Simply Socks Yarn Co. Blog

Try a New-to-You Dyer - a Contest!

The snow is melting, spring may be on its way, and that's a good time to try something new, right? So I thought it would be a fun contest to give three people a chance to try a new-to-you dyer. Want to play? Yay!

Uschitita Sock in Glacier. We have a restock of this yarn from the Netherlands coming in March

All you have to do is leave a comment telling me two things: 1) something you're looking forward to about spring, and 2) what dyer you'd like to try out. I'll randomly choose three winners after noon EST on March 1. Obviously, the dyer or yarn company needs to be one that we carry and all are linked here. Please feel free to be as detailed as you like about each question, like telling me why you want to try that dyer and even what color. During the pandemic I've received so many e-mails and comments about how nice it is to connect with others here on the blog, and I agree! Getting to know you all better makes me feel closer to others.

Fleece Artist Cottage Sock in Corsica. We've carried Fleece Artist for over 15 years and they've been dying yarn for more than 40 years!

What am I looking forward to about spring? Gosh, what am I NOT looking forward to, right?? I"m looking foward to sand volleyball, watching the boys play soccer, grilling out, sitting on the back porch with Terry and a drink, sitting on the front lawn adirondak chairs with my best neighbor and admonishing the cars who don't come to a full stop in front of our houses (We have 16 kids at our corner between all our houses- Watch what you're doing people!), driving with the windows open, planting my window boxes, kayaking, taking walks, not having ice dams, watching henry and the little girls next door run around our houses over and over and over and rolling down the hill.... so many things that bring me joy that I can only experience when good weather starts. And with lower COVID rates here in Indiana, I'm feeling a lot of hope for all that spring will bring.

Knitterly Things Bespeckled Sock in Happy Accident. Julia did a trunk show at our shop a few years ago for one of our birthday parties and it was so nice to get to know her more in person. 

Fleece Artist Thrummed Mitten Kits

Well, my house must have heard me last week when I complained about how all this snow was getting to me..... because it ended up in my house due to some ice dams and melting and general ickiness. Thanks, 2021. All that silk knitting I wanted to do to get my mind off all the cold is still in the hank, and there's no knitting happening. Just the moving of towels and buckets and heat tape and ice melt and ladders.... you get the point. So this may be the only post I'm able to do this week, as my mind and body are even angrier than they were with all the snow last week.

But. BUT. One bright spot in my week is the arrival of our batch of Thrummed Mitten Kits from Fleece Artist in Nova Scotia. We had these earlier in the winter and they all sold out within a week. So I ordered a bunch more, and we still have 18 of the colors left. I wanted to share some of what you all did with the last batch, gorgeous and inspiring work.

First, some beautiful mittens from Ginger and Jan. The printed mitten pattern comes wrapped around the kit. But I have a pdf too if you want that after your purchase.

Aren't these fab?! Ginger and Jan posted these to our Facebook page earlier this week. The colors you see knit up are not available right now b/c Fleece Artist makes up new combos of yarn and fleece each time.

Photos courtesy of Suzy

The winner of the 2021 Oh-My-Gosh-I'm-So-Super-Impressed-That-My-Mind-Is-Blown Award is Suzy. She made this teapot cozy out of her kit and I just can't express how much I adore this idea and her for doing it. On her Ravelry project page she shares what she did and how she did it and plenty of pictures of the inside and the outside of the project. It's worth reading the entire thing. And then leaving her a comment on her project page about how awesome she is. And at the end of her notes she says that it kept her tea warm for hours. HOURS.

In addition to the thrumm kits, we also got a colorful new batch of our exclusive Dream in Color Colossal Sock in the sale section for 45% off. And did you see the new colors of the Regia Premium Merino Yak sock yarn? A couple have already sold out but I have more on the way. This stuff is getting rave reviews.

I hope you all are having a better week than we are here. Really, we are fortunate that we have a safe home and never lost power in this horrible weather the US is experiencing. And that this happened to my home and not the shop. I can't imagine how we would deal with that type of damage in our 80 year old building full of yarn.

The snow is getting to me

The snow, the pandemic, the generall long-ness of winter. It's all just getting to me. So I've decided to distract myself with another new project and one with silk. One that I can wear in the spring when it starts getting warmer. When there isn't 15" of snow to deal with, and when the temperatures are warmer than 8 and I'm not obsessively concerned about friends who are really affected right now. Can you tell I'm slightly obsessed with how bad this weather is?

So I'm thinking of using this. Not sure what color yet, (above is Rose Gold) but I'm thinking that perhaps I should do something completely out of my normal comfort zone. If you were to use LITLG's Silk Merino for a one-skein project, what would you choose? I'm thinking something simple and lacey like a Lace Ribbon Scarf, but I also love the look of this Venemous Tentacula pattern. But I'm thinking that a silk blend might not block too well and it might not look like I want. Thoughts on that? 

I'd love your ideas on what I could knit with one skein of this. I'd be willing to dip into two skeins too. I'm not a small person and I do like the idea of someting larger too, as long as it's got some sort of lace interest or something eye catching. But not too difficult as my mind will likely throw a temper tantrum. Please do help me distract myself from the general malaise. I'm betting others could use your inspiration too right now. Heavy sigh.

More from Dream in Color

While my kids spent five snowy days at home sledding in the epic Indiana snow, building magnet castles and playing video games, I had a very different type of "snow day" and I dare say mine was just as good. I got to play with yarn, combining the new shipments of Madelinetosh Pashmina and Dream in Color into a myriad of ways. A hot cup of coffee, warm hand knit socks, and LOTS of new colors of yarn. It might be 2 degrees outside, but darn it's warm in here with all this wool and color!

Yesterday I blogged about all the Pashmina combos that caught my eye. Today, I'm sharing a few of the Dream in Color combos. All these are shown on Smooshy with Cashmere, but I also have most of them on Jilly Singles and Dream in Color Smooshy (their classic sock yarn).

I love knitting the Phi Shawl, so any of these would be fab for that. I also like Jennifer Dassau's Sundry pattern, which would look great in one of these combos too (next two photos courtesy of her). It calls for sport weight (like Pashmina) but I do like a nice fingering weight shawl, so you could just use Dream in Color's Smooshy with Cashmere and go down one needle size.

And what about this one?! Isn't this pattern fab? Venemous Tentacula. It calls for Malabrigo Sock, which of course we have, but Smooshy with Cashmere would make it so luxurious.

What's a great snow day for you? Knitting? A cup of tea? Snuggles with your pup? Do tell!

Casapinka's Botanique Shawl

A couple weeks ago we offered preorders for four-skein kits for Casapinka's release of her Botanique Shawl, and those sold out fast leaving just one color (the one shown below) left - we will have lots more from Emma's Yarn soon too! Bronwyn (Casapinka) and I been chatting back and forth about other awesome yarn choices and Pashmina came up. While it's sport weight (not fingering like the pattern calls for) and has 40 less yards, I still thought it was an aweome choice and Bronwyn loves that yarn too. While 360 yards is "cutting it close for one of the colors" she says, you could just adapt to make one section shorter if needed because she says "There are instructions for making it shorter as it's designed for a tall person. And substitutions. It would not be a big deal."  Basically what I'm saying is that I think Pashmina would be an awesome choice for the Botanique shawl. You might consider going up one needle size since it's sport weight, and you might have to make one of the sections a bit shorter. But I think that the silk and cashmere in the yarn would make it a super soft, fabulously draping shawl. And the colors seem to glow on this base, which is even more awesome.

So I took some time and put together four color combinations that I really like. If you're unsure about some, or want help composing something else, just e-mail me (Allison) as usual at [email protected] and my little team and I are always happy to be your personal shoppers. Also, if you have chosen the colors you like and just want human eyes on them before you order, please e-mail and ask or put a note on the Check Out page of your order saying something like "I'm using these for the Botanique, so if you don't think these go together in person, please let me know."

So let's get started! This one reminds me of a mod take on summer, with it's sassy watermelony look. I mean, you could wear this all summer and get compliments every time. It's Scarlet, Grapefruit, Porches Be Like and Not Sorry. Find them all in the Pashmina section.

This one is perfect for a golden age, autumnal look. Alizarin, Amber Trinket, Spicewood and Gilded.

This one gives me a mod, beachy feels with Glass Bottom Boat, Surf, Gilded and Pelican. I mean, the names of the colors even tell you it's beacy, but the inclusion of the gray and gold really make this a unique combo.

This reminds me of fine art. Like aJackson Pollock painting. Onyx, Grapefruit, Oeste and Chamomile. Am I right???

Want something you can wear with denims and browns and grays? I don't think a picture does the depth of color justice. You need to see this one is person to really appreciate how the silk reflects the color on these beauties. Fate, Resistance, Penumbra and Dubrovnik.

This one is a natural, romantic vibe and I think it's the one that is most calling to me. This is Phantasm, The Wildlings, Esoteric and Whiskey Barrel. Esoteric is one of my favorite Tosh colors on all their bases.

If you like Esoteric like I do, you'll also appreciate the blue in Translation. This combo is a but more striking with TexasBama (sadly, a retired color) holding court. This one is Onyx, Translation, TexasBama and Prairie Fire. If you want green instead of blue, subbing Porches Be Like for the Translation would be a fun combo too.

What about other yarns? Sure! We just got in a stunning array of Dream in Color, so I used Smooshy with Cashmere to show off two combos that caught my eye. This looks like a winter-into-spring combo. And if you're like me, you're ready for this super snowy winter to end, right? This is Ghost Town, Bellefleur, Callous Pink and Peacock Shadow. Keep in mind that all these combos I just shot on my phone with no color correction, so the photos on our website are the way to really get an accurate idea of what a color looks like.

 

This one is Liberation, Pickle Ball, String & Key and Sundown Orchid. Makes me think of Hawaii.

And there are two other yarn lines I think you should look at if you want to combine colors. Flock Fibre and Vrinda Yarn have color collections that all seem to work really well together, so if you want to choose something of your own devising, perhaps look at those too. I particularly like this combo on Flock Fibre's Lone Pine Singles, Aquifer, Happy Camper, Parrotfish and Larkspur.

I hope this deep dive into my mind gives you a better idea of how you can combine colors for the Botanique shawl. Maybe you found the exact combo you like, or perhaps it will help you take a chance on one of your own. We have a huge selection of colors in Tosh Sock and Tosh Merino Light too, if you definitely want to stick to using fingering weight yarn like Casapinka calls for in the pattern. But I really just like the idea of using Pashmina for an amped up, luxurious shawl, even if slight adjustments in a sections or two are needed.

Snow Day - Free Shipping!

It's a snow day here in NE Indiana and Simply Socks Yarn Company as we got 11" of snow overnight with drifts of three feet in many areas. No school, shops and restaurants closed until the city can plow, and I figure now would be a fun time to offer a free shipping coupon code. I mean, we're all pretty sick and tired of being stuck at home and now here's another reason? And why should kids get all the fun on a snow day? So if $6 US shipping has been keeping you from ordering those two Opal Yarns you wanted, or if you just want one thing to lift your spirits instead of $100 to get free shipping, have at it! The code to enter at Check Out is FreeShipFeb. Just copy and paste it into the Coupon Code field and you're all set to go (it has to be at least $8 to qualify). Don't forget to enter it at Check Out if you don't want to pay for shipping. And, as usual, if you order more than $100 and it ships to a US address, you can choose free shipping at Check Out.

I don't know how long I'll keep this code active. Likely the end of this week. I think this is the first time in 15 years that we've offered free shipping. If you do decide to place more than one order in a day and aren't sure if you are, it would be nice to put a note in the note/comment section on the Check Out page letting us know you're thinking of ordering more today or tomorrow, so we can hold onto that order and ship it all together to save us some $ on shipping. We like to save $ too!

Sorry to international customers, because I can't offer free shipping or even a distount to you right now. In many places there is a helfty surcharge and we've even had to stop shipping completely to a few countries for now because of crazy shipping fees or completely unreliable pandemic-related shipping issues. We've covered that extra cost all pandemic-long, so we just can't take on more for that.

What might you like to order today? Pashmina. Pashmina. PASHMINA. I just can't get enough of squishing all this stuff. We have the best selection we've ever had of this merino/cashmere/silk blend, and if you want to knit a great Wurm Hat, this would be decadently fab. It's also great for sweaters and luxurious accessories. Here's my blog about Pashmina color options for the 4-color Botanique shawl that Casapinka is releasing on the 19th, so be sure to check back if you want inspiration. Here's just one of the color ideas in Scarlet, Grapefruit, Porches Be Like and Not Sorry.

We also have a great stock of Opal and West Yorkshire Spinners right now, all Madelinetosh, and if you'd like to try something new, how about the Backyard Chicken sets from Hue Loco? Shown below in the Cemani Rooster colorway.

As always, we have a stunning selection of all the colors I can get my hands on of Hedgehog Fibres, Madelinetosh and Malabrigo. You're sure to see something to make a fun Sockhead Hat or Hermione's Everyday Socks in one of these, right? Shown below is Hedgehog Fibres sock yarn in Comeback.

Did you get a crazy amount of snow where you are? We got a lot a few weeks ago, and just got another foot last night. We don't usually get that much snow at a time here in Indiana. Maybe a few inches here and there. My boys are definitely enjoying this day off, even though they just had four days off for Presidents Day weekend. They have had a pretty epic five days off with lots of playing in the snow and sledding with their friends. And today I paid them $7 to shovel our driveway. So I know they are going to whine about going back to school tomorrow after having such a fab five days of sledding, video games, movies (War with Grandpa was great), hot cocoa and snuggles.

My Current Favorite Hat

I have a current favorite hat. Do you have current favorite hats or mittens or socks? Ones that you pick over others? This hat I've worn all the time since I finished it a couple months ago, with the exception of twice when I couldn't find it because it fell behind the couch cushions.

I wear it all the time. Every time I'm outside, and lots inside too. And even if I'm going inside somewhere (like the grocery) I keep it on because I like that it covers my gray roots and makes my messy hair look like it's supposed to be that way. I tried taking a few photos of it early this morning in the shop, and it took a lot of tries. I'm not great a the selfie. Above is the worst one, half a hat and face blinded by the light. Below is the best one. And I'm holding the two colors I'm considering for another hat, Do Me a Solid and Nightfall.

The yarn is Tweed Me DK from Less Traveled Yarns. I believe it's the Turtle Dove color, which is lovely because it's a gray with just a bit of color and the tweed. It goes with a lot. The pattern is Wurm Hat, and I cast on 96 stitches instead of the 90 or 100 it calls for (I used DK instead of the Sport it calls for but I used the same size needles indicated in the pattern). I consider myself to have a big head and 96 is plenty big for me. And the pattern says to repeat the stripes 10 times, I have just 7 and I like it. It's not too slouchy but has plenty of room if my hair is in a top knot.

This hat was supposed to be for someone for Christmas. But I kept it. And I'm super glad I did. Now I'm considering the cowl version of htis pattern to have something that goes with it. I don't think I've ever made a matching set for myself.

Madelinetosh Pashmina- full restock!!

I'm so pleased to share that we have a full, gorgeous restock of Madelinetosh's Pashmina! This Merino/cashmere/silk blend yarn is wonderful for anything you're wearing next to the skin - sweaters, cowls, sahwls, hats, you name it.

I'm a bit obsessed with putting Pashmina colors together right now. When I photographed the new batch, I spent a lot of time putting colors together and here are a few that I really like for two color projects, below. Later this week I'll likely blog about the 4-color sets that I like that would be good for the Botanique pattern release on the 19th. Combos like the one above with Mourning Dove, Wash House, Cenote and Button Jar Blue.

It's been awhile since we have had such a large selection of all our Madelinetosh. They, like other dyers, have been dealing with pandemic related slow downs because of lack of yarn or dye or importing issues or social distancing of workers. PLUS they just moved to a fab new studio in Texas so I'm betting now that that huge move is over, they will be full steam ahead with dyeing. I really wish that we could have people here in the shop to see it all in person but I'm so happy that we can share awesome pictures and send out your yarn safely.

Opal Freche Freunde 2

I started a new knit! Yes, yes, I'm sure I had at least five that I could have finished instead but BUT the new Opal collection arrived and I couldn't resist. I really do think I may breeze through these and start of some Regia socks after. I'm in the self-patterning sock mood.

Freche Freunde 2 is a fun and colorful collection, and of course I chose one of the least colorful options. Rare for me, yes, but I do love a good gray self patterning yarn so I had to do it.

I am halfway through my first sock because I got a decent amount knit during the Super Bowl last night. I'm in it more for the commercials, snacks and comaraderie. While I love NBA basketball, I don't really understand football so it never caught on. This year it was just me and my family at our little "party", and I ate sugar free Jello as a snack (I'm doing WW to lose some of the pounds I've put on in the past year) instead of all the normal treats, so all I got out of this year's game were the commercials.... which seemed lacking to me? I did quite like the halftime show, as did the kids, so that was good though. You? Did you cast on something to knit during the big game?

Valentine Sip & Knit Kits now available!

We have two Valentine Sip & Knit Kits now live in the shop!

What's a Sip & Knit Kit? It's a mug with yarn and other goodies. Sometimes we do Knit Kits with project bags, sometimes Sip & Knit Kits with mugs to celebrate holidays. This round we have our "Life is short, knit the yarn" with some cute Scrabble tile inspired stitch markers and either a skein of the Friday I'm in Love skein from Dream in Color and the Besamé color from Stitch Together Studios. Both are named after love songs that I adore. The Dream in Color kit is $2 less expensive than the other b/c the cost of the yarns are different. But they come with the same mug and stitch markers and both are lovely.

What else might you like tp get to knit something you looooooove? Perhaps the double sized skeins of DK in the Sale Section from Mineville Wool Project? Or how about some new needles from our big restock? Maybe some Cascade 220 Superwash or sock weight Heritage that's fully restocked? I mean, where can you see 150+ colors of 220 Superwash for all those adorable baby blankets and easy care gifts?

And if you didn't see my post last week, my holiday colors from the UK finally arrived and I have all five of the West Yorkshire Spinners holiday colors (plus restocks of their other gorgeous hues) in stock right now. Let's celebrate both Valentine's Day and Christmas together! ha!

Want more minis? Dyers aren't able to make as many mini sets as they were before the pandemic because mini skeins take A LOT more time to wind and make. Since staffing time is an issue, they have to concentrate on things that take less time. So it's been a minute since I've been able to get minis from most of my dyers. But Kayanna at Stitch Together Studios has been able to get me a small restock of her colors and so you'll see them restocked here. I also have some from Sweet Georgia and Wonderland Yarn too, if you want more solids than speckles. 

And what's coming soon? A spankin new Opal collection, Freche Freunde 2. The original collection from years ago was super popular for it's colorful designs and I've ordered plenty of this one so everyone has a good chance of getting the colors you want. I'm definitely snagging a 9953 because those mostly gray Opal options are rare. There are some other really cool Opal collections that hopefully arrive this spring (was hoping for winter, but as I've shared before, importing right now is not going well).

Botanique Shawl Collab - Casapinka + Emma's Yarn

Casapinka has reinvented her Botanique Shawl pattern and its re-release comes on Feb 19! She worked closely with the dyers at Emma's Yarn to create 6 color combos that show off the pattern perfectly. They are all dyed on Emma's Yarn merino/silk fingering weight yarn, meaning they are a bit more luxurious than usual, and the sheen shows off the colors beautifully. I have all six of these colors sets available for preorder today, and they are expected to arrive here from the Florida dye studio at the end of this week. We'll ship them out right away to you so that USPS has plenty of time to deliver to you.

Here are your color options. I'm told that the first two, Canopy and Barbie Girl are the ones that were knit up for the upcoming new pattern photos. All were crafted by Casapinka and Emma's Yarn together.

Canopy above, Barbie Girl below

This four-color shawl is perfect for those that want a gorgeous wrap that is a bit more tangy than some of Casapinka's typical KAL-type patterns that are beginner. So if you're more than a basic shawl knitter and want something just a tad more challanging than a meditative beginner shawl, then give this one a try. I think after knitting basic things all during the pandemic, this is where I'm at. Just slightly challenging with plenty of encouragement from people on Ravelry should I need a push.

Floridian Zest above, Ice Ice Baby below

Please do allow us and USPS some grace in this process. While we will get these out the door to you ASAP, around 10% of our customers are seeing delays in shipments of several weeks due to the limitations caused by the pandemic. So as much as we'd all like to start on the 19th when the pattern is re-released (it doesn't come with this yarn, so purchase it from that link on Feb. 19), some people might not get theirs as quickly as others. And if you do want us to wind your set, we are happy to do that as well, but as always that puts you at the end of the order queue because we wind at the end of the day or night, so it could hold up your shipping time as well. One nice thing is that this order is over $100, so yours automatically qualifies for free US shipping!

Another thing to consider is that these quantities are limited. If the picture you like shown here isn't available at this link, then it's sold out. So if you want something similar, take a look at Tosh Sock or Tosh Merino Light because I have a really nice selection. If you're not sure if your colors go well together, just e-mail [email protected] and ask us to compare in person. And if you have three skeins and just need one more, you're always welcome to tell us what skeins (if you ordered them from us we can look at our previous photos of them or at them in the shop if we still have them) or send us a photo of what you have and we can help you come up with another skein or two to add to your combo.

Mermaid Tavern above, Plant Lady below

Love the skeins you see here? You'll see more of them in the shop in March as we add the Emma's Yarn studio to the SSYC family! We'll have a great array of colors and styles of yarn and I can't wait to share their artistry with you.

Want to see what others are putting together already for their shawls? There are 300 posts on the Casapinka page already about the shawl color planning.

Valentine Sip & Knit Kits, a preview

I have two lovely Valentine Knit Kits to share with you today, and these go up for sale this Wednesday at the Kits & Clubs link.

One features the new Friday I'm in Love color from Dream in Color on Smoosh Sock Yarn (above) plus our exclusive "Live is short, knit the yarn" mug and some cute scrabble tile inspired stitch markers from Katrinkles.

The kit below features my adored Besamé colorway from Kayanna at Stitch Together Studios with the same cute mug and markers. You might remember the Besamé from last Valentine's Day but I love the color (and the song) so much that I had to offer it one more time. And Friday I'm in Love is my favorite song from The Cure, so of course I had to honor that as well. 

I've had many requests for this mug since we first did it for Valentine's Day years ago. I decided to have more made (in an 11 ounce size) and include it in this awesome kit. I do expect these sets to go super fast because not only are they fun and sweet, but also the price point is super good around $46, even a couple dollars less for the Smooshy sock yarn one. For hand dyed yarn, a mug and hand made stitch markers.... that's a fab deal.

After the 8" of snow we had here this weekend, I already used my mug for some steaming hot cocoa. I only spent about 25 minutes out in the snow, shoveling a bit while Terry used the snowblower. My youngest, 8 year old Henry, spent more time out the in the snow than any of us though, playing and shoveling neighbors' driveways. I swear, that kid was out there on and off for at least four hours. He made $10 yesterday and he was SO excited he walked around with his money he earned. This kid.