Simply Socks Yarn Co. Blog

SSYC's "I Love Sweater Weather" Knit Kit now available!

SSYC's I Love Sweater Weather Knit Kit is live! Please do go to that link asap and get yours if you are sure its for you. This one speaks to my heart not only because it's for Valentine's Day, but also because it includes that aqua that I oh-so-love right now. I hope you do too.

I know this one will sell out fast, and I do have more kits planned for the spring. And actually, another Valentine's Kit if the yarn arrives in time. It's been held up in Customs for nearly a month! Argh!

Did you get yarn for your Kallaralong? I've been posting color ideas to Instagram, and if you need help choosing yours, please let me know at service@simplysockyarn.com. 

Kallara KAL

When looking over my finished projects for the past couple years, I noticed that the ones that I really enjoyed and actually finished (if they weren't socks) were two color shawls. There are so many beautiful options for combining two colors into a stunner of a piece, and I want to continue enjoying these designs. So the project I'm casting on next is the Kallara shawl, and I hope you'll knitalong with me!

Photos used with permission, Ambah O'Brien

Kallara designer Ambah O'Brien has generously donated prizes that we'll give away throughout the KAL, and a 30% off coupon code for the Kallara Shawl. Just add it to your cart in Ravelry and then enter the coupon code ssyckallaralong any time through midnight on Feb 14. We also have contest prizes from some of our favorite dyers throughout the next month. There's no start or finish date of this KAL, but it'll be something I personally focus on for the next several weeks with posts and prizes here on the SSYC Blog, on Instagram and Ravelry.

I'd love for you to share all stages of your project with us! The choosing of the yarn, the casting on, the frogging that might happen when you decide that you want a more contrasting stripe rather than a subtle one.... please share your own Instagram using the #ssyckallaralong to tag your post, making sure your profile is public during the KAL if you want others to see it and comment. I'll also set up a thread on the SSYC Ravelry page, and Ambah has a Ravelry group that would also be an appropriate place to find answers to questions that others have already asked/answered.

Tosh Merino Light in Texas Bama and Tien Tsin Pepper

Tosh Merino Light in Beautiful Liar and Daenerys

I'm hoping this is a great way to meet some more knitters and find inspiration to dedicate more time to knitting. Knitting has long been my meditation, my "me time" and my way to feel like an artist and creative spirit (instead of a mom and a working drone) and I need more of that in my life. I look forward to using this KAL as a way to not only have a beautiful finished project, but also to connect with others and foster the parts of my artistic self that need nourishing.

Tosh Merino Light in Fate and The Wildlings

I'll be posting more color combination ideas here on the blog later this week as well as several times a day on Instagram. If there's something you have in your stash that you want to use, please do go ahead. There's no timeline for this KAL- start and finish whenever you like. If you look at the finished projects on Ravelry, you'll see that you can really use any color ideas- even a gradient skein - to knit your shawl. If there's something you see in the store, like perhaps 150+ colors of Madelinetosh Merino Light we have that Ambah used in the pattern, please do go ahead and place your order. And I hope you know you can always e-mail me at service@simplysockyarn.com to get color ideas or assurance that your color choices are awesome before you place your order. And we have a lot of US 5 needle options for you, if you don't already have yours.

Tosh Merino Light in Maiyet and Fiji

Have questions or comments? Please do e-mail me or leave them in the comments and I'm happy to help! Let's do this!

SSYC's Valentine Knit Kit, a preview

We have a wonderful Knit Kit dropping next week! Take a look at SSYC's "I Love Sweater Weather" Knit Kit, which features the traditional colors of Valentine's Day bumped up with vibrant aqua and neon pink.

The special edition colorway in this kit was made by Kim from Flock Fibre. It's a wonderfully jolly speckle on her Take a Hike Sock.

And to protect your project and haul it in style, you have a medium sized, fully reversible drawstring pouch from Mommy Sews. It easily fits a four skein project, so it's perfect for all those puffy winter accessories you might be knitting.

Aren't these stitch marker's adorable? Little heart pillows with lace edges. You'll get four in your kit.

Finally you'll receive a treat from our neighbor Zinnia's Bakehouse. Krystal and her fellow bakers made little white chocolate raspberry biscotti for you to dip in your favorite hot beverage. I've done my part and tasted tested these thoroughly. Ahem.

I do hope you are able to snag one of these if you want one. I plan on offering these on the website the mid-morning of Tuesday, January 30. Thank you so much for your encouraging e-mails and comments about our kits. I love that the Sip & Knit Kits left us so quickly last week. And I do have another kit planned for Valentine's Day.... should there be a magic spell to make the yarn clear customs sometime in the near future!

Striped Socks for Valentine's Day

We've been dyeing up special striping skeins in our Poste Yarn dye studio to celebrate Valentine's Day this year! First, you might remember last year, we dyed up a special cashmere striping skein with a coordinating mini, inspired by the Pont des Arts, a bridge in Paris adorned with love locks. We have some more of those sets for you now, or if you don't want cashmere or the mini skein, you can find it now on our regular corriedale/nylon blend too!

We also have a spankin' new stripe, Playa del Amor, which stripes as follows: black, magenta, bubble gum pink, black, purple, lilac.

We have also dyed batches of previous Valentine colors like Heartbreak Hotel

and Heartland

Don't miss out on grabbing these skeins while we have them available!

Yarnvalache Continues!

I love that Teri captioned one of our pictures from Friday a "yarnvalanche." That's exactly what it is around here sometimes! From our larger dyers like Hedgehog Fibres and Madelinetosh, we regularly receive a ton of yarn. Dozens upon dozens of boxes come in here a week, and it's all my stash until it becomes yours. I love that. 

Over the weekend you may have noticed a lot of awesomeness added to the shop in the way of Mineville Wool Project in the Sale Section and new hues from Stitch Together Studio. Let's explore it together!

Come on. I mean, really? These mini sets are ah-maze-ing. And they are $32 each, which is a really good price, compared to other lines. And the colors are festive and fun. Kayanna and her team at Stitch Together Studio really know how to work with vibrant color.

And Kayanna's full-sized Smooth Sock skeins are pretty darned gorgeous too. We love Dr Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, Lawn Ornament, and Witches Garden.

All these are available on Smooth Sock and Stitch Single.

And let's take a look at the new hues from Mineville in the Sale Section. Sea Spray and Slate would look fab together in a Kallara, doncha think?

I also really like Island Life with Zesty

And for something rich and autumnal, I really really like Sugar Maple for a cowl and/or mitts. I need a new camel colored wool coat, and this would be fab with that.

This is the last of the Mineville to trickle through Customs for awhile. I do believe I'm able to get just one more batch of this wonderfully soft merino/nylon 100g Sock in spring. But that's likely to be the last of it. You may remember that Mineville Wool Project is an offshoot of Fleece Artist. MWP focuses on getting short runs from mills at a great discount and passing it along to us and you. Therefore, you may be able to get something just once or twice. It's a fab price, but a short run.

Yarn Explosion

Our dyers have dropped big yarn bombs on us this week. With new colors and restocks of Malabrigo, awesomeness from Stitch Together soon live, and more sale yarn from Mineville Wool Project and Opal, it's been a heck of a week. Here's a peek of life here this week, ending with Angela working her way through her yarn volcano? Is that what you'd call it? A yarn mountain?

I look forward to having all this yarn ready for you in the shop in the next day or so!

Above are Moonlight, Opal, Fairy Dust and London Fog. Below is Galaxy. All from Mineville Wool Project, soon in the Sale Section.

Getting ready to photograph all these beauties. One of the best, and most tempting, jobs!

Valentine Sip & Knit Kits now available!

Thanks so much for your interest in our latest Sip & Knit Kit! We've designed this funny mug for you and paired it with one of three Poste Yarn options. You can find all three now at this link. Since this is priced really well, I'm betting all will go fast. I'm sorry if the one you want sells out quickly, but please know we do our best to make as many as possible and have another two more Valentine treats coming later this month- Knit Kits that include yarn, a bag, stitch markers and a sweet.

Should you want to add something else to your order, or qualify for free US shipping with your $100 order, check out the new arrivals from Hedgehog Fibres, the additions of Opal Yarn and Mineville Wool Project to the Sale Section, and the stunning restock of all the Malabrigo Yarn.

New Deal from Mineville Wool Project

Want to see the newest offering from Mineville Wool Project in the Sale Section? This 100g 80/20 Sock is the classic combo of soft, superwash merino wool and nylon. And instead of $25 a skein, you pay just $13.75!

A few years back Fleece Artist has developed a branch of their dye operation that's dedicated to offering limited runs of yarn at fabulous discounts. They've been in the business for close to 40 years, and over that time developed relationships with mills worldwide and distribution channels that others don't have the same access to. So they procure end runs or short runs and pass the savings right onto us and you. You might not be able to get these yarns for more than a few months, but you do get fab colors and a great deal. So get enough for your project in one batch because it may not be available again.

While there are dozens of colors in the Sale Section right now, I have even more making its way through Customs as I post this. So in a week, if all goes well, you'll see even more!

I also have a 40% off deal on Opal coming soon to the Sale Section. Perhaps as soon as later today. But definitely tomorrow. 2018 is shaping up to be a winner of a year already!

SSYC's Valentine Sip & Knit Kits, a preview

It's time for that rare weekend blog post!!

Valentine's Day is coming in a month, and what better way to celebrate your love of yarn than by knitting some beautiful cashmere while sipping a hot beverage from your new mug? Well, we've got you covered!  On Tuesday morning, you can snag this simple Sip & Knit Kit, which pairs our newest snarky sheep mug with one of three limited edition Poste Yarn colorways!

We've named each of these colors after small towns in Newfoundland. Heart's Desire, Newfoundland is a romantic speckled colorway dyed on our Cash Sock, a ridiculously soft fingering weight merino/cashmere/nylon blend.

Hearts Delight, Newfoundland is a beautifully saturated and variegated colorway also dyed on our Cash Sock.

Hearts Content, Newfoundland is our Gleam (sparkle) Sock, dyed a pale grey and then splattered with deep hues.

Each colorway is paired with a mug, and you will find these kits on our website on Tuesday, Jan 16. Usually we post our Knit Kits around 10am EST, give or take an hour or so, depending on our morning. The Cashmere yarn kits will cost $36 and the Sparkle will be $34 for the mug and yarn. Since we dye all the Poste Yarn line in our own studio, I'm able to keep the price about 20-30% lower than where these skeins would normally retail. I pass those savings right along to you. And if you'd like to get more of our Cash Sock and Gleam Sock, which we've only dyed in short runs so far, we plan on offering more of these bases throughout this year.

Back of mug

Our kits tend to sell out quickly, so if you happen to miss out, please know that we have more Valentine Knit Kits coming later this month that include yarn, a bag, stitch markers and a treat.

And if you'd like to add some other wonderful yarn to your Valentine treat, I've just stocked the Sale Section with a new offering from Mineville Wool Project! More details on the blog about that tomorrow. But you can snag some now!

Color Ideas, January 2018

Thanks so much for your feedback on blogging about putting together color ideas for projects! We regularly help you put together combos via e-mail and in person and posting some of those ideas here on the blog is a natural extension of that personal shopping that we do for you. Often, knitters come to us with one skein of something and would like to build a multi-color, multi-skein project around that. But sometimes we simply get "I like teals a lot right now, and would like to make a Phi and want something that is bold and stands out." We love those requests too. It helps us stretch our creativity and it lets us get to know you and your preferences even better.

To start off this series (and I have no idea how often or regularly I will post these- let's just keep it organic), I was really inspired last week while photographing all the new Hue Loco. Colorado based Nicole dyes Phyllis Sock (classic merino/nlyon) Tweed Sock and an opulent silk/merino Opal Fingering for us and of course I couldn't resist putting together a few color ideas for myself. So why not share them with you?

This combination of Twitterpated and Fuchsia on Tweed really caught my eye. I love the modern colors dyed on the traditional tweed. It's an odd juxtaposition. I think these would look amazing in a Zorzal, which calls for Malabrigo Mechita but could easily be subbed with Hue Loco's Tweed. And if you like something less mod-pretty and more verdant, what about the combo below of Eskimo and Muscle Up Buttercup?

Am also liking the Kallara shawl right now. For a bold contrast, I'd consider Tweed in The Real Teal and Cracked Pepper...

...or use Phyllis Sock in Twitterpated and Rosehip. Or, heck, just two any two high contrast colors and watch those thin stripes pop.

If you're in the mood for some luxury, don't miss out on the Opal Fingering, shown above. This stuff has an amazingly soft texture and just the drape you'd expect from 50% silk. It's a pleasure to knit or just put in a bowl on your nightstand so you can stare at it before falling asleep. It's so nice it will give you good dreams. If you pair I Smell Teenagers with Cracked Pepper, you'd end up with a stunner of a Delphinia Shawl. Or pair Oak with Pear or even Peony with Rosehip. Wowza, all sorts of color ideas with Opal Fingering.

Finally, if you are in the mood for a simple, one skein project, make your way over to the Sockhead Cowl pattern. It's free, looks just as wonderfully mindless of the hat of the same name, and is a great way to knit those eye catching colors and not hide them on your feet. Here are my picks for that:

Wooly Wonka Aerten Sock (mmmmmm..... cashmere for the price of merino/nlyon? Yep.) in Bakersfield and Chimney Sweep

Or go super bold with Hue Loco's Phyllis Sock in Sucker Punch

I hope this provides you a little jumpstart if you don't know where to start from in your color-combining adventures. As always, if you see a skein you like and want to know what we think about a contrast or coordinate, please do e-mail us at service@simplysockyarn.com.

Simply Sock Yarn Solids

Today you'll find a restock of our popular Simply Sock Yarn, Solids. I do believe we have all the colors dyed and in stock right now, so if you were waiting on larger amounts of Navy, Purple or Oatmeal, they are freshly dyed.

This is a line I started developing a decade ago; as more and more dyers focused on beautifully variegated skeins, and as larger yarn distributors streamlined the way they ordered from overseas, it became harder to get and keep in stock solid colors like white, black red and blue. Some of the biggest yarn companies have been out of white and black sock yarn for over 6 months before, as they wait to need enough of something to order a big crate from overseas. So I decided to develop our own yarn line of hand dyed, semi solid colors in 50g skeins so that we would better control what what we have in stock. Since then, Simply Sock Yarn, Solids has been a staple in the shop and I couldn't be more proud!

I've knit a lot of socks in our Solid line, shown here with a mock rib sock is Fiesta Lime

And here in Cerulean

I'm a big fan of this seed stitch rib cable in Salmon, and behind it is one of my fave sock knits ever, the Embossed Leaves sock in Brick.

One of the nice things about this line is that it comes in 50g skeins, so you purchase one for each foot, and if you think you'll need an extra, you can get a third skein. You don't need to buy 200g worth of yarn when you only need 150 for those big mens' socks.

Combining Colors

One of the things I've come to really appreciate lately is photographing yarn. I personally photograph new skeins with each batch of stuff that comes in. Often, solid colors don't need to be rephotographed. I mean, how many blacks and navy pictures do I need to take? But you can bet that more varied hues need photographed each time they come in. I blogged about this a couple months ago. It takes a lot of time, but I think it's very worth it, rather that using stock photos given from the dyer. While their photographs might be beautiful, they likely don't fairly represent each batch made. It's a hand made art, afterall.

When photographing yarn, I often see pairs and trios that I think look fab together. Today, I added restocks and new hues from our Canadian friends at Sweet Georgia and Lichen and Lace, and boy did I get distracted with all the lovely combos. Or in the case of Flock Fibre (another fab Canadian), I see combos of five. I try and keep notes of them so that I can share them with you later, but that often fails because I'm constantly switching from one job to another (Or getting a drink or a snack for little Henry. Or a Starbucks for me!) and I just forget. So I thought I'd ask you what projects you've been considering and what kind of colors (or a particular skein) that you'd like to work around. Let me know in the comments what project you're considering and perhaps some color ideas and I'll come up with ideas and share them all here. If there's enough interest, perhaps it will be a regular thing here on the blog. Sound good?

Here are a few jumping off points. I'm LOVING Hedgehog Fibres Sock in Ink with Juniper. Perhaps with this pattern.

I'm also a fan of this pattern. Though we all know by now I'll never finish a sweater. I've tried and failed and given up on larger projects. For now.  If I did it, I'd want to use these three colors from Sweet Georgia: Auburn, Biscuit and Coral Rose. Or Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in similar colors.... because I have so much awesomeness in that right now. And a slew of new hues coming in a couple weeks! Madelinetosh has been so good to us lately with all the special and new hues.

It's so hard to just stick with what I should be doing and photograph yarn, when what I want to be doing is just making pretty combos. And my team is not immune to this neurosis. You can bet that when one of you orders a slew of colors that we are arranging them in ways that we like them before we bag and ship them. And if there's something particularly pleasing, we share it with each other before it gets boxed up. 

So if you have pattern or color ideas you'd like us to come up with and share, please do comment below and that will give me reason to go crazy with color! Please help me rationalize my obsession!

Happy 2018!

Happy new year, friends! 2017 was a whirlwind, wasn't it? In many ways it moved too fast- kids grew up way to quick, I got another wrinkle or pound, and memories flew by. And in other ways it time trickled slowly- let's not talk about those, ok? I'm looking forward to 2018 being a lot like 2017. I learned a lot more about work/life balance, continuing to put family first (and sleep last), taking advantage of small moments, and taking care of myself. Hard to believe it took until I was 40 (well, I will be in 6 days) to learn about self care and how important it is to put ones self first when needed.

 

Poste Yarn, Common Room sock above

How did my knitting fare this year? Well, I did complete several projects like shawls and socks,. I don't post on Ravelry much and track stuff there, so I look through Instagram to see what I've made. Here are a few of my faves. Brights Grove Socks, Girl from the Grocery shawl, Harry Potter socks, Walk in the Woods Shawl, Drop Stitch Shawl.... and the list goes on.

One of my fave knitting moments of the year was hanging out with my oldest son, James, while he knit. He really took an interest in knitting this summer. Then of course, he broke his wrist. Then he got the cast taken off and then broke his other wrist. So, there wasn't much knitting after the summer! But in a week that brace will be off and perhaps we can get going again.

I don't have any resolutions this year. As usual, I always want to be more healthy, spend time with my loved ones, and be a more kind person. But I really think that 2017 was a great year for me in all that. I've learned a lot more patience, I've loved more and more fearlessly, and I've recognized that there shouldn't be guilt in putting ones own needs at the top of the list. Later this year my youngest will go to school, and I know my life will change a lot, as I won't have a sidekick around me all the time. I'll actually go to the grocery alone, won't have constant snuggles, and will be able to leave the house and get things done much more efficiently. But I also won't be taking mid-day trips to the park or playing cards or Sorry on a whim. Sigh.

As far as knitting resolutions go, I don't think I have any of those either. A few years back, I decided to knit only for myself, as my own sock drawer was quite bare. This year, I'd like to start by knitting a few hats and cowls for my kids, my man (who wears last year's Christmas gift daily!) and myself because the weather is downright horrid. Here in NE Indiana we are covered in snow with temps below 0, and that makes me need to knit all the warm outerwear. But I'd also like to knit a beautiful shawl to wear this summer with a dress. Something that makes me feel feminine and pretty. So we'll see what happens!

Do you have any resolutions, knitting or non-knitting, that you'd like to share? What do you want to change in 2018?