Simply Socks Yarn Co. Blog

New from Hedgehog Fibres

Not only do we have all the new Hedgehog Fibres colors in stock for you, but we also have some awesome limited edition sets for April! We have three new mini skein sets- Petunia Pop, Moody Monet and Sunset Highway. All can be found here.

Last month's two sock sets were gone in a day, and for April I have two new ones- the Dandy Daffodil sock set featuring the new Bijou color and a limited edition mini from Hedgehog Fibres and the Mythic Maze sock set with a full sized skein from LITLG and a coordinating mini from Hedgehog Fibres. Gosh, how I love them so.

What else is coming this week? We hope to see more of our Life in the Long Grass boxes trickle thought Customs, and we hope to see more Colossal Sock from Dream in Color at the end of the week.

Many of our dyers who had larger operations had to close up shop for now, and several mills around the world that I know of are shut down as well. Many larger companies are also closing this week, so we will continue getting yarn in from dyers that are operating out of their home studios or are able to social distance while working (much like we are) and stagger their time in the studio/warehouse. Several of the dyers and artisans I work with have more time to work on projects with us than they usually would, so we have some really cool things on the horizon for late spring/summer. As our 15th anniversary celebration approaches in May, we will continue to plan and take the whole celebration online. Usually we have a birthday party in person too, but that late-May shindig will have to be postponed. Sadly, we had to cancel the big weekend we were planning (but you didn't know b/c we didn't announce yet!), which included designer Casapinka coming to teach classes and help people in the shop pick stuff out for her awesome designs. I hadn't shared that yet with anyone, and I'm pretty bummed about it. But she and I will work together to plan something else that is party-worthy for all of you!

Thank you for the busy time you're giving us this week as we send you out the cute free totes we are offering. Your support in this time makes all the difference. And the kind notes you're putting on your orders help too!

Free Tote w/ purchase this week!

It's been a crazy few weeks, right? As we all adjust to our new temporary normal, I hope you're safe and well and staying put. I want to thank you for supporting SSYC during this trying time and allowing my team and I to be of service, so I created this simple tote that we are including in orders this week. Monday March 30 through Sunday, April 5 we will include one of these natural cotton totes in your package automatically before it leaves here. You don't need to add it to your cart or request it in any way. It will simply show up in your package along with your order that ships this week.

It's a nice project bag that easily holds 7 skeins, so really helpful for a sweater or smaller blanket. And the natural cotton fabric is thick enough that you can't see through it- there are seven skeins of vividly colored Vrinda Yarn inside the photographed bag, and you can't see through to them at all, right?

Tosh DK

What might you like to order to get your tote? Maybe you've been waiting for us to get more Opal mini ball sets. Or perhaps you saw yesterday's blog post about all the Tosh (shown in Tosh DK above) and now you want to start an Odyssey Shawl of your own? Or did you see how I finally finished up many toes and liked something I you saw? I've just started this plain sock with coordinating cuff/toes/heels in the Isphan color from Six and Seven Fibers. It's a gift for a friend and I loooooove it. Plus knitting for others during this time makes me feel closer to them, even though I can't see them in person.

We have a stunning amount of Hedgehog Fibres from Ireland right now (Life in the Long Grass is tricking in through Customs from Ireland too this week) with all the Spring 2020 colors I blogged about here- I'm partial to Comeback and Insomnia. We have the DRK (Drea Renee Knits) colorway shown above too. I'll have a few spring mini sets and sock sets I'll list here soon too. With all the changes in how we do things I haven't had a chance to photo them!

DRK colorway

If you want a super deal, check out the Sale Section to see what's new. We have even more of the Dream in Color 150g Colossal Sock colors coming at the end of the week to the Sale Section (unless they get held up in shipping delays- things are unpredictable right now), and Kayanna at Stitch Together sent us her Frugal Fingering skeins that are just $22 each.

Frugal Fingering in Wino Forever

If you want an addictive knit, Opal Yarn is always a fave, and West Yorkshire Spinners and Regia are really nice self patterning collections too. If you want to try a new-to-you hand dyer that is hard to find elsewhere, consider Swift Yarn, Undercover Otter, sKNITches or Walk Collection. As always, if you have questions about what to choose or want help with color combos, you can always e-mail me (Allison) at [email protected] .

Thank you for your continued orders and for sharing us with friends on social media where they can get yarn so we can all stay home and knit. It makes a big difference to us and our families and our dyers. Many dyers aren't able to send/produce during this time. Many can't even get yarn to dye. But we will continue to get what we can and continue to stay open, shipping basically one person at a time, until we are told otherwise by local government. My staff and are all happy to be able to come to work (even though it's a bit lonely sometimes alone in the early morn when I'm here, I'll admit) and get out of the house safely and be of service to others for as long as we are allowed. Since we are social distancing, you might get an e-mail returned at 6am or your shipping confirmation at 7pm, but we are making this work, spacing ourselves out, for as long as we need to. And we are grateful that we can.

If you have shopped with us for years and want to leave a message in the comment section of this post to others telling why you shop with us, that would be helpful. Perhaps there are new shoppers who haven't heard from us before and would like to know why others have supported us over the past 15 years. Honest reviews always help!

*Just a reminder that I'm committed to blogging every day during this time (instead of the typical 2-3 times a week) to connect with others. Please do comment and share with me here if you like! You'll see the typical yarn updates and shop tidbits, but likely also a bit more family and personal stuff.

Madelinetosh Yarn - Formerly Retired Colors & LOTS More

Last week I listed the huge amount of Tosh Merino Light and Tosh DK that we got in stock. I've been so busy making this whole running-a-business-during-a-pandemic going that I haven't had a chance to finish this loooooong blog post about all the amazing colors we got. So get comfy my knitters, because this post is going to be a lengthy dive into what we got from Madelinetosh and what you can knit with it. And it's totally worth it.

When Madelinetosh changed hands late in 2019, collectors were a bit frantic because we all had no idea of the new owner would keep the great things about Tosh. Which really is the price (which is 10% or more less than similar lines) the array of bases and the HUGE array of colors. It's pretty typical that we have 200+ in stock. What is changing is the price - it's going up for us starting next month (which means prices for you will soon change too) about 10% across the board. Another change? The colors. Tosh brought back oh-so-many formerly retired colors. And they are just as amazing as they were years ago because they also kept the great Texas dyeing crew and even brought back former staff to help them grow again in the right way. And it shows.

Here are just some of the formerly unavailable hues we got back in stock. All are shown on Tosh Merino Light, but also available on Tosh DK. I'll get them on Tosh Sock, Twist Light and other bases too.

Twig

Molly Ringwald

Composition Book Gray


Foxglove

Edison Bulb

Blue Nile

Georgia O'Keefe

Copper Penny

Margeaux

Seawash

Grenadine

Ruby Slippers

William Morris

Faded Parka

Cathedral

Mansfield Garden Party (YAY!)

Filigree (ALWAYS LOVE THIS ONE)

Mala

We have hundreds of colors in stock right now. It's a downright impressive array of color, really. Here's our Tosh rep Joan, posing in the front of the shop with the Tosh about a month ago. 

Rachael was not-so-patiently waiting on this shipment of Toshto knit up an Odyssey shawl recently using Tosh DK as called for in the pattern. The pattern is a gift from Joji Locatelli to anyone who wants it. A thank you, really, for all the support the knitting community has offered her over the years. If you want to knit it, please do share with us in the thread we have set up in our Ravelry group to KAL together virtually. Just a way to connect with others and share what we're knitting during this time. Share anything you want!

Rachael knit her Odyssey in Tosh DK colors Kenobi (we are low on this, so if it's gone perhaps choose Astrid Grey), Celadon and Yucca. She knit the pattern exactly as written with no modifications. The photos show it unblocked, and I'll share some blocked after she has time to do that. I really wanted to share it as soon as it was off the needles.

Want some other color ideas? When I was at the shop early yesterday morning I couldn't help but put together some colors that I liked together for this shawl. I chose colors that worked well together, but aren't SO similar (fadey) that you won't see the color changes. I really like the three thick strips of color in the shawl and the big open lace feature that separates each color. I think that's something that you want to show up well, so my choices really work with that. All are in Tosh DK like the pattern calls for (one skein each). If you want something built around another color that you like, please do feel free to e-mail me at [email protected]. Let us be your personal shoppers!

All these are shown in Tosh DK. But they would also be great in a fingering weight yarn like Tosh Merino Light in a project like 3 Color Cashmere Cowl, 3 Color Cashmere Shawl, Drachenfels, or even the adored Color Affection.

3 Color Cashmere Shawl used with permission of Joji Locatelli

Please feel free to let me know how we can serve you best during this time. We continue to ship, basically one person at a time, six days a week. We are most definitely practicing social distancing and only shipping and receiving from our shop/warehouse with no serving customers in person during this time (not even simple pickups- only shipping). We are trying our best to stay healthy and not be points of contacts for anyone local. We will continue in this fashion until local government indicates we should do otherwise or until we get sick ourselves. We are a small staff of four, so we are doing our best to keep up with everything and greatly appreciate you shopping with us during this time. The kind notes on your order are wonderful, and your e-mails make us feel really appreciated.

Starting Monday (likely lasting a week) we are giving out this free bag with your online purchase. It will automatically be included with orders that are dated march 30 and up to a week after (there will be a large banner on the homepage showing when it is available and it will disappear when they are gone). So perhaps you want to fill your cart now with goodies you want and submit the order on the 30th or shortly after so you get this cute tote. For this photo, I fit 7 skeins of yarn inside, so it's definitely large enough to hold a sweater project or a smaller blanket. It's pictured with Opal minis, Malabrigo Sock in Lotus and the addictive Uneek Sock Kits.

All the toes

Last night was the start to our weekend. What should have been spent on a long road trip to Florida with the kids, instead was spent on the couch kitchenering up all the toes that have been holding my dpns hostage for the past few months. A different experience than what we planned for our family's Spring Break, but rewarding in a knitterly way.

So while we won't be basking in the sun of Florida and digging our feet into the sand, we will have warm feet. Even Terry, whose size 13 feet finally needed some hand knit socks from me (right Laura??).

The yarns shown above from top left are Vrinda Pada Sock in Sequoia, Opal Fairytale 9790, Qing Donegal Tweed Sock in Hippienista (with random colors for toes and heels from minis I had on hand from a past sock club we did), Urth Yarn Sock Kit color 57 (and I was able to knit a huge pair of Terry's socks from one kit), another of the same Opal Fairytale sock, and Less Traveled Yarn Sport in West Fork.

This is the celebratory drink Terry made me after I was done. It was 6:48pm when I started and 8:21 when I finished. So give or take a few pauses, that's not a bad way to spend an hour and a half.

 

As you can see above, Terry and I are already wearing our socks around the house. It's such a treat to have new, brightly colored socks right now!

How did you spend your Friday night? Any differently than you were planning before being stuck at home?

And lest you think these are all the unfinished projects I have in my home and that I've accomplished an amazing thing b/c I'm stuck at home. No. These are just the stocks that were sitting on top of my cabinet in my family room. I didn't even open up the cabinet to see what socks were in there that I could finish. And I still have projects packed in a box from our move four years ago. But it does feel darn great to have so many new things to wear, especially since I can't go to Target and buy cute things right now. I'm definitely not a monogamous knitter. And I don't feel at all bad about that! Knitting is my relaxation and my escape. It's my rule-free zone. If I want to knit it, I do. And If I don't finish it, I rarely feel bad. I've been known to give a half finished sweater to a friend when I decided I just wasn't into it.... which is probably why my friends are still trying to get me to knit sweaters. They know I'll give up half way through and gift them four skeins of Pashmina. HA!

*Just a reminder that I'm committed to blogging every day during this time (instead of the typical 2-3 times a week) to connect with others. Please do comment and share with me here if you like! You'll see the typical yarn updates and shop tidbits, but likely also a bit more family and personal stuff.

Good morning, how about a contest?

It's been a bit since we've had a blog contest, right? I love that many of our dyers are still able to send us our orders right now and that we still have new stuff to share. And perhaps you need something new to inspired you.... and we have that! Two weeks ago we received enough Madelinetosh that now we've NEVER had so much TML and Tosh DK (including formerly retired colors they dyed for us), then Kayanna made us a stunning batch of Frugal Fingering for just $22 a skein, and Rachel at Six and Seven sent us a batch and we even have more coming soon.

Want to win a $100 gift certificate to the shop to get something new? I'm giving away TWO $100 gift certificates to the shop! To enter, leave me a comment below- I don't even care what the comment is, I just want to connect with you! Perhaps tell me what a typical day is like for you or how you're faring having the kids home (possibly for the next 6 months), link a meal you've made that you really enjoy, how you're keeping active without a gym or sports, how long it's been since you've been to a grocery or had a delivery (8 days and counting for us) what knitting pattern you find totally addictive, what yarn you found with us that you now can't live without.... just leave me any comment at all before the month ends at midnight EST March 31. I'll choose two winners and post then here and notify via e-mail.

 

This is me and my fam- last summer, when it was warm and we could be out in public around people. After two weeks of sequestering ourselves, we are really looking forward being in that public park again. While you can't tell, we were surrounded by at least 80 other people getting their family photos taken too!

Thank you for your continued orders and for sharing us with friends on social media. It makes a big difference to us and our families and our dyers. Many dyers aren't able to send/produce during this time. Many can't even get yarn to dye. But we will continue to get what we can and continue to stay open, shipping basically one person at a time, until we are told otherwise or health concerns of our own force a closure. My staff and are all happy to be able to come to work (even though it's a bit lonely there sometimes alone in the early am when I'm there, I'll admit) and get out of the house safely and be of service to others for as long as we are allowed. Since we are social distancing, you might get an e-mail returned at 6am or your shipping confirmation at 7pm, but we are making this work, spacing ourselves out, for as long as we need to. And we are grateful that we can.

*Just a reminder that I'm committed to blogging every day during this time (instead of the typical 2-3 times a week) to connect with others. Please do comment and share with me here if you like! You'll see the typical yarn updates and shop tidbits, but likely also a bit more family and personal stuff.

Stitch Together Studios - Frugal Fingering

I have for you a stunning deal, my shut in friends! Kayanna at Stitch Together Studios has sourced this really soft 490 yard skein of fingering weight superwash merino, is dyeing it in just her tonals (and a couple of the not-seven step dye process variegated colors she does) and is able to sell them for much to us for much less than you'd normally see her yarn. For just $22 a skein, you can knit a gorgeous skein of Frugal Fingering!

Color is Knitting with a Chance of Wine on Frugal. I also have it on Swanky and Singles.

I'm unsure how long she will be offering this. I'm assuming as long as she can get the yarn at this price from the mill and as long as she has time to offer such a deal. But I'll take it! Because, dang, she dyes the most dynamic tonals.

Color is Double Click on Frugal Fingering. Also available on Stitch Smooth, Singles and Swanky.

If you want her more variegated hues, those are available on Stitch Smooth, Stitch Singles, and Stitch Swanky. Some of her colors require such a labor intensive layering process (say that four times quick!) to achieve that they aren't available on Frugal Fingering. But if you want expert coloration for a heck of a deal, get some now. I've already grabbed two skeins for myself but I haven't decided what I want to knit yet. I'm stuck right now on super easy patterns like Sockhead Cowl and plain socks. But I really think this yarn would excel in Stalagmite Socks, or the Hedera Socks. I knit these Hedera's like 14 years ago and it's a wonderful and free pattern to show off your tonal sock yarn.

Yarn on this sock is Fleece Artist Merino Sock in Ruby Red, and yes we still offer this color 14 years later! It's popular and awesome!

And now I want to cast on the Hedera again. DANG IT! Rabbit hole!

I hope this day finds you all well. Yesterday we all finally had a chance to enjoy the outside for more than a quick walk. It was more like four hours! It was nearly 60 degrees here in NE Indiana and it could be similar again today before the rain starts. On a day like this (if we weren't staying at home) we would usually take the kids to a park and get ice cream after. Instead we took a long walk, the kids built a little damn of rocks in a tiny creek close by, and then we got out the basketball hoop and played some ball. I'm learning to really enjoy this change and extra time with the kids (24 hours a day with them is quite a change). At first, they were adjusting too, but now after nearly two weeks of this we have settled into a new normal and it's less stressful and more joyful. It reminds me of having a baby- when you get used to a stage and then you think "I've got this! I can do this" and then the baby changes and, for example, has acid reflux and cries all the time and then you have to adjust. I know this won't stay the same and I'll just need to keep adjusting to how things are, but I'm a bit more confident that I can do it for months as needed.

How are you doing? Are you healthy? It's the start of allergy season for a lot of us, so the sniffles are for real right now. Pollen is not our friend here in NE Indiana. Next week everything will be covered in a dusty layer of green.

*Just a reminder that I'm committed to blogging every day during this time (instead of the typical 2-3 times a week) to connect with others. Please do comment and share with me here if you like! You'll see the typical yarn updates and shop tidbits, but likely also a bit more family and personal stuff.

Coming soon!

I wanted to give you a heads up that next week, if all goes as planned, we have a really cool free project bag we're offering with your online purchase.

My plan is to offer this starting on Monday, so if you were going to place an order soon, perhaps you want to wait until then to do so. Or perhaps you'd like to place it now just in case something happens and we have to close and you really really want some yarn before then. Right now, we qualify to stay open as we are healthy and practice social distancing (pretty extreme- usually just one of us on site at a time) and simply operate as a warehouse/fulfillment center. But you never know what's going to happen right? Uncertain times, that's for sure.

But I wanted to let you know that we're giving out these project bags just in case you wanted to plan for it. They are pretty great too- a nice natural cotton drawstring bag and a size that accommodates a sweater project.

We continue to fill orders placed online and we seem to be able to keep up pretty well, even though we are mostly there just one person at a time. We are still shipping six days a week, but we don't offer in store pickup anymore or anything at all from person to person (only from us to commercial couriers). We are strictly a shipping warehouse now until we are told we can do more again.

Thank you SO MUCH for your continued orders. If any crafter in your life/on Facebook/Ravelry wants to know where to get yarn right now because their LYS or craft shop isn't open, please send them our way. We would love to be able to service people right now and keep ourselves and our dyers busy and getting paid. We aren't looking to replace your LYS, if you have a place that you patronize locally. We simply want to be of service while we can be. We will close if we are unhealthy or if we no longer qualify to operate.

*Just a reminder that I'm committed to blogging every day during this time (instead of the typical 2-3 times a week) to connect with others. Please do comment and share with me here if you like! You'll see the typical yarn updates and shop tidbits, but likely also a bit more family and personal stuff.

Ask the Knitters

Dear Knitters,

Well, we are in a bit of a state here, aren't we? I'm semi-retired and had a nice amount of craft time anyway, but now I find myself stuck at home as PA has to shelter-in-place. SSYC just sent me some Tosh, so I now have more stash to keep me busy. Now I would like to know what fellow-knitters' favorite free patterns on Ravelry are. Any weight is fine with me since I have a variety stashed.

Allison, can you ask your readers to share links to their favorite patterns on Ravelry, please? And please do give links only for free ones as I'm a bit tight on the budget right now and would prefer to look at ones with no cost.

*                         *                                *  

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 [email protected] . Your question could be chosen for this series.

 

*Just a reminder that I'm committed to blogging every day during this time (instead of the typical 2-3 times a week) to connect with others. Please do comment and share with me here if you like! You'll see the typical yarn updates and shop tidbits, but likely also a bit more family and personal stuff.

Six and Seven Fibers

I have for you new colors from a wonderful dyer today, Rachel of Six and Seven Fibers! Rachael's colors are earthy and romantic and you can tell that a lot of thought goes into the color story of each colorway. Layers and layers of hues give us final skeins that are interesting and still wearable. No highlighter colors here. Instead we get colors that seem right out of a Monet painting.

 

When photographing yarn, it's so easy to see how they work together. It's one of the joys of my job. I love how these seven skeins fade together. All shown on Barley Singles but also available on Alfalfa Merino/Cash/Nylon; Silver Pen, Matthew and Marilla, Artemisia, Elridge, Frost, Tender and Page Turner. If you want a three or four skein fade, it's easy to also just choose that many skeins from this combination to create your own.

If you're looking for more blues and pinks, perhaps this five skein fade does the trick. Shown in Barley Singles and also available in on Alfalfa MCN are Juniper, Arctic, Blossom, Yours Truly and Midnight.

This is the pattern for the above sampler

Harry Potter Cowl Pattern

Do you love a good mini skein set? Then you might like one of her Harry Potter or Anne of Green Gables 10-mini-skein collections. I knit up the Harry Potter one last year, but I'd say that the Ann set is much more popular. We also have the colors in full sized skeins of Barley and Alfalfa if you want full sized skeins too. As I was knitting my minis I found myself falling in love with the color so much that I wanted to stash a full sized skein for later.

If you want to get to know Rachel of S&S better, she is active on Instagram and even has been taking people on her daily walks with her in her stories (when you click on the circle picture of her). You don't have to have an Instagram account to see what people are doing (if their accounts are public like mine and hers).

I hope that you're all doing well in your place in the world right now. We are all doing our best to keep to ourselves, in our homes, and do our part in keeping this pandemic under control as much as possible. Right now, there isn't a whole lot we can control. We have to trust. We have to trust people around us that they are doing their part as best they can within the limits of their lives. We have to allow people grace. We have to understand that we do not know what someone else's life is like or what their trials are in all this. It's none of my business how someone else lives their life and what they are doing to survive, other than me offering to be of service to them if needed. When I have a hard time with the things I can't control I take a moment and close my eyes and breathe. I simply feel the air filling my lungs and listen to the sound it makes as it escapes. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it does not. And then I just pick up my knitting and a hot cup of coffee (making sure the news is off!) and enjoy my stitches, knowing that this too shall pass.

 

My Sunday

My Sundays are usually pretty darn predictable. Sleep in. Wake to find the kids watching 'toons on the couch. Drink one cup of caffeinated coffee and then several decaf. Then make a big breakfast. It's often these pancakes with fruit and turkey bacon. Sometimes it's this sausage gravy over these biscuits and eggs over medium. Sometimes it's egg tacos. Then we hang out until afternoon and go to the Y to play volleyball. Then we go to dinner all sweaty and tired, and then we go home and relax before bed. Sometimes there is knitting at a local coffee shop with my friends before the big brunch.

Nothing was predictable this week. Every day is different than usual. While we have had a lot of really good time together as a family, we haven't got to do any of the things that are part of our routine and it's quite disconcerting. But we are all healthy and the kids are darned happy as their Spring Break has officially started and so they don't have to do any of their pesky e-learning.

Some of the new yarn that arrived from Six and Seven Fibrers. Details Monday.

Our dyers have been sending us yarn, so this week I'll have some awesome stuff to share with you! I love that you are shopping and keeping us busy and keeping our dyers busy and allowing us to support our artisans. We will continue to fill orders as long as local government allows and as long as we are healthy. We are still going in at odd hours so we can care for our families who are home from school and daycare (though at least May or perhaps not going back at all until next school year) and also so that we stagger our time together and are mostly working one person at a time. Social distancing is the key to all this, people, and we at SSYC are definitely on board with it.

7 year old Henry has been living his best life. Lifting weights with Terry, ping pong battles, building forts to color in, pajamas, Picard on CBS All Access (that he slept through), and the the discovery that he likes kale chips so much that they never make it off the baking pan. My hope for myself this coming week is that a bit of the gray cloud lifts and I take on more of his excitement and wonder at being home and enjoying the odd change in pace. We have many more weeks/months of this and I hope to soon settle more into this new normal. See you tomorrow, friends!

*Just a reminder that I'm committed to blogging every day during this time (instead of the typical 2-3 times a week) to connect with others. Please do comment and share with me here if you like! You'll see the typical yarn updates and shop tidbits, but likely also a bit more family and personal stuff.

For laughs

Want a laugh or two? I've posted 10 memes about this situation that gave me a giggle. Especially one and ten. Scroll through and let me know which ones you like best, or type out your own in the comments. We could all use more laughs!

All's good here. It's a Saturday and since October, Terry and I have been coaching our boys' volleyball and basketball teams at the Y. As of last Saturday that was canceled and since it was also the last day the shop was open to the public (we will still ship to you as long as possible), we now have our weekends "free." Which basically means that the kids are watching too much Disney + (which I subscribed to for just this month. REALLY.) and eating everything in sight. I can't believe how much more I'm spending in groceries now that the kids are eating every single meal at home, instead of one at school every day and twice-weekly nights at restaurants or pizza.

How are you making it through this social distancing time? Do you have any tips to share? Or things you're splurging on to make you feel good? Please tell me it's yarn! I recently got a delivery of these soaps. I figure if I'm washing my hands so much I might as well make it seem special. I got the 6/$26 deal and now many hands smell like eucalyptus and spearmint.

*Just a reminder that I'm committed to blogging every day during this time (instead of the typical 2-3 times a week) to connect with others. Please do comment and share with me here if you like! You'll see the typical yarn updates and shop tidbits, but likely also a bit more family and personal stuff.

Man oh man.

Who all has had a tough time this week? Whether you're sick or healthy, working or overworking, trying to teach your kids or caring for a loved one, I'm betting you're having a rough go. Maybe you're like me and you're not exactly sure what is giving you the sleepless nights and the sour stomach. I think it's just all the stuff.

What has been the most frustrating part of your week? For me, I can't pinpoint just one thing, though the general black cloud I can't seem to see around or through could be that one thing. It's more of all the change. All the things put together than just seem like too much.

Please tell me I'm not alone in this. That you all have your woes too, whether you consider them trivial or life altering. Please feel free to share and commiserate or, better yet, tell me you're loving this time at home with your family. Perhaps you've had a rough year and this is a much needed break for you. And also feel free to remind me why we are all doing this. Say whatever you want. Give me something else to think about.

How are you coping with the change? Are you knitting more? I am. I've also been cooking every night. I made these biscuits an hour ago for breakfast. I keep buttermilk on hand now pretty much for biscuits and pancakes. And last night I made kale chips, turkey tacos, stuffed peppers and this pudding but added a pinch of cinnamon and cayenne. We aren't going hungry here, that's one thing to be thankful for.

This is Henry, the littlest and cuddliest and whiniest of my boys... In his PJ's yesterday still at 1pm holding my Sockhead Cowl in this yarn. He has been wearing pajamas for a week now. As have I.

*Just a reminder that I'm committed to blogging every day during this time (instead of the typical 2-3 times a week) to connect with others. Please do comment and share with me here if you like! You'll see the typical yarn updates and shop tidbits, but likely also a bit more family and personal stuff.

Spring Songbird Knit Kit now available + New Hedgehog Fibres Colors!

Now's your chance to get our Spring Songbird Knit Kit!

I decided to release this a week earlier than I originally intended because I think we all need a bit of spring color and hope in our lives, right? Not that being stuck in our homes, likely our favorite places, is heartbreaking or anything. But it is hard to be disconnected from people, to disrupt our work and life schedules, and to withdraw ourselves. But we are doing it for the right reasons and in the scheme of things it's a small amount of time and a big impact.

And I don't know about you, but I don't want to eat or drink more while I'm sequestered and come out of this less healthy and happy, so I'm going to sooth myself with more yarn. Not only does it feel good to open a package (after I've let it sit untouched for a day and then wiped it down- I'm a little bit over cautious) but knitting keeps my mind busy in the evening when I finally have a chance to relax. And it keeps me from mindlessly noshing on pretzels or Combos.

If you want a burst of color in your life, get yours now. Our Knit Kits tend to sell out fast, so please don't hesitate to order if you want one. The bag is a totally amazing linen canvas medium wedge bag from DnA Designs and it fits a 3 skein project. The skein is from Knitterly Things and not only is speckled to look like the little Cadbury Mini Eggs in the picture, but also stripes! And the markers were hand made and super adorable.

If you want to add more items to your cart (it's too busy to combine multiple orders on kit days, so please add it all in one cart, or you'll get several packages/shipping fees) to get free US shipping, you might want to add some of the Madelinetosh that we have (dozens of formerly retired colors on TML and Tosh DK that I'll blog about soon). If you've been itching to knit the Farm Twist sweater from Joji, we have oh-so-many colors in Tosh DK you can get for yours. Shown here are Grenadine, Mercantile, Silver Leaf, rain Water and Jasper.

Or get the new colors of Hedgehog Fibres! My color faves from the new batch are Insomnia and Comeback, shown below on Sock with all of the newbies. 

These pictures were all provided by Hedgehog Fibres, so they are just slightly different from the ones you'll see on our website today since I photo new batches of yarn so that it best represents what our lot actually looks like. Plus dyers sometimes add filters or exposure tricks to give the pictures a certain "look" that is more for marketing than actual color comparison. And I want you to get your yarn and think, "yes, this is what I expected" instead of "huh. not exactly what I was picturing."

If you hover over the picture with your cursor you'll see what the color name is. All on Sock.

I have these for you on Sock, Skinny Singles and Merino DK (it may take until later today for the DK to trickle up).

I hope you find something that brings you some light and lifts your spirit. It's so easy to get down when your life changes so much. But this self-imposed break has an end. And we are practicing social distancing for the right reasons. And it really is the most effective way to keep us all safe and protect those people who could get really sick if exposed to the virus.

For those who are wondering, we will continue working and shipping as long as we can at SSYC (not open to the public, obviously). We are all healthy and happy to be able to get out of the house and come to work, even if we are basically doing it one at a time and staying away from each other. We will continue to work odd hours- sometimes really early in the morning or later in the evening so that we can care for our kids who are home from school during the day. And also so that we aren't all in the building at the same time. There are only four of us anyway, but we are pretty much just one or two of us together at a time, usually just one of us. So we greatly appreciate your patience with us as we aren't really able to ship the same day as usual, but still within a couple days of your order being placed.

*Just a reminder that I'm committed to blogging every day during this time (instead of the typical 2-3 times a week) to connect with others. Please do comment and share with me here if you like! You'll see the typical yarn updates and shop tidbits, but likely also a bit more family and personal stuff.

SSYC's Spring Knit Kit, a Preview

We have decided to release our Spring Knit Kit a week early so that you call can get it in your hands and have something colorful and lovely to knit while you're stuck at home. Who doesn't love colorful stripes and speckles all in one sock??

So tomorrow in the Kits & Clubs section (Thursday), we will have for sale our Spring Songbird Knit Kit which includes a hand dyed striping skein from Knitterly Things, a linen canvas bag from DnA Designs, hand made stitch markers and some tasty Cadbury Mini Eggs. The price is around $65, which is a deal for such a durable hand made bag, a skein of striping yarn, hand made markers and a treat.

First, the yarn. Julia made this striping Songbird skein in the colors of Cadbury Mini Eggs, and even speckled the skein with chocolate brown to look just like the treats. Isn't that cool? 

Angie made this really awesome linen canvas bag to go with. It's neutral in color so it can be used year round and has a chevron interior (I'll show you that tomorrow). And it's made of soft and sturdy linen canvas fabric. It easily holds a 3 skein project.

And man oh man, look at these adorable stitch markers! Aren't they perfect? You get four- one of each. 

Our Knit Kits typically go up for sale mid-morning EST and sell out the same day. If you happen to miss out, we have awesome things planned for the summer too, to celebrate our 15th anniversary.

Want to get your cart ready early to qualify for free US shipping? We've NEVER had as much Madelinetosh as we do today. We even have colors that were retired 6 years ago and are back! I hope to blog tomorrow about that (meant to today, but unsure if I'll have time to blog twice). PLUS we have all the new colors from Hedgehog Fibres. Here are a few. These aren't on the website yet, as they just got here, but they could start to trickle up later today and tomorrow morning. These photos were provided by Hedgehog Fibres, so may look a bit different from the ones you see on our own website later, as we take our own photos with each lot so that you have a more true representation of what you're actually getting.

*Just a reminder that I'm committed to blogging every day during this time (instead of the typical 2-3 times a week) to connect with others. Please do comment and share with me here if you like! You'll see the typical yarn updates and shop tidbits, but likely also a bit more family and personal stuff.

How we are changing to serve you during this time

As public health needs change over the next month or so, obviously our roles in work will change or even halt if needed. But for now, here is what we are doing at Simply Socks Yarn Company so that we can continue being of service.

We are not open to the public right now, but we are continuing to ship online orders days a week. While you can still order online if you are local and pick up at 11am at our shipping doors by knocking loudly (make sure you put a note on your order and we may e-mail if we cannot be there at 11am that day), we are not open to in-person shoppers. The reasons for this are 1) Because the CDC says that the fewer points of contact we have, the slower illness will spread and the more equipped our country's medical system will be to deal with those who need help. You know, flatten the curve and all that. 2) Because we don't want to get ill ourselves. I'm speaking for me and Heather and Lauren and Rachael and our families. We want to stay healthy and we don't want to get ill or at least postpone illness as long as possible.

Our local government is currently encouraging online shopping, so we are going to continue shipping to you as long as we can. We will stop shipping if local government indicates that we should or if we get sick. We will continue to monitor our own health (I'm taking my temp every day, for example, and have no symptoms) and will continue to do so. We are shipping in wipe-able poly bags for the most part, we are washing our hands way too much, and sanitizing surfaces that we are all using.

While we often ship out orders the same day, this is likely not to happen at this time. Please give us a day or two more than usual. Three of the four of us have little ones in our life and schools and day cares have all been closed. So we are caring for our families during most of the days, while also juggling e-learning. So you might see that your order has shipped (by your tracking e-mail) at 8 or 9pm. Or you might get a response from me via e-mail at 6:30am. Basically, we will all be working odd hours for now.

If you have questions, e-mail is always the best at [email protected]. I've never been great at answering calls (I'm either on the phone a lot or away getting stuff done), but I do return voicemails. But that won't happen quickly during this time, as I'm pulled in many directions. So please do e-mail questions. We are really good at helping you choose colors via e-mail. And it's fun.

Yes, this is a bit hectic. Yes, it's complicated. But we are doing this b/c we need to. We need to keep business going as usual to pay bills. We have dozens of commitments to dyers and companies for orders and we need to be able to honor those. And we want to continue ordering from our dyers and companies so they can pay their bills and take care of their families. Now more so than ever. We need to supply our community with some sort of normalcy during this time. And we can. We are healthy and able and we will continue serving and doing our part. 

How can you help? Continue placing orders online with us. Share us with others who might not be able to get to their LYS this month. Use social media like Instagram and Ravelry to connect with others. Encourage dyers and designers on Instagram and Ravelry to continue making and producing. If you know of a dyer who needs help, send them my way. We are always looking for new dyers and artisans to work with. And please know that we are continuing to do our best with as much info as we have. As things change, I'll let you know here on the blog. But we are here and working and are happy to do so for as long as we can.

On tomorrow's blog, I'm betting you'll see a lot of Madelinetosh. Because OMG we got so much in. And dozens of formerly retired colors too that the new owner brought back. She also brought back former staff to make the place even better. I'm literally giddy over this growth and fine-tuning at Tosh! 

Our Tosh rep, Joan, standing in all the yarn she's sold us.... and this isn't even close to all of it.

*Just a reminder that I'm committed to blogging every day during this time (instead of the typical 2-3 times a week) to connect with others. Please do comment and share with me here if you like! You'll see the typical yarn updates and shop tidbits, but likely also a bit more family and personal stuff.

Blogging every day.... let's all connect virtually!

Well, this progressed quickly, didn't it? Last Monday, life as usual. Today my family and I are social distancing with kids home from school for the next month and life as we know it has changed drastically. But this is what we do. We want to slow that curve and do what we can to protect the people close to us and make sure they have a doctor and hospital bed when they need one.  I want my mom and others to have a ventilator if they need one, so my healthy family and I are going to sit here on the couch alone like champs and do our (lazy) part! This is us, during an easier and sunnier time- we look a bit more frazzled today.

After just one weekend of canceled plans and sequestering ourselves in our home, I'm already feeling the need for connection and community. This weekend my kids didn't have sports, my volleyball was canceled, no knitting group on Sunday, and we had our last shop-open day for the yarn shop for awhile - details on tomorrow's blog on how we're changing what we're doing to better serve you during this time. Basically, we will continue to ship online orders as long as possible, but no in-person shopping in the storefront. We've made some really smart changes to make this work at SSYC.

Henry and James, both taking some time to enjoy yarn. James has been knitting every day and Henry takes my perfectly nice yarn cakes and hand winds them into little balls.

To give us more of the connection we all need, and to save my sanity (as I child wrangle, teach them during the day, and ALSO try to work a full day), I'm committed to blogging every day. Even weekends. I think this will better help me share how I'm feeling, help me feel more connected to adults, and take the place (virtually) of the connection I'm missing with local friends, older family I can't see, all of you on shop open days, moms of my kids' friends... basically all those connections that create the web that is my life. It's all gone for now, or at least so changed that I need something to replace it. So I'm hoping to connect with you each day. Please do comment- tell me how you're doing. Share tips. Tell me a funny story. Whatever you can do to offer levity to me and others in this time. Also, I do want to know how you're doing. If someone in your life is having a hard time, is sick, or if you need assistance- please do tell me at [email protected]. I, Allison, am the only one who checks that e-mail, so if you want to give me an update on something that's personal or something that you think isn't appropriate to share on a public blog, please do e-mail me. I've known and corresponded with some of you for a decade or more and I want to know that you're okay. And that your mom that you buy knit kits for is healthy. And that your daughter and her new baby got the care they needed in the overwhelmed hospital. 

On tomorrow's blog I'm going to share how we are making things work in the shop so that we can continue shipping things to you as long as possible. I know that many of you have an LYS that you also shop at regularly too, and I have a few ideas on how to help them during this time too. I'll share that shortly as well.

Still life from the shop.... a little sneak peak of next weeks bag and markers for the Easter Kit

For today, please know that I'm very grateful for everyone who is doing their part to protect my family and friends who are more susceptible to this that I am. THANK YOU for staying in, for making as few physical connections as possible so that fewer people are infected and those who are will have medical care when needed. For slowing the curve of this pandemic so that the people I love have hospital beds and ventilators when they need them. As knitters and crocheters, we are more suited to sit and stitch and already have the tools we need to stay calm and carry on. As I've said to my kids twice this morning already, "Remember, you need to show more grace and be of service to others." What's your motto today?

Free Stitch Markers w/ Purchase Thru Friday

Hi all- originally the free promo was for orders through Friday but we have extended it through Sunday because so many of you want to place an order this weekend so you can get it and stay home and knit. So where you see Friday in this post, it has changed to Sunday. All orders made online through Sunday will get the free gift.

Spring has finally sprung here in the Midwest and I'm in the mood to celebrate! Place an order Tuesday thru Friday this week as we are giving you a free set of stitch markers with each online purchase at Simply Socks Yarn Company! We have given these stitch markers away twice before, and they were so popular and loved that we ordered more from Katrinkles and decided to give them away as a spring treat. The little ruler is great as a stitch marker and gauge of how many stitches per inch you're getting. And it's just plain adorable!

What do you have to do to get your little package of a 1" ruler stitch marker and locking markers? Just place an order online now through Friday, March 13 and we will automatically tuck a set into your package before it ships out. It's just a token of our appreciation of you and the wonderful 2020 you've given us so far. As we head toward our summer-long 15th Anniversary Celebration, I look forward to showing my appreciation in a multitude of ways. You can always keep up on our special offerings here on the blog, so consider bookmarking it.

What might you like to purchase to get your markers? I just released some awesome things from Hedgehog Fibres, including the St Patrick's Day Sock Sets and two Martch mini skein sets.

We even have more of the amazing one-of-a-kind five skein fade sets.

Do you love a great self-striping yarn? I'm knitting TWO different projects in Urth Yarn right now in sock color 57 and Fingering color 3018.

Cascade Yarns has released their new Heritage Prints colors and they are super nice- colorful, machine washable and just $13 each.

If you love Malabrigo, we have a fresh restock of all our bases so you can celebrate Malabrigo March!

Thursday our sign up period ends for our Sock Yarn Club. This is our 23rd club, and we're giving the dyers complete free reign to choose their inspiration in this Artist Series. If you want something unique each month along with special treats and tools that fit each month's artist theme, please do join us!

St Patrick's themed Sock Sets

I have two really cool sock sets to share with you today from Hedgehog Fibres! Take a look at the Lucky Stitcher Sock Set...

...and the Emerald Isle Sock Set.

Lucky Knitter is a full sized skein of Dew with a limited edition coordinating mini skein. Emerald Isle is a full sized skein of Cedar with a limited edition coordinating mini skein. Both feature those nuanced teal/aquas that are so popular right now. And look at the ways the colors pop on these minis! Gah! I love them so much!

I may have to do a few more of these for spring/Easter. The idea of a muted tonal skein with a pop of a mini just speaks to me, much like a pastel skein with tweed does. 

If you'd like to wait until tomorrow to order, we're giving away these stitch markers with purchase Tuesday thru Friday. Or if you can't wait to order for another 6 hours, just put a note on your order asking for the markers and we'll tuck them in your package anyway.

Hedgehog Fibres, Limited Edition Mini Skein Fades

If you looked at the shop yesterday (or read the e-newsletter) you may have seen something super that I added to the shop. Limited edition mini skein fades from Hedgehog Fibres!

I've been loving the idea of mini skein fades lately to make all the cool sock patterns that use them. But I also just like the idea of taking a simple pattern like a Sockhead Cowl or hat and knitting it as a fade instead of one color.

Want other pattern ideas? Try Fade X Socks or Fluorite Socks too.

So for the next few months I will have two fade sets a month using potluck (one-off) mini skeins from Hedgehog Fibres. You'll find them at the Kits & Clubs link. The first ones, shown here are timely- at top March Greens, which celebrates St Pat's and March Sunrise which to me signifies the start of spring- when the sun comes up late enough that we actually see it, and the sunrises make me wish for the warm weather that's soon to come.

I also think these are a great way for everyone to be able to "splurge" on a fade. Instead of paying $150 for a five skein set of yarn, you're doing minis and still get a taste of something really special. Right now the price is $45 for the five mini skeins, which is below retail for Hedgehog mini skeins. The price may go up as the season progresses and exchange rate keeps increasing.

I hope you find something you can't live without in the coming months. We have some really neat color palettes coming your way. And I hope to be able to share the new Spring hues from Hedgehog Fibres very soon too. I've been keeping them quiet for about 2 weeks now but I hope that I get approval to share them in a few days.

Urth Yarns, Uneek Sock- and a contest!

We've added a new line to the shop! I'm really excited about this one because you all know I love a good striping yarn. And Urth Yarns does striping SO WELL.

Color 51

I mean, look at all these colors in their Sock Kits! I love how they look like you're using two gradient balls of yarn and striping them together every inch or so. It's like they did all the work for me!

Color 60

For the Sock Kits, they come as two matching 50g center pull cakes of yarn. So you get two matching socks!

And I've already finished one SIZE 13 sock (and half of the second sock) in color 57 above and I still had yarn left over. Now, only about 10 yards, but still. I was able to knit a 6.5 inch leg and a size 13 foot (using a US 1.5 for the leg and a US 1 for the foot) and had enough yarn to make a gorgeous project.

In addition to the Sock Kits, we also have full sized skeins of Uneek fingering weight like shown above. Now I just have to figure out what I want to knit next. Another pair of socks? Or perhaps a stripey Sockhead Cowl in one of these that have a more random striped look to them. 

Urth has provided pictures of how their stripes knit up, which is super awesome. But do keep in mind that the pictures of the actual balls and skeins are the ones that I take myself and are accurate to the coloration. Afterall, these are hand dyed and there can be differences between batches (which is why I always take fresh pics when needed). But the knit up sample photos don't change, so those are more to show you how the yarn knits up pattern wise, not for exact tint. Make sense?

Want to knit a nice stripey cowl along with me? I'm giving away a skein of Urth Fingering to one lucky winner (check Instagram and Facebook for another chance to win). All you have to do is tell me in the comments below what color you'd choose. One comment please, by noon EST this Sunday March 15.