colors

I have four new striping Poste Yarn colors to share with you today!

The first two are a collaboration with Squam Art Workshops. Last year, SSYC sponsored the summer retreats, and I used experiences I saw on Instagram as inspiration for these two colors, Squam Love and Squam Calm.

Check out Instagram for a chance to win some!

Also see That 70's Kitchen...

...and Sugar Plum Mountain.

All of these are 6-color stripes, so you'll get a 4-5 row stripe of each color, depending on if you cast on 64 stitches or less. And here's a teaser of an upcoming striping colorway that will be part of one of next week's Mother's Day Kits- meet Netherfield! Full details of the Mom's Day Kits coming very soon.

 

Obsession- Merino Singles

I've recently become obsessed with singles. That doesn't sound quite right.... What I mean is, fingering weight merino singles. As in one-ply yarn. Glowing with color, and super soft, this yarn is perfect for shawls and accessories. Things like Sockhead, Stripe Study Shawl, Phi, and my newest project- the Cozy Does It Shawl. It's the tassels that got me.

I've started mine in Hedgehog Fibres Skinny Singles in Dragonfly and Pollen, but you can use any fingering weight single together. Malabrigo Mechita, Madelinetosh Merino Light or Dream in Color Jilly would be great in this shawl. And you can use them interchangeably, so if you happen to like Oracle (from Hedgehog) and Pop Rocks (from Madelinetosh), then you can. See?

What about Genie (Hedgehog) and Neon Red (Madelinetosh)?

Take a look at Monarch and Graphite

Bramble (Hedgehog) and Twig (Madelinetosh)

Ninfas (Malabrigo) and Gilt (Dream in Color)

Sangria (Hedgehog) and Flashdance (Madelinetosh)

Endless combinations of color. This is the kind of thing that keeps me obsessed with knitting. You?

New Spring Prints from Bird Leg Bags!

This newest batch from Bird Leg Bags just screams SPRING! And SUMMER! And OMG CHERRIES and PYREX.

It's a really loud batch.

Blarg! I love these so much!! All shown in Sock Rectangles, but I have the Pyrex on Tall Skinny bags too.

I adore the Pyrex so much that we may just be doing something special with it this summer. Stay tuned...

Hedgehog is here!

You want Hedgehog? I've got your Hedgehog! From Beata's signature dappled skeins, to unapologetic-in-your-face solids, to soft pastels, all dyed with an wonderful eye for color, I've restocked all of your favorites in the Sock, Skinny Singles, and Merino DK bases. Not only that, but I have Beata's five newest colors: Zephyr, Construct, Salty Tales, Fool's Gold, and Bramble!  Enough with the chatter, how about some eye candy?

Zephyr on Sock:

Fool's Gold on DK:

Bramble on Sock (which looks to me to be a wonderful combination of Teacup and Pine): 

This batch of Dragonfly just glows on all of the bases, and I especially adore it on Skinny Singles:

Need a little pattern inspiration to go with this dose of color? For single skein projects, you can't go wrong with Sockhead or Hitchhiker. Reyna and Starshower always look amazing in speckles and multis. Want something a little more challenging? Try Pop Fizzle, or the Pincha Shawl from the most recent Knitty. Can't narrow it down to just one or two skeins? What about something larger, like The Doodler, Outline, or Undercover?

New Colors from Cyborg's Craft Room!

Maegan over at Cyborg's Craft Room has sent us a bunch of new colors, including several new colors of her trademark multis, and something new I haven't stocked before: solids! And how much fun are these solids? Bright punches of color, with kicky names like Punch,

Pow,

Bam,

and Zap.

I don't know about you, but these bright, comic book-inspired colors have me thinking about combining one with some of her fantastic multis for a giant shawl (a superhero cape, if you will). I'm thinking something like the Prism Wrap, Match and Move, Brooklet, or Foolproof

Perhaps Zap, with Where Dreams Become Reality

Or Punch, with the new Krampusnacht (shown here in Assparkilate)?

The possibilities are endless!