Simply Socks Yarn Co. Blog

Project Feature, Diana's Time Trades

If you've been in the shop on one of our big party days, it's likely that you've been greeted by Diana. She helps us out at the shop when we have our big anniversary parties and holiday shindigs. She's also likely wearing a brand new sweater each time. And awesome socks.

Over the past few weeks at knitting group, we've been watching Diana finish this Time Trades shawl. She told us it was for a wedding this summer, and when she described the dress, we all thought it would look really nice. Little did we know how fricken awesome it would look with the dress.

I mean, is this not the perfect combo? The dress is beautiful. The shawl is superb. But together? They say DAY-ANG. Your thoughts? Have you knit a shawl or socks for a special event that turned out so wonderfully that you couldn't believe it?

The yarn Diana used for her project was Hue Loco Opal (a 50/50 silk/merino blend) in The Real Teal and Confetti Cupcake.

Knit Kits now available!

If you're hoping to snag one of our Mod Spring or Sip & Knit Kits I blogged about yesterday, please go here now!

Thanks so much for your continued support of our creative endeavors! If you miss out, just know I have super stuff planned for our 13th yarniversary celebration all summer long.

Thanks for looking! I know these will go quick as usual, so if you miss out, please know we will have other options this summer for our 13th yarniversary celebration.

Tomorrow brings SUPRISES!

Want to celebrate Mother's Day or simply treat yourself to something special? Tomorrow, Wednesday, I'll have several options (listed here) if you're in the mood to enrich your life with some yarny goodness!

First, I have opened the "yarn vault" and discovered I have a small selection of awesome skeins from previous clubs and kits. I've paired these jewels with mugs by ceramic artist Charan Sachar and am offering them to you tomorrow. There are eleven options, with as few as two of each one, and here are a few of the pairings.

Some skeins come with coordinating minis, some come with a 16 oz coffee mug or a 9 oz tea mug. Each is super awesome. Keep in mind that the hand made mug is the pricey part of the kit- each one retails around $45, so these will be in the $70-$80 range, depending on the size of the mug or amount or content of the yarn. Each is priced different.

Then I have something that I've been asked for since we first did something similar. Several years ago, one of our Knit Kits included the large Tall Skinny size Bird Leg Bag in a modern springy chevron pattern with a luxe 50% silk blend of gradient mini skeins from The Unique Sheep (this pattern would be awesome with it). The original Knit Kit was nearly $100 because it not only included the larger size bag, but also 150g of luxury blend yarn mini skeins PLUS extra goodies. I'm able to now put together something similar, but without the goodies, and offer it tomorrow for under $80. Again, there is a limited amount of these available.

If you miss out on the kit you want, just know I'll have lots of cool kit options this summer to celebrate our 13th yarniversary. Special colorways, Sip & Knit kits featuring Charan Sachar's work, and Knit Kits featuring hand made bags.... all sorts of yarny goodness to commemorate our 13th year.

And in case you didn't see yesterday, I added UK dyer Qing Fibre to the shop! Several colors have already sold out, so if there's something you definitely want, I don't recommend hesitating.

Qing Fibre

I'm happy to welcome a new dyer to our fold, Qing Fibre! Layla Qing and her small team dye yarn in London, and I'm so glad to be able to offer three bases in the shop- Sock, Super Soft Sock (a merino/cashmere/nylon) and Merino Singles. Her colors are divine and I'm sure you'll find at least one that is a must knit.

Shown on Sock above in Blackhare, below in Soft Grey

Shown on Merino Singles above in Cuttlefish and below in Hippienista

You might remember that we featured Qing's Tweed Sock in our recent Spring Knit Kit, which sold out quite quickly. Now's your change to give a try to a different base, or at least snag a skein of Qing while we have it. I've received may calls and e-mails inquiring about when this will be available, so please don't hesitate if there's a color you were waiting for. Such lovely stuff for your stash or needles!

My next project- Turnstile - and a contest!

I've knit up four Sockhead Cowls in the past month. It's been addictive to see the highly variegated multicolors knit up into a simple stockinette fabric. Now, I'm switching gears a bit and knitting up basically tonal coorways into a Turnsile cowl. Want to join me? Designer Erin Hartman will make it easy on you by offering you a 20% coupon code to use on Ravelry for the pattern, and then you can choose three skeins of Pashmina and knit with me! The coupon code is SimplySocks2018 and by using it on Ravelry, you can get 20% off any of Erin's patterns you add to your cart until May 1.

Photo used with permission, Erin Hartman

After a lot of pondering (you can see other options I looked at below) I decided to go with Pashmina in Snake, Silence Was Golden and Arya. 

Want to see some other Pashmina color options we think would be awesome together? Check out what we've put together below. And if there's a Pashmina color or two that you want to build around, just e-mail us at service@simplysockyarn.com and we are happy to be your personal shoppers to put together something special for you.

Modern and fun- Translation, Beta and Push Pop

Daenerys, Arctic, Astrid Grey

Foundry, Murakami, Cardinal

Brick Dust, Gentle Monster, Beautiful Liar

I've shared a several high contrast Pashmina options here today, but if you like a particular color, or want something to match a particular sweater or winter coat, we are happy to do a three color combo that is more tonal for you. Something like two purples (one dark one bright) and a gray. Or if you like blues and teals, we can put together a three color combo that stays within that color family while also giving you three colors that maintains the stripes in the pattern. Just e-mail us and we are happy to help! 

Oh, and for those of you who made it all the way through this post, let's do a giveaway! We have three Turnstile patterns to give away today- all you have to do is tell us which one of the combos above that you like the best, or go here and list three colors that you'd use. We love your inspiration here, and I know other readers learn from your comments and ideas as well. Leave a comment here on the blog before noon EST on Saturday, April 21, and we will randomly choose three winners. I'm also giving away three patterns on Instagram. If you have an Instagram account, you can also enter there. Thanks for playing!

More Miss Babs

Team Babs has sent our biggest ever batch of yarn! Not only did we get the restock of Yowza DK a few weeks ago, but now we have all the fingering weights for you like Estrellita Sparkle, Hot Shot (merino/nylon), and Tarte (merno/nylon/tencel).

I knit this shawl out of Estrellita last year using a solid and a variegated color (Good Morning Glory shown above), and it was really cool to knit a sparkly shawl. I don't wear a lot of jewelry and I wear pretty sedate colors, so this was a departure for me and it was really satisfying.

Shown above, Shining City on Tarte

I feel like a lot of her colors are ones that are outside my comfort zone, but that I feel the need to hoard because I know they won't look the same next time. Is there a color that you adore but can't imagine what you would knit with it? Do share!

 

New Hedgehog Fibres Sock colors are here!

I'm so happy to share that most of our epic Hedgehog Fibres order has arrived and we have a restock of Sock ready PLUS all the amazing new colors featured here on the blog last week!

Right now, I have everything available on Sock, with DK available tomorrow and Skinny likely next week.

The standouts for me are Iris, Goblin and Parklife on Sock. But I was really surprised at how much I liked the lighter more neutral colors like Cereal and Dijon too.

In addition to the dozen new hues, I have special edition Anemone, which is featured in the Interpretations book by Joji and Veera. This color was made specially for this book and I have it on Sock now, DK hopefully tomorrow when the rest of the DK colors are available too. I'm not sure if Hedgehog will continue dyeing this yarn on a regular basis or if it is available for a limited time.

I also have three new Potluck colors for you, which are one-off, non-repeatable colors. Beata lets her dyers go wild for a bit and produce just a few special colors for us with each batch, and we love what we get. Here are Potluck 1p, 1q and 1r.

I know that many of you have been waiting for us to get the new colors, so I'm happy to post them as soon as they arrive here, and that's why I have all the Sock available now with the others to follow. Because it all comes from Ireland, many times it takes weeks for the boxes to trickle in. Thanks for looking!

More from Mineville!

We have LOVED the Mineville 100g Sock we have gotten over the past few months. I just received the last batch I can get of this particular run, and I'm happy to be able to share over 50 colors in the Sale Section right now!

As always, colors do sell fast at this price. Heck, who doesn't want superb yarn for nearly half off? So if you see a color you really like, please order enough of it to do your anticipated project. I get many e-mails about trying Mineville yarns for the first time, loving them and then wondering where they are. But that's the magic of this offshoot of Fleece Artist. They procure short runs or leftover runs from mills (they've been in the business for 40 years, so they have great connections) and then pass the savings along to all of us. The great things are the price and the quality, but availability is just not predictable... or long. So grab it while you see it!

I do have another offering from Mineville expected this summer. I look forward to sharing it with you!

Colors shown from top to bottom are Single Malt, Slate and Blue Splash

Spring Break Contest, Day 5

Here in the US we are nearing the end of Spring Break week. The kids and school staff get a week off from school, some use it as a time for family vacation, and some use it simply as a time to regroup and get things done. Here at SSYC, we're going to celebrate with a week's worth of contests! We'll feature a different prize each day this week, and you'll have a chance to win some yarn. Join us in our last day of this week of contests!

If you got to choose the perfect knitting spot, what would it be? A lounge chair next to the ocean? The deck of a cruise ship in Alaska? A local coffee shop with your closest knitting friends? Tell us all about where you would most like to knit and you could win a $50 online gift certificate! Leave me one comment by Saturday, April 7 at noon EST and I'll announce the winner (and e-mail) the following week.

One of the places I've knit that I'll never forget is Italy. I carried my knitting with me as we explored little towns and at each cafe or stop, I would take out my project and knit away. The two women I traveled with were not knitters, and they though it was odd and funny that I knit in public. To me, it made my experience more mine- I enjoyed it as I chose, creating memories with each little stitch. And yes, I took pictures of my project at nearly each stop!

Someplace I envision knitting is a cafe in Paris. Outside on a patio next to a busy street, people buzzing by while I enjoy a coffee and pastry and knit. A girl can dream, right?

Thanks for joining in our week of contests! If you didn't join Monday thru Thursday, you still have time to do so before noon tomorrow. Just click on the recent posts on the right hand sidebar. 

Spring Break Contest, Day 4

Here in the US we are nearing the end of our Spring Break week. The kids and school staff get a week off from school, some use it as a time for family vacation, and some use it simply as a time to regroup and get things done. Here at SSYC, we're going to celebrate with a week's worth of contests! We'll feature a different yarn each day this week, and you'll have a chance to win some yarn. Sound fun? Join us in day four!

Yesterday, we featured Hedgehog Fibres in our contest. Today, we're sharing our other spectacular Irish dyer, Life in the Long Grass. We are fortunate enough in the shop to offer two Irish lines of hand dyed yarn, each with completely different aesthetics.

Caroline worked as a graphic designer and Jonny as an architect in London and Spain before they moved back to Ireland to live in the countryside – from there it was a natural transition to take their love of color, art and design and apply it to their love of yarn. They are currently building a new studio to make room for their growing business and I look forward to sharing it with you when complete.

Photos above and below courtesy of LITLG

At top is Ceramic, Parasol and Ripple. Underneath are semi-solids Linen, Ultra, Antique, Nude, Tanned and Sunkissed. Shown on Sock.

Caroline shares "Our name represents the natural life of the wool that we dye; wonderful sheep braving the elements and a way of life where taking the time to make something and enjoying the process is as important as the wool itself. We are crazy about texture and rustic living and are inspired by our surroundings in the countryside, you will spot this in our main body of colourways."

Shown above is a Free Your Fade idea that I think would be just stunning in Singles- Rosegold, Weathered and Barefoot. Would you like to win your own Fade? Tell me what three colors you think you'd like best (as a Fade or just three colors you really like is fine) and you could win all three in Sock, Singles or DK. Leave me one comment by Saturday, April 7 at noon EST and I'll announce the winner (and e-mail) the following week.

Spring Break Contest, Day 3

Here in the US we are in the middle of our Spring Break week. The kids and school staff get a week off from school, some use it as a time for family vacation, and some use it simply as a time to regroup and get things done. Here at SSYC, we're going to celebrate with a week's worth of contests! We'll feature a different yarn each day this week, and you'll have a chance to win some yarn. Sound fun? Join us in day three!

Goblin above, Method below

Hedgehog Fibres has just shipped out our biggest order ever, bringing with it TWELVE NEW COLORS! That's worth shouting, right?

Kimono above, Raku below

These have left Ireland and started trickling through Customs. Once they arrive, the crew and I will sort through it all and I'll photograph it for the website. These photos are courtesy of Hedgehog Fibres. But we take new photos with each batch of hand dyed yarn when skeins look different to make sure you get the best and most accurate experience you can shopping with us. As pretty as the pictures are in this post, I highly doubt they would fairly represent the actual batch we get. That's just the nature of hand made yarn.

Bollywood above, Guppy below

Do you see two skeins from the new 12 colors shown throughout this post that would make your life more colorful? Tell me in the comments below what two colors you like the best, and you could win them on the base of your choice- either Sock, Skinny or DK. I do believe all these images show the colors dyed on Sock.

Parklife above, Piggy Bank below

Leave me one comment by Saturday, April 7 at noon EST and I'll announce the winner (and e-mail) the following week. 

Foam above, Iris below

Want to learn more about Beata and her crew? When we started carrying her yarn a few years ago, she joined me for a mini interview. Read it here.

Dijon above, Cereal below

My picks? I'm gravitating toward Goblin and Parklife. But I could easily be swayed to Piggy Bank too.

Spring Break Contest, Day 2

Here in the US we are starting Spring Break week. The kids and school staff get a week off from school, some use it as a time for family vacation, and some use it simply as a time to regroup and get things done. Here at SSYC, we're going to celebrate with a week's worth of contests! We'll feature a different yarn each day this week, and you'll have a chance to win some yarn. Sound fun? Join us in day two!

Primrose Yarn is definitely a company that people oooh and ahhh over when they are in the shop. Kelsey and her crew dye up some inventive hues (with equally cool names) in their spacious warehouse studio and we offer three of their base yarns- the most popular is their Adelaide Singles followed by the luxurious Sophia MCN and the new sock base, Ultimate Sock. I've knit Ultimate Sock twice already in the past few months (in Forbidden Forest shown above and Grumpy Jello), and I adore it.

Kelsey at the dyepots

Want to win a skein of your own? I'll randomly choose two winners to win a skein of Primrose Yarn, whatever base and color you'd like. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment below telling me what you would name the yarn pictured below. It's actual name is Black Magic. If you were to name it, what would it be called?

Leave me one comment by Saturday, April 7 at noon EST and I'll announce the winner (and e-mail) the following week. Want to learn more about Kelsey and her crew? I featured their shop on the blog last week with an interview.

Spring Break Contest, Day 1

Here in the US we are starting Spring Break week. The kids and school staff get a week off from school, some use it as a time for family vacation, and some use it simply as a time to regroup and get things done. Here at SSYC, we're going to celebrate with a week's worth of contests! We'll feature a different yarn each day this week, and you'll have a chance to win some yarn. Sound fun? Let's start!

Manos Del Uruguay, the Hands of Uruguay, is a non profit organization which assembles women in cooperatives scattered throughout the countryside of Uruguay. The aim of this World Fair Trade Organization is to bring economic and social opportunities to rural women. Alegria ("joy" in Spanish) is a wonderfully soft sock yarn handpainted to create a celebration of color in every skein.

Manos Artisans. See more here.

Manos released the Alegria collection a few years ago with a handful of variegated colors on an ultra soft superwash merino/nylon blend. It's plied tightly enough that it holds up to wear, but not so tight that the fibers aren't sumptuous. It really is a great knit for socks or accessories. There's nearly twelve thousand projects on Ravelry alone that use this yarn, projects as simple as this Sockhead Cowl in Locura Fluo knit by LegalKnitter on Ravelry (photo below used with permission) or as stunning as Joji Locatelli's Starting Point.

Would you like to win two skeins to make a stunner or two of a project yourself? To be entered in the contest, all you have to do is tell me what TV show you would binge watch if you had a week-long staycation at home. And if you're not into TV, perhaps tell me what books you'd read/reread? Just share something you'd binge on while hanging out at home for an entire, luxuriously relaxing week.

Leave me one comment by Saturday, April 7 at noon EST and I'll announce the winner (and e-mail) the following week. Thanks for playing!