Simply Socks Yarn Co. Blog

Wonderland Yarns - Skeins, Minis & Blossoms Galore!

First off, if you want free stitch markers with your purchase I do think I have enough to make it to orders through Friday. But if you see the above ad on the homepage of our website go away on Thursday or something, then they are gone. Please do place your order online this week and we'll automatically include a few set of mitten/hat/locking markers in your parcel before it leaves here. These are hand made and super useful! Keep scrolling down here through the blog for more ideas of what you might like to purchase.

We have just received the most epic batch of goodies from Wonderland Yarn. It's like four times the size of our typical orders from them, and after I saw it all I still wanted to order more. The colors are that amazing.

First off, we have Blossoms which are 4 ounce skeins of gradient and they are amazing. I can't stress enough how gorgeous these are. You can use them for socks (they are superwash merino/nylon) if you would like two fraternal twins instead of identical ones, since the second sock would start in the gradient progression where you ended the last one. Many people love that effect in socks. But if you don't, and you want to use it for one big project, just pick a shawl like Reyna and create a larger mastepiece of gradually changing colors. Please share in the comments if there's a pattern you love for gradient colors- you all always have such great ideas!

Then we have a full restock plus dozens of new colors of of Cheshire Cat (100% superwash merino) skeins and Mary Ann (merino/nylon), Cheshire Cat mini sets and OH MY GOSH these colors all look so good together that I couldn't stop putting together color combos. Here are just a few that I loved. All on Cheshire Cat.

Ink, Peaceberry, Nonsensical Narrative & Phosphorus

Little Crab, First Edition, Phosphorus & Globe of Goldfish. All on Cheshire Cat.

Mustard Mine, Nest of Gladness, Feather & Preponderance on Cheshire Cat

Goats Beard, Peaceberry (Piece of Rudeness would be great too), Charismatic Character & Phantomwise (Raven would be striking as well). You can use the compare feature under each item on our website to compare them together yourself too.

It could be another day before all the Mary Ann is up on the website b/c there is just SO MUCH of all of this. So if you prefer a little nylon in your skein, then check that out tomorrow. You might consider using one of these combos for Casapinkas new KAL. Her group is here if it's of interest. 

Free Stitch Markers w/ Purchase!

We're celebrating the Thanksgiving weekend this year with free gifts! Today (Saturday, Nov 28) through at least Wednesday we are giving you these adorable stitch markers free with your purchase!  Just place your order online as usual and we'll automatically tuck a set in your parcel before it leaves here. While we can't celebrate Small Business Saturday in person this year, we do greatly appreciate that you have joined us online throughout this year so that we can keep you knitting. Thank you for keeping us going into our 15th year of serving you!

What might you want to have us send you so you can get your adorable mitten and hat stitch markers? We have two holiday knit mugs from Charan Sachar! These hand made, 20 ounce mugs are a fave here and at fiber fairs and festivals where you might be lucky enough to see Charan's work. Of course, 2020 wasn't the year for those large gatherings, so you can only get them online.

We have a huge amount of yarn in our Sale Section today, including over 100 colors of worsted weight Madelinetosh Vintage at $10 off. Take a look and I'm sure you'll find something you need for your winter sweaters or accessories. I plan on blogging this week about color combos, and you're always welcome to e-mail me, Allison, at service@simplysockyarn.com if you want to make sure your selections work well together for your chosen pattern before you buy. Of course, this stuff does sell out fast sometimes, so if you really want some of our sale goodies, please do just go ahead with your purchase.

We also have a wonderful restock of Malabrigo including our gorgeous green exclusvie holiday color, Las Fiestas, on Rios and Sock. I'm knitting a hat in the Rios right now and it's just the perfect green.

Want more holiday inspiration? How about making a cowl or a scarf or two for your loved ones out of our exclusive stripe from Urth Yarns? I made this cowl and love it. Pattern details are at this previous post. We have the same holiday stripe, number 25, on Sock too.

Want to make the new Nest & Burrow Cowl on Ravelry? It calls for three colors of Smooshy with Cashmere and this pattern.  Here are a few combos I like. Browns & Teals, Bold Fiesta Combo, Pinks Galore, and Cool Beauty. Use the compare feature on our website to come up with your own special combo and if you don't see the colors you want, I also have Smooshy which doesn't have cashmere but is still wonderfully soft for a cowl.

We have some cool tools that you might like for yourself or the knitter you love. Find the right pom pom, get a Sock Ruler or a sock darning loom, or some yarn cozies. And if you don't have one of our leather shawl cuffs yet, they really are the way to keep your shawl in place.

And if you haven't yet tried the gorgeous skeins from Vrinda Yarn, I have it now in Pada Sock, Asana Sport and Shakti DK. This Uruguayan milled yarn uses the opposing ply method to give it an almost hand spun, barber pole look. It's gorgeous stuff. I've caked up a Grindylow on Sport already.

Tomorrow is Small Business Saturday at SSYC!

It's been eight months now since Simply Socks Yarn Company has not been able to be open to the public and have moved fully online with shipping. We all still have jobs, we are all safe, and we are able to support knitters and crocheters as best as we can so that we can all stay home and knit. And we are extremely grateful to be able to do so. We are not celebrating with you in person like last year, but this year we are still bringing you a bit of a party online with some super cute things, great deals and gifts with purchase. What will we have for you tomorrow?

Dream in Color has created these two limited edition kits for local yarn shops and they are adorable. You'll find them at the Kits & Clubs link while we have them. Each comes with a hand made bag, a full size and two half skeins of Smooshy with Cashmere a stitch marker and the pattern code for the Nest and Burrow cowl on Ravelry. The yarn alone for this kit would retail at $68, but you're getting a bag, a pattern and stitch marker too for just $12 more.

For those of you who are into making all the warm and cozy knits right now, we will have a super duper deal in the Sale Section for $10 off a skein of Madelinetosh's Vintage worsted. We have had a little bit of this here to test the waters and it was so well received that we now will have a huge selection for $10 off ($18.50 instead of retail of $28.50). 

Want to know what will be listed tomorrow (likely mid-morning) so that you can plan your projects and pounce? Here are the 100+ colors we will have for you. If you want to see what these colors look like, put them in the search field on our website b/c I do believe we should have most of these on one base yarn or another from Tosh so you can get an idea of what you might like. Or go look at our Tosh DK selection or Tosh Merino Light section to see the colors and then check and see if the ones you like are listed below.

a clue board
alizarin
amber trinket
antique lace
antler
astrid grey
aura
barbara deserves better
bark
bee wax
berlin
betty draper blues
birch grey
black sea
bronze age
calligraphy
candlewick
cathedral
celadon
cenote
cherry
comp book gray
conference call
constellation
coquette deux
cousteau
crewneck
daenerys
danger will robinson
dr zhivago
el greco
electric rainbow
eleven dark
eleven light
elizabeth taylor
farmhouse white
fathom
flannel blanket
flashdance
fluoro rose
foundry
foxglove
gemini twins
georgia okeefe
glass bottom boat
gosia
great grey owl
grenadine
havana
holi festival
holi grunge
iron out the details
jade
lepidoptera
librarians dream
life on mars
madonna
magic
mandala
mansfield garden
maple leaf
margeaux
mercantile
mermaids unite
methanol blue
modern fair isle
molly ringwald
neon peach
neon red
night hawk
no farwell
nocturne
odyssey
onyx
poaline
penumbra
peppercorn
plaid planket
rain water
mocky mtn high
rosehipster
ruby slippers
rust belt
scout
seawash
new shire
smokestack optic
soot
spectrum
spicewood
sunday drive
Tiny house
translation
trip wire
thyme
wash house
well water
wetever
whiskey barrel
william morris
wildflower
wink
yucca
cardigan
spooky stars
cotton candy
texas tulips
superb
patagonia

These are the same skeins we had before that are a bit stripey in nature- one of the plies is either tighter spun than the others or has a bit of fiber in it that takes the dye differently. So you kind of notice a barberpole effect in the yarn, which I don't consider it a "second" but instead a beautiful anomaly.... a look that wasn't expected in the finished yarn, thus is a sold at a super deal. I also had this in DK and Euro Sock this summer, but that sold fast. I do believe this is the last I can get of this yarn so please don't hesitate if you do want some.

And to celebrate this unique weekend and how thankful we are for YOU during such a difficult time for all, we are giving you these stitch markers with your purchase on Small Business Saturday likely through Giving Tuesday or later. We have a finite amount and I'm sure they will last 3-4 days, but they could last a bit longer. You'll get a mitten, a hat and some locking markers as well. It's just a small token from the four of us to you. This year has been tough for all, and my staff and the dyers and companies I support are all very grateful that we are still doing what we love. That we still can support our families, have health insurance, work in environments that are safe, and feel useful and needed. We get to come in to work in a safe way, still be home with our out-of-school kids, and care for our famlies. I, for one, miss people. I miss connecting with knitting friends, school friends, and extended family and I know that this time will end and what I will have on the other side of this is that I will appreciate everyone just a bit more. 

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!!

SSYC's Charley Harper Inspired Holiday Knit Kits are Live!

We have two exclusive Holiday Knit Kits for you this morning, both inspired by the artistry of Charley Harper! Take a Look at the Tis the Season and Crimson Cardinal Knit Kits! You'll find both of these at the Kits & Clubs link until they sell out- our Knit Kits typically sell out in a half day, so please don't hesitate if you'd like one. We do have two different Holiday Knit Kits coming in December if you miss out.

 

I hope you adore one or both of these as much as I do. I love the illustrations of Charley Harper and how they are displayed in these fabrics- the geometric nature gives the bags a mod look, and our dyers did such a great job making festive skeins to go with.

And these stitch markers are just so perfectly coordinated with the fabric. I hope this photo shows off some of the detail work- like the texture in the trees, the adorable face of the cardinal and the marled look of the branch. Our artisan takes a lot of pride in her work and I just can't get enough of her craft. It makes me smile when I randomly choose one to mark my place- a special glow-in-the-dark candy cane from Halloween or a cute dog from the holidays two years ago. Hint- we are giving markers away next week. Details soon.

We also have our limited edtion Jolly Elf Sock-It Set from Dream in Color! This yarn stripes up as shown above (on a different color - the August color, but you can see the effect) in greens and pinks and melons with speckles and comes with a mini skein of emerald for toes and heels. I knit a pair of Halloween socks in this yarn and it was a supremely satisfying knit. If you want a bit of a knitting mind-vacation, I highly recommend anything self patterning or self striping. To get the stripes to show up, the circumference of the sock needs to be 64 stitches or less for this particular one.

If you want more holiday yarn, we have the Hanukkah-inspired sock kit from Urth Yarns as well as the Christmas-inspired one. These come with two matching 50g balls so you get a matching pair of socks. I knit a men's size 12-13 out of one set earlier this year in this color, so one kit is definitely enough for a large pair of socks. There's a basic sock pattern that comes with this yarn, and if you just respond to your e-mailed receipt and ask for the pattern, I'll e-mail the pattern back. Please make sure to add service@simplysockyarn.com to your contacts so you get our e-mails.

I also wanted to share that we have received the most gorgeous ever restock of Vrinda Yarn in Shakti DK and Pada Sock.

We also added their Asana Sport to our line up, and it's even more amazing than the Sock and DK b/c it uses a grade of merino that's even better than is typically used in hand dyed yarn. So you'll notice that it's even softer than you'd expect and still durable enough for socks because of the way the yarn is plied. This yarn that uses the "opposing ply" spinning method to create a more durable yarn with no nylon. One of the four singles is spun in the opposite direction so that when the four are plied together the opposing strand gets tighter. The resulting yarn is more durable and takes the dye differently, creating the subtle barber pole effect seen in the finished yarn.

I've caked up a skein of Grindylow, shown above, for myself and it could just be my Thanksgiving break project. If I get the below socks done.... which are part of one of our two remaining Holiday Knit Kits coming in December. It's a super cute set from Yarn Love and I look forward to sharing more details with you soon.

I'll continue to share awesome holiday goodies and yarn as they come in. We just received more Dream in Color Colossal Sock in the Sale Section, and we'll have a huge array of sale Vintage (worsted weight) from Madelinetosh likely on Cyber Monday. In December, also expect restocks of all the West Yorkshire Spinner holiday colors, new Opal Yarn collections, two more Holiday Knit Kits, holiday SSYC Sock Sets and more! We really are going to have a jolly holiday season here!

Oh, and look at the kit Dream in Color created to celebrate Small Business Saturday this weekend! I'll have details later this week. It includes a bag, stitch marker, pattern and the yarn for this super cute pattern.

Holiday Knit Kits, a preview

We have some lovely things to share with you next week.... two Holiday Knit Kits... inspired by modern artist Charley Harper!

I love putting these together. It's an adventure, figuring out fabrics for the bags (especially when there's a shortage during the pandemic!) deciding what dyer I'd like to use and working with that person to get things just right, and then choosing the accessories. I really have been enjoying working with our artisan who makes our stitch markers lately. She has such a good eye, and all I have to do is show her the fabric we're going with and she immediately has a dozen ideas. I think you'll agree that the markers she designed for these two kits are on point. 

The kit above is has a medium wedge sized project bag, so fits a 2-3 skein project, a skein of Knitterly Things Vesper Striping Sock Yarn and three adorable Christmas tree stitch markers. I love the modern Charley Harper fabric and how well the striping yarn and the markers match the fabric. It's really festive and colorful. 

The kit below features the classic Charley Harper cardinal bag (also holds a 2-3 skein project) with a striping fingering weight yarn from Urth Yarns that knits up like this worsted weight one that I knit into a cowl. It would be super fun for a holiday Sockhead Cowl or Hat. And aren't these little stitch markers just perfect? You really have to see the little branch in person to appreciate it. It's so marled with color and who would have thought that I loved a stitch marker that looks like a twig, but there ya go! It's juts so cute. Both kits will cost around $60 and will be found at the Kits & Clubs link.

The plan is to release these two kits on Monday, Nov 23. Typically things like this go live mid morning EST. I know a lot of you are waiting for these, and they typically do sell fast. So if you really want one please don't hesitate. And if you miss out, please know I have two other Holiday Knit Kit options coming in early December plus a slew of other knitworthy holiday goodies.

Next week is a bit of a different shipping week for us. Usually we'd take off Wednesday through Friday to be with our families and then have a Small Business Saturday type of event in the shop. We aren't offering in-person shopping this year, which is hard for us, but we hope to celebrate online with you and I'll share next week just how. Plus we have the 12 Days of Sock Yarn contests starting in mid-December here on the blog, and that's always fun!

After these two knit kits, I hope to have two more. I also have some super awesome sock sets like this one that Dream in Color made for us. It stripes up like their Sock It Sets do. The picture below is a picture to show you how it stripes up, but it's a color from a few months ago so no longer available. But it gives you an idea of how it stripes. We named it Jolly Elf. So festive, right?

I have other goodies that I'll have for you after Thanksgiving as well, but I wanted to at least give you a preview of the two Holiday Knit Kits that will be live on Monday. I'm super excited about them!

Stress baking

This morning I got the kids around, James started his online schooling (Henry's back for in-person for a whole three days before a 10 day Thanksgiving break) and then decided I needed to make something. Which quickly turned out to be some things. I used up an entire bag of Costco pecans, and my kitchen is already cleaned up, so I feel I can now go about my work day. Although my work day is here at home today.

Here's what I made.

I think I mentioned this recipe before as one I was considering for Thanksgiving. Well, since there really is no big get together this year, I'm making the 6 pound beef tenderloin tonight (talk about leftovers), these green beans, these potatoes and the above dessert. We're going to sit down and have our own little Thanksgiving here at home, a week early, and perhaps I'll do a part two next week with some pie and other goodies. But I had to get the beef tenderloin cooked now, since my family's Thanksgiving was supposed to have been last weekend and we all opted to not gather this year b/c the COVID rates are so high. 

And then.... I had a lot of pecans left so I decided to make a double batch of this. It makes me think of Liz, one of my knitting friends, who brings me and my team some amazing goodies at our holiday open house each year. We're talking pecans, cookies, a rum bread, and more. I thought that if I made these, I might feel a little bit less lonely. I mean, I'm surrounded by my own little family all the time, but it's just not the same, is it? I miss my whole circle of people and all the connection.

They turned out really well, but I didn't line the baking sheet with parchment or foil and that was a big mistake. I left them on the sheet while I started dishes, and by the time I got back to them it took quite a bit of chiseling to get the pecans off the sheet. Then even more work to salvage the baking sheet and wash it well. Note to self - use parchment paper.

I added a bit of cardamom and cayenne to this. I wanted them to have a bit of a chai-inspired flavor and a bit of heat at the end. Just a few pinches of both.

Tomorrow I will get back to the yarn and share with you the two Holiday Knit Kits I have for you. I do believe they will go up for sale early next week. And they are super amazing.

I'm leaving you with this. Henry is so super proud of this little art project he did while he was home-schooling the past two weeks. It's a sticker mosaic. If you have littles, or grand-littles, I highly recommend this as a gift. Or just search "sticker mosaic" at your fave online shop. We also have this set of magnet mosaics and they are great too. I don't see our set on Amazon anymore though, as they are from like 10 years ago.

 

All our kids are spending so much time on screens for learning that I'm going out of my way to find things they can do that don't require a screen. If you have ideas for an 8 and 13 year old, send them my way please!

Picture Post

Teaser of things I’ll have for you soon!

A Stripey Mind Vacation

Trekking XXL color 723

Thank goodness for good yarn, am I right? This sock has been my much needed "mind vacation" in the past week or so, as life has gotten quite a bit more difficult here. Changes brought by the pandemic have made operating a business very difficult, and while not impossible, certainly more time consuming and costly. I'm sure I'll share more later, when my mind is right. But importing, exchange rates, the unpredictability of raw materials and shipments.... well, the constant changes are a lot. And we haven't even been able to be open to the public for seven months, which is a big hit as well. Thank goodness we are safely shipping.

Now we've added back the unpredictability of schooling, as my kids' school currently (as of a week ago) only has 3 of the 13 grades in person. The rest are all remote again until after Thanksgiving break. Which is fine in a way because with COVID rates rising the way they are all over, I want them home and safe (our hospitals are full here and staff overworked). But they have had so few cases at their schools and were really doing a marvelous job at keeping the kids safe. But I know it takes more than just kids to make a school work, and there has to be staff, subs, admins.... so here we are again in the remote learning for a few weeks.

How are you all doing? Are you keeping up? Are you carving out times for joy? Is your life same as always or are you, like me, just trying to figure it out day to day?

Volleyball has long been my stress relief and such a wonderful part of my life, but that's just not something I'm able to do right now, with COVID rates the way they are. So instead cooking new things lately has brought me a lot of good feels. The kids are enjoying having three hot squares again, rather than a rushed breakfast, a packed lunch and a good dinner. They are really getting fed here (as are me and Terry). This morning it was pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes and green smoothies. Lunch will be leftovers of this Chicken Gnocchi soup, and dinner has yet to be determined. It might be take out. And there's also leftover pineapple upside down cake. Cooking and knitting are my go-to's for stress relief, I guess. So if you have receipes that you love to make (I've made that soup twice in the past 10 days- highly recommend) please do send them my way!

I hope you're healthy and well. I hope you have a shoulder to lean on and a good knit next to you. 

More Trekking XXL

Wow, I'm so excited with our new batch of Trekking XXL. So excited that I'm going throw myself a little cast on party tonight and infuse some cheery color into my life. I'm definitely due for some, that's for sure.

Here's what I'm considering. 550 on the left is a color that I knit several years ago when it was first released - which according to my records was 2014. But it's just so bright that I think I want to knit it again. And six years is long enough to knit something again, right? 723 is a new color that, darn it, if it doesn't remind me of a circus (second from the right, above). If you want to see what I choose, I'm sure I'll post it on Insta later tonight as I'm knitting it up.

Then I really really like color 722 too - top picture, second from the left. I love a good stripe, and this one is colorful but more muted, and so I think it will be a good second project. I plan on spending my whole weekend basically giving the kids whatever they want so they will just let me knit, so I might even get to this one by Sunday. Want to watch Frozen 2 again Henry? No problem. James, want to put together that LEGO Christmas Train that I bought just for this type of occasion? Go at it. Mama needs to knit. 

We also got a restock of colors J01, J02 and J03 which are Zitron's 30th anniversary colors from last year, shown below. These were super popular and I'm glad to have them again.

For those who like the Trekking Solids I was able to get earlier this year, I have a restock of those as well.

If you're like me and you want a mindless, meditative project, do cast on some Trekking XXL with me! Let's see how fast we can get a pair done.

Holiday Colors are here!

Today is our first release of some of our Thanksgiving Sock Sets and holiday hues. Read on to see what's new!

First off, these Thanksgiving Sock Sets. I've paired a full sized skein from various dyers (details in each listing) with a limited edition little jewel of a mini from Hedgehog Fibres, These color combos are meant to help you knit outside your normal crayon box of colors and take you on an autumnal color adventure. And boy, do I need one of those! They can all be found here. As always, these things do tend to sell out but I have some awesome Christmas sock sets coming as well as our traditional Knit Kits in a few weeks.

Then I have these gorgeous Flock Sock Sets from Kim at Flock Fibre. She is a wizard with color, and I love what she's sent us from her studio in the Canadian Rockies. These are perfect for the Coffee Talk socks, Lemon and Lavender. or Apollo.

Yule Ball + Butterbeer

Holly Days + Berry

Winter Lights + Snow Globe

Gingerbread Party + Cookie

One Foggy Christmas Eve + It Glows

Yeah, all the above are meant for sock sets so you have contrasting toes and heels for your socks. But I love the idea of knitting a Sockhead Cowl with a set and every 10 rows switching to two rows of the contrasting color. I think that would make a really festive cowl for whenever it actually gets cold. It's still 70 degrees here in NE Indiana. In mid November. It's crazy. But not unwelcome.

Speaking of cowls, I made this from SSYC's holiday striping color from Urth Yarns! I have this right now on Uneek Worsted, but barring any more importing issues I should have the fingering weight version before Thanksgiving. Want to know what pattern I used? It's just this.

Using Urth's Uneek Worsted yarn and a 16" US 7 needle I cast on 120 stitches and joined into a round.

k2p2 rib for 2-4 inches. When you've made your rib section as long as you want, weight your work so you save that same amount of yarn for the end of your project. 10-20g depending on length of your rib section.

Switch to stockinette and knit for the bulk of the cowl, until you have that same 10-20g left of the skein.

Switch back to your k2p2 rib and cast off when appropriate.

Then. THEN. I'm super excited to share my work with Antonio at Malabrigo. I adore greens and this is the most perfect green for me. It has vivid yet brooding hues, a bit of dark emerald and verdant grass. It has all the things I love about a tonal/variegated green. And we put it together virtually... during a pandemic. It's shown above in Sock and below in worsted weight Rios. It's called Las Fiestas and Antonio and I chose that name because it references a holiday party or vacation- something we all want right now.

What might you want to make with this? Well, socks of course. Some cabled ones would be awesome. Or a bit of Snowflake Lace. Or you could make the best cabled sweater. Like joji Locatelli's See You There or Adventurous or All of the Lights. What about some Christmas stockings? OK, I totally want to make those stockings now.

Then in the Sale Section I have three festive colors from Dream in Color on the super Colossal Sock- The Naughty List, Gettin' Blitzen and Santa-gria.

And later today I hope to share some super duper holiday deals in the Sale Section on some OnLine Supersocke yarn. It's been hard to get restocks of imported German self-patterning yarns right now, and so all these self patterning colors are amazing to have in stock, and at 40-50% off on yarn that is really gift friendly (think machine wash/dry), you can't go wrong getting lots.

This stripey cotton collection is the one I'm most excited about. I mean the striping colors are fab. But it seems like so many non-knitters are so used to wearing cotton socks that they aren't sure about wearing gifted wool ones. Since this blend includes washable wool, cotton and nylon it's kind of the best of all worlds for gifting. And it's going to cost you less than $10 a skein in our Sale Section (give me until later this afternoon on Tuesday to get all seven OnLine collection up). I'll also have some DK weight colors, silk blend sock yarns, and even ones infused with aloe and jojoba.

I hope this holiday update infuses your fall knitting with color! We also have more holiday colors coming, including a restock of the five West Yorkshire Spinners holiday hues, but the timeline on those keeps getting pushed back due to importing delays. If you miss out on something here that you really like, just know that I will have more awesome goodies here all season long!

More Sock options from Madelinetosh

I had such a wonderful time photographing our new restock of Twist Light sock yarn that I just had to share. Last week was a tough one here in the US, not only because we had an election that so many of us had so many hopes pinned on, but it also took so long to give us an answer. Then the COVID numbers are just rising and rising, the hospitals in our area are nearly at max (I keep hearing talk from medical professionals I know about how stressed the system is and will become worse), and although the weather here in Indiana was downright gorgeous this week (in the 70's and blue skies in November?!) it's a reminder that our lives will soon be indoors. Which is going to be a huge change for my family and many others and we've basically moved our entire lives outside as much as possible for seven months to battle the COVID blues.

GAH. I'm being Debby Downer. I guess my point is that I really, REALLY loved seeing all these gorgeous hues from Tosh. There's something theraputic about getting out of your head for 30 seconds and focusing on capturing color. Just like there's something special about looking at a brightly colored sock develop. Having control over that little piece of work, while also allowing the colors to play out in a way that might have been unexpected. Seeing that one pink stitch in a sea of Accra Evening (shown above) in a sea of blues.

If you want to enjoy a bit of color therapy, here are a few suggestions for a heck of a sock. It's Lit (one of Tosh's holiday colors) above or Mansfield Garden Party. Maybe someone with an all over light pattern like Life's a Peach?

Campfire Socks, Anastasia Socks, or Leyburn Socks in Cotton Candy Daydreams or TexasBama both above, or Spectrum or Pixel below. Sidenote- I knit Texasbama into a Sockhead cowl a couple years ago and watching those crazy colors develop was like a little yarny adventure.

Or how about an Easy Goes It shawl in Mermaids Unite or Popoki.

And then I'm thinking about a simple colorway like Sky Wash. How if knit into a sweater it would look like weathered wood. Something simple like Pavement.

While we're on the sweater topic, I also like the idea of combining two colors of Twist Light into a Confetti  or Breathing Space. Of course, you could use Tosh Sock if you don't want the nylon, but I think both yarns would be lovely in a sweater and since it's hard to even get the exact Tosh you want right now, and if you find the colors you like in one base and not the other, then go for it. What about something bold like Soft Carmine with Resistance.

Not sure about something as large as asweater? What about a two-color shawl like Spring Tease  or Glass Houses?

Thanks for indulging my fall down the rabbit hole. It's much needed. Why not use color to elevate your mood too?

Madelinetosh's Tosh Sock

It's been MONTHS, but our order of Madelinetosh Tosh Sock is here! It's been like five months or so since we have gotten a nice restock of this yarn due to pandemic related mill closers and import issues and it's finally here. Gosh, all this color makes me happy.

We have more than 200 colors in stock right now, and this includes previously discontinued color that the new owners of Madelinetosh brought back last year. So if you've been waiting on Betty Draper Blues, Mansfield Garden Party, Gilded, Cherry, William Morris, and more, you'll find them. And if you need help choosing color for a project or making sure that colors go together as well as Outlander and Nocturne above or Manatee and Sideshow (new hues) below, just e-mail me as usual and ask. We are always happy to help!

I want to share that I take a lot of time and effort to take new photos with new batches/lots of hand dyed yarn. Sometimes colors like Tart or Onyx don't need rephotoed. But more often than not, the skeins look different enough when they arrive that I rephoto the yarn myself. I want you to receive yarn that looks as much like what you expect as I can. Of course, if we get 20 skeins of something and the picture can show just three, there could be differences in a hand made item you receive. But I think that most knitters understand the limitations of ordering hand dyed yarn online.

Here's an example of the differences one can see in just one colorway. Above is the new photo I took of our latest batch of Tosh Sock in Rosehipster in diffused natural light. Below is the photo from our last batch.

Now if you saw the top picture and were expecting a large amount of speckles across the entire skein, but instead got a skein from the photo below, wouldn't you be a bit miffed? I would. To me, they are very different colors. But this is the nature of hand dyed yarn that is basically a fiber artist's canvas. Depending on who is doing the dye mixing, the speckling and such, you could get a different skein. And it's my job to do my best to show you the most accuare representation of what I have.

I know a lot of sellers don't see it that way. Most simply use the photos that a dyer provides to them - it's often years old and sometimes even on a different yarn base. Sometimes it's so small that you can't even see the whole skein but just a few inches. But I do take pride in providing the best photos I'm able to, and I hope it shows.

Thanksgiving Goodies Coming Soon!

Next week I'll have some super awesome Thanksgiving and Holiday goodies to share. Not only will I have the below fall/Thanksgiving themed sock sets, but also just a bit of Christmas stuff.

Aren't these five sock sets awesome? I love that each has something unexpected about it- a bit of aqua with rusty orange or an unexpected pop of fuschia. I think each of these allows you to stretch your normal color preferences a bit and look forward to seeing what each little mini skein will bring to an otherwise solid or tonal sock.  Each full sized skein (from different dyers) is paired with a limited edition mini skein from Hedgehog Fibres. There's plenty for a large pair of socks with contrasting toes and heels. You'll find those in the kits/clubs section next week. Likely Tuesday.

Then we will be releasing the first half of two of our special holiday colors. First is Las Fiestas from Malabrigo. I worked with Antonio (in Uruguay) to create this gorgeous, vivid green that would be wonderful for a cabled sweater in Rios, or socks or a shawl in Sock. Green has long been my favorite color, and I love that he was able to interpret my idea into a squishy skein. I'll have this on both Rios and Sock next week.

Then you may have seen me knitting up a holiday cowl recently, and this is the yarn that made it. This is our limited edition holiday striping colorway from Urth Yarn. Next week I'll have it for you on the worsted weight, and I do have some coming on fingering if all goes well with the importing from Turkey. Here's the cowl pattern I used:

Using Urth's Uneek Worsted yarn and a 16" US 7 needle I cast on 120 stitches and joined into a round.

k2p2 rib for 2-4 inches. When you've made your rib section as long as you want, weight your work so you save that same amount of yarn for the end of your project. 10-20g depending on length of your rib section.

Switch to stockinette and knit for the bulk of the cowl, until you have that same 10-20g left of the skein.

Switch back to your k2p2 rib and cast off when appropriate.

While I knit my test skein into a cowl, it would also be super awesome as a Christmas stocking, some legwarmers, a hat, mittens.... just such a cool way to wear some holiday hues.

Late November/early December we'll have our Holiday Knit Kits, more holiday sock sets, a new batch of the five West Yorkshire Spinners holiday colors that sold out in the US fast earlier this fall (but the timeline keeps getting delayed due to importing delays), and some other really cool things from our small dyers. I can't wait to share it all with you!

Thanksgiving Recipe Ideas

For Thanksgiving this year, my household and I are getting together with my mom and my brothers family. And that's it. That's just 8 people (my oldest nephew is training to become a police officer so can't join us), and I feel good about that number. We all see each other pretty regularly anyway. But it's very different from the number that we usually have, which is closer to 20.

My contribution this year are the rolls, as usual. This year instead of a turkey we are doing a beef tenderloin. If you have recipe ideas for marinating and cooking, I'd love your input. I've used a really nice recipe before that usd a knife to cut little holes in the tenderloin where you would insert garlic cloves. And the marinade has red wine and soy sauce, I believe. Obviously, this isn't my thing, b/c I can't even recall how I cooked it the last time.

I'm also going to make a tray of rolls (I do love a good homemade roll) and this pecan bar. And perhaps something else....

Photo courtesy of Half Baked Harvest

Do you have your Thanksgiving meal already planned? I'm buying up things now that I'll need b/c I'm a bit concerned about things being available in a few weeks. Already I can't find things like boxed yellow cake mix and the good cottage cheese.  Is there a recipe that impresses everyone every year and you couldn't do without? Do tell!

 

Free pattern w/ Dream in Color purchase!

Dream in Color is offering SSYC knitters an awesome pattern this month- the Victorious Shawl! Isn't this a great way to combine three colors?

If you purchase three skeins of Dream in Color Smooshy or Smooshy with Cashmere, I'll e-mail you a Ravelry coupon code to get this pattern for free. Just order your three skeins online before November 20, and respond to your e-mailed receipt and ask me for the pattern code. I'll e-mail it back asap. The code expires at the end of November, so even if you forget to ask for it for a week or so, you can still ask and redeem yours. If you're not on Ravelry, I can e-mail you a pdf instead.

Above photos used with permission of Dream in Color

Here are a few color combos that we like with this yarn. Of course, you might love this pattern and already have yarn in your stash to knit it and that's awesome. Just go here to purchase your pattern if you don't want to order three skeins of Dream in Color. It's a great one to have on hand either way.

On Smooshy with Cashmere above Whetstone + Do Re Me + Time Machine. Below is Petrified Forest + Cottonwick + Federal Bank

Above is Smooshy with Cashmere in Her Beacon Hand + Indigo + Unimaginable. Below is Indigo + Naked Shame + Whisper

Above on Smooshy (superwash merino/nylon) Kyoto Sunset + Tiny Blue + Galaxy. Below is Surf + Guthrie Peak + Blue Fish

On Smooshy above Navy Zeal + Uptown Electric + Melon Bomb. Below on Pickle Ball + Fable + Indigo

Which combo is your fave? I'm not sure I can pin down just one. But I bought a new coat online at Target yesterday, and it's nice and long and a lovely light camel color - it looks much nicer on me than in the model shots (which is a rare thing to say, right?) - I think it needs someone with a bit of shape to make it not look like a bathrobe. I'm thinking I need to give it a punch of color with perhaps the Surf+Guthrie Peak+Blue Fish combo. But that's so in my wheelhouse already. I've long loved the color Angelica. So maybe Angelica+Time Machine+ Lavender Bloom? Or maybe Tucson+True to Life+Do Re Me? Gah. I've fallen down the color combo rabbit hole! If you want to join me down here and want to know if you're preffered color combo works, just e-mail me at service@simplysockyarn.com as usual! It's nice down here at the bottom.... cozy and warm with color and wool.