Simply Socks Yarn Co. Blog

Get your kit!

The Girls-Just-Wanna-Have-Sun Knit Kit is now available!

If you'd like to add yarn to this to take advantage of your shipping rate or get free US shipping with your $85 order, many boxes of Hedgehog Fibres Sock Yarn and Skinny Singles just made their way through Customs from Ireland yesterday (still waiting on DK and more colors of Skinny Singles). Also check out all the new Paifect colors and Arne & Carlos 6 Ply. Good stuff!

Our limited edition kits do tend to sell out within a day, so if you think this one is for you, please don't hesitate. Especially since the price is considerably lower than usual due to including a mason jar instead of a project bag or edible treat.

End-of-Summer Knit Kit, a preview

Tomorrow I'm releasing a special SSYC Knit Kit, one that marks the coming end of this summer. It seems this season has gone especially fast this year, and with Labor Day approaching I felt compelled to put together a special package to help us all stretch our or last summer moments.

The yarn dyed for this kit is one of the splatter effect colors from Lorna's Laces. We introduced this dye method to you in our Mother's Day Kits (which sold out crazy fast) and so I asked them to dye up another special edition offering for this kit. And like the mason jar implies, this yarn will definitely make you awesome, unless you are already so awesome that the yarn will have little effect. In which case, just enjoy it....

In case your friends and family don't already know that you're WAY into yarn, this mason jar will send that message! It might also be a good reminder of where to find you a great birthday gift or gift certificate.

There are several options for colors that look nice with this dappled skein- Peach, Margarita and Pink Blossom are shown in the picture below, should you want to grab one of these Nearly Solids to combine with your kit skein for a larger project.

We're busy carefully packing these up today with bubble wrap and tissue so that they will be ready to start shipping out tomorrow morning when they go up for sale.

Typically, our kits sell out in a few hours and I'm betting the lower price of this one will make it no exception. You'll find yarn, a mason jar and some unlocking stitch markers in your kit when it lands on your doorstep- and of course you're welcome to add whatever else you might like. Like the restock of Hedgehog Fibres that will be available tomorrow too. Or perhaps the new Arne & Carlos 6ply collection or new colors and restocks of Regia Pairfect. (shown below is Arne & Carlos 6ply color 3654)

Thank you for your support of our creative endeavors! We really enjoy offering these special edition kits and I do hope you enjoy them as well.

Today's Love

Pondering sKNITches today. Just because I can.

Barista above, Menswear below

Fitzgerald above, Fielding below

Scarlet Letter above, Warsaw below

Ask the Knitters

Dear Knitters,

I log in to Ravelry often, but I don't really utilize many of the features that I see at a glance. I stash my yarn (At least some of it. The world might not be ready for the size of my stash.) and I put projects in my queue. I even search projects by "most helpful notes" or something like that.

What are some features of Ravelry that you use a lot? And are there particular tips or features that you use that you find really helpful? I'm looking to use this website more efficiently and browse it more too.

I'd also be interested in things that are no-no's on Ravelry. I haven't spent much time in groups or forums yet, and I don't want to embarrass myself by asking dumb questions or saying something I shouldn't.

Thanks for your help,

Wrapped up in Ravelry

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Help a knitter out and leave your advice in the comments section below.  Have a question you'd like to see answered here?  Simply title an e-mail Ask the Knitters and send it on to service@simplysockyarn.com .  Your question could be chosen for this series.

Five years!

 

Five years ago today what was once this

 

 

Became this.

Five years ago today we opened our doors in this location to you, in our 1940's restored post office. Hired more fiber fanatics, doubled the amount of yarn on site, started our own dye studio and never looked back. Thank you for your continued support. Thank you for allowing us to grow with Poste Yarn, our kits and clubs, our special edition collaborations with our dyers. For helping us support small dyers and families and allowing us to do something we love and are proud of every day.

Our place in this universe is small, but we do what we do the best we can and I hope it shows. Thank you so, so much.

Me and my team (top left clockwise: Rachael, Angela, me-Allison, Heather)

Heather and her soon-to-be-dream-stash

A gorgeous Tosh sweater on and even more beautiful person

Jodie knitting away

Rachael's beautiful smile and shawl

Heather putting together our 10th anniversary kits last year

Child labor, hey, it's a family business!

Amy with her super cute sweater and more Opal

Diana's Mineville hat and cowl

Awesome neighbors bringing birthday cake

Me creating a new knitter 4.5 years ago.

Stephanie Pearl McPhee and Liz for the win!

 

Knitting is my meditation

The past months have brought a lot of good, yet hectic, change in my life and the life of my family. So much change that I haven't had much time for knitting. Here and there I've found a few minutes, but not much more than that. But two nights ago I started a pair of socks and haven't looked back.

I LOVE THIS. (If it shows as sold out, we will continue to dye more so check back.) It has reminded me of what I love about knitting. It gives my mind the chance to stop thinking about our big move and about James' starting third grade. Or how Henry just keeps growing and growing and I no longer have a baby.

Instead I think about tiny stitches and how this one looks a bit green, but the next one has flecks of amber. And I get to think about how I can't wait til I finish this row and the colors changes from purple to saffron. Or how I dropped a stitch a few rows back but it's easily fixable, unlike most of the problems we encounter in our life. Thank goodness knitting is there for me. Every room in my home may be full of boxes. Every item I need in the kitchen may be packed away. But I have sticks and string to help me meditate on what's important.

And I have a house that's brimming with love and smiles. And a bit too much talk about disgusting boy things. But you'll have that.

Get your Halloween on!

Heather and Angela have been busy in our Poste Yarn dye studio, dyeing up striping requests of yours, and I now have several that you have been waiting for, including a dose of spooky Halloween goodness in time for you to make new socks and wear them all season.

First, our new Halloween color, Goblin Forest.

In what can only be called a landslide vote, you chose to name this new one Goblin Forest. And because I had to have Heather dye up a mini skein to coordinate with my own socks (yes, I started on this last night) I'm currently offering this color as a set with a matching mini for just $10 more than usual. And if you'd just like the striping skein and not the coordinating mini, I'll be offering those in a few weeks.

 

You might also have been waiting on Elm Street (paired with Simply Sock Yarn Solids in Sunflower)

Or Camp Crystal Lake

Perhaps try this mitt pattern.

Or Black Lagoon

And though it's not a Halloween color, I know there's some of you who can't wait to get your hands on Heartbreak Hotel.

Soon to come is move Jollyville and if there is anything that you want more of, let me know in the comments below. The Ravelry stash page is a good place to see what we've dyed in the past, and we are happy to put a batch of what you want in the dye schedule for fall/winter!

House of a la Mode

Just in case haven't yet been part of the frenzy.... new yarn from Heather at House of a la Mode!

I've been a fan of Heather's for quite some time now, and I'm so pleased she's able to make time to add us to the small list of shop's she dyes for.

I have her yarn in Bangin Cash Sock, Swirling Fingering and Dreamy DK. I know that several of the colors sold out super fast, and we will get more in the fall. I'm so glad of the wonderful response, and I know that dyer Heather is too.

Shown here are all Dreamy DK in colors Dirty Snowcone, Hello Sailor and Ode to Anthro.

Lorna's Laces celebrates the Summer Games

Lorna's Laces is commemorating the Summer Games with these two mini-skein sets! Check out Go for Gold and Rings, both part of their String Quintet (5 mini skein sets) series.

Want a free pattern? What about this hat and mitt, provided by Lorna's Laces using the password of LL_Pattern1.

Photo provided by Lorna's Laces

Shown above using the Violin set. If it's sold out, don't worry, I'll get more quickly!

How about adding a full sized skein of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock to the mix and making one of the many options featured on Ravelry: Leftie, Ombre Quintet, Embouchure, On the Spice Market, Reverb Shawl, Gradiation.

So many lovely color options in these String Quintets and patterns. Totally makes me want to get ready for fall and knit some warm accessories!

What else is new from Lorna's Laces? I'm glad you asked (I mean, you did, right?)... SPECKLES. Yes, that's worth shouting. Lorna's Laces has released a series of dappled skeins to us on their Shepherd Sock and Solemate yarns. Really lovely to add to a pattern that needs a fun skein or to simply knit an awesome pair of cabled socks. I love speckled skeins for cabled socks or things like Zigzagular, where you want the yarn to shine but you also want a little bit of texture and flair.

I called Amanda (Queen of Yarn at LL) yesterday to ask what was with all the names of the speckled colors. She said that the new names like Paris and Prague are named for places that their staff would love to live. And then Minneapolis? Well. that purpley skein is named for Prince. How cool is that?

Shown above are Cozumel, Minneapolis and Tokyo all on Shepherd Sock (but also available on Solemate). You might noticed that this gives us over 130 colors of Shepherd Sock in multicolors alone- that doesn't even count the nearly solids or the stripes, which brings us well over 200!!

More from Mineville!

You may have noticed how quickly the Mineville Wool Project MCN (merino/cashmere/nylon) blend in the sale section is selling. Some colors sold out in less than a day, and I realized a few days ago that I forgot to add a few colors (Beet, Penguin, Puffin....) and so you'll see some more of that too. If you love the great deals we get from our Canadian friends, then take a look at the sale section again because I just added some amazingly soft merino DK single ply yarn. We had the same yarn (put up in different sized skeins) last year, and now you'll find it in the typical 100g skeins for just $14.40 a skein.

Seriously, this yarn glows with color. See?

What would you knit with this?  Here's what we knit with this a year and a half ago when we were lucky enough to get it the first time.

Rachael knit an Enfield pullover a couple with some.

Diana knit a Honey Cowl and a Rikke hat.

SSYC's shop manager, Heather, chose three colors and knit this simple striped cowl.

And finally, Rachel knit this Narwhal hat.

This is versatile yarn and a great price. Certainly stash-worthy and soft like you won't believe until you wear it. Don't miss out!