Simply Socks Yarn Co. Blog

Socktober Splash Sock Yarn Club

Know what tomorrow brings? October 1.... which means it's Socktober, our month long celebration of all things sock knitting! All month long we'll be sharing awesome things, treating you to goodies, and celebrating how awesome it is to be a sock knitter. We have decided to start this month a day early by introducing our latest and greatest sock yarn club, the Socktober Splash Sock Yarn Club! 

This is our latest 3 month club and it features not 3 but NINE balls of yarn over three months. Yep, for real. For just $110 you get to be the first to try our new SSYC Splash self patterning yarn. That's a 40% savings of normal retail pricing, just for enrolling in the club! That's a heck of a Socktober deal, isn't it? 

Our last club was our most enrolled ever, it featured 6 skeins total of yarn, and it sold out in just 48 hours. I know many of you missed out, so I was able to add 15% more spaces so hopefully everyone who wants to can subscribe in time. But since it's an even better deal for more yarn, I really do recommend signing up ASAP.

By enrolling and paying now, you will receive a special package of three balls of self patterning sock yarn (approx 430 yards, 75% superwash merino, 25% nylon) in the middle of the month in November, December and January. Nine balls total over three months. US shipping is included in the $110 price. If you are ordering outside the US, please know that we might e-mail you when it's time to ship because we are still having problems shipping to some countries some of the time, and sometimes there's a small added cost if we can ship or a delay if we cannot. A few packages have had to wait nearly two months to ship b/c of logistics issues out of our control. US shipping seems to be back to normal for the past year.

This is our first time doing a house brand yarn that self patterns. There's a myriad of colors and styles coming to you, and I think you'll have many fun and addictive knits out of this club. If you want more SSYC brand self patterning sock yarns, it will wait until later in 2023. Supply is limited just to this club, so signing up is the only way to try them out for now if you want to!

Thank you for making our clubs fun and successful. I love seeing people re-enroll year after year, and I love getting feedback from newbies too! If you have questions, feel free to e-mail me, Allison at [email protected]. But since the weekend is nearly upon us and I plan on taking a day off to make pear butter, shop for crazy looking pumpkins, and play one last sand volleyball tournament before the weather gets too bad.... well, I'm saying that I won't be responding to e-mails over the weekend and you might not want to wait to sign up, just in case the spaces go fast. It's a crazy good deal for premium yarn, afterall.

Want to know what's to come in our first week of Socktober starting Monday? My plans are to preview all that tomorrow, Saturday, here on the blog but here's just a taste, above and below. Our SSYC Halloween Knit Kit, skeins galore, stitch markers... I can't wait to share it all!

Getting Ready for Socktober & Halloween with Madelinetosh!

We are getting ready for our big Socktober and Halloween Spectacular here, which is the day we release all our special fall knit kits and Halloween goodies. It's a fun time of year because dyers and makers really pull out all the stops to create super colorful and inventive skeins and accessories that allow all us crafters to think outside our normal crayon box of colors. We have things on the way from Dream in Color, Kenyarn, Katrinkles, Freckled Whimsy, Knitterly Things, Bird Leg Bags and more!

Next week, I'll share with you all I have to offer you, but I wanted to give you a chance to grab things before our October 3 release of Knit Kits and Sock Set and more, if you wanted to get start on some Halloween knits a bit early. What can you currently find in our Kits & Clubs section? Over a dozen Halloween colors from Madelinetosh on various weights/ bases!

Most of these are colors that we haven't offered before, and didn't even know existed. Like Goblin, shown above with Slimer and Crack the Glowsticks. Or like Bram Stoker and Hang the DJ, shown below with Crack the Glowsticks. All shown on Twist Light (the superwash merino and nylon blend that is super duper soft and durable for socks). Grab one skein for the new Dustland Socks from Stephen West.

If you wanted to do a three color cowl or shawl with these brightly spooky colors, how about Joji's 3 Color Cashmere Cowl or Shawl? Or choose two for Casapinkas 22 Cowl. Pure Joy looks awesome too. And if you wanted a more subtle color palette, you could go with Seance, Ghose and Ensorcell.

Want a DK weight cowl pattern? The new Slip More Cowl is free until midnight tonight if you're interested. But if you want the Halloween colors of Tosh DK, most of those are still in transit but I'll have them up on the website when we get them. Again, you'll find all these Halloween goodies in our Kits & Clubs section for now to make it easier than going to each base's link in our Madelinetosh section. 

Rowan Sock

Rowan has released a sock yarn, and it's aptly named...... Rowan Sock!

Nearly a decade ago they released Fine Art Sock, which was a nice plied yarn that worked very well for socks. But it was $29 back then, and that was A LOT for a sock yarn in 2013 (even though it had four fibers in the combo and really held up nicely). This time around, they went for a single ply fingering weight yarn that's just superwash merino and nylon, which is surprising for something named Sock, right? A single isn't something you necessarily thing of when knitting something that get so much hard wear, right?

So Rowan sent me two samples a few weeks ago of color 05-Coral. I cast on one for a pair of socks, and our shop manager Heather cast on hers holding with a strand of mohair. I believe she's doing a cowl. I knit a few inches of the yarn, but it really wasn't too pleasant to knit as a sock. I don't like to look down much when I'm knitting socks - I like to watch TV or a kids soccer game or whatever else I'm doing, so I found that a single wasn't good b/c then I just constantly pierce the yarn as I'm knitting, and splitting parts of the single off as I go. Heather's finding her knitting experience to be much more pleasurable and I can't wait to see what she's makes.

All this is to say that we carry a lot of singles that I wouldn't use for socks (hey, Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light is great and one of our biggest sellers, and I do love a LITLG Single with a Sockhead Cowl for a quick gift knit), and I do really like the texture and the colors (I do hope they release more color soon, because 6 is just not enough) - and the price point is wonderful. So I do think this is a great yarn for sweaters and accessories, but I didn't enjoy knitting a sock with it and won't finish it. I will instead use the 85% of a ball I have left for a soft hat or cowl. And I might do what Heather is doing and hold it with a skein of Marvelous Mohair. Something with a lot of color.

Berroco Vintage Sock Yarn

It's been such a busy week in the shop, as we've gotten so much new yarn! The one I want to tell you about today (more on others next week) is the brand new Vintage Sock from Berroco. The Vintage line has long been popular for knitters not only because the colors are great and it's easy care, but it is a super price point. I'm extremely pleased that we are the first to share the new Vintage Sock line with you.

I can't wait to cast on this weekend. I chose five colors and I'm going to stripe them. Follow Insta if you want to see what I do!

I highly recommend getting some. If you like something that is mostly wool, this might not be for you. It's mostly synthetic fibers. But it really feels quite nice, and the price point is so budget friendly that I know many of us won't just get two or three, but instead five or six at a time.

There aren't just solids, but heathered hues as well. And this is just their first introduction of this line. I'm betting they add lots more colors as time goes on.

 

Twists & Turns MKAL Yarn Options!

Are you getting ready for the first clue to be released for Stephen West's MKAL? We've had a fun time the past week seeing what options you've put together for your online orders, and it has inspired us to put together a few other options for you, in case you don't want to search through our fingering weight options.

Yarn Love's Juliet in Pink Chiffon, Autumn Blaze and Storm

First off, what yarns would be great for this pattern? Well, the pattern says that you need five skeins total. Two skeins of a main color, two skeins of a contrast color and one of an accent. "It’s important to have contrast amongst your colors in order to see the details and crisp lines in the fabric. Solid, semi-solid, and lightly speckled fingering weight yarns are all great options for this year’s shawl. Try to avoid using very busy variegated and highly speckled yarns for all of the colors. It’s okay to have some painterly splashes for some of your colors, but I recommend crisp clean contrast for this year’s shawl."

Yarn Love's Juliet in Candied Lemon, True Blue Fan and Arctic Pastel

We have a huge array of color options for you in Hedgehog Fibres Sock and Skinny Singles, Qing Fibre Sock and Tweed Sock (I like the idea of one of the colors being tweed), Cascade Heritage, Emma's Yarn Practically Perfect Sock, Dream in Color's Smooshy Sock and Smooshy w/ Cashmere, Life in the Long Grass in Sock and Silk Merino, HiKoo Madrona and LOTS MORE. Today I'm showing off Fiberstory and Yarn Love combos. We just got in a restock of some of your fave Yarn Love colors - it might even be the first batch we've been able to get this year.

Yarn Love's Juliet in Storm, Velvet Midnight and Material Girl

And now for the Fiberstory. You could put together dozens of options with the array we have in stock right now. I mean, look at this wall!!!

Fiberstory's Fave Sock. Above in Brick, Sky and Scroll. Below in Pinch, Sundress and Cake

Fiberstory's Fave Sock above in Deep Sea, Chili and Flurry. Below in Dappled Bone, Gilded and Midnight

Have other color ideas you'd like to explore or not sure of what you'd like? Just e-mail me, Allison, at [email protected] with a bit of info on what you're looking for and we're happy to help put together some color ideas for you. Often I get e-mails like, "I'd like to use Life in the Long Grass, and perhaps something with blush...." and it helps us put together color ideas like this one in LITLG Sock in Viking and Golden Green, with a skein of Qing Sock in Dew.

 

Cascade Heritage 6

We have a new yarn to share! Cascade Yarns has released a thicker, sport weight sock yarn called Heritage 6! This 6ply weight yarn is the superwash merino/nylon blend we love in original (fingering weight) Cascade Heritage, but just a bit thicker. It comes in a nice array of solid colors, and I'm betting they will add more colors and even variegated hues as time allows.

You might remember Cascade Heritage 150, which was a 150g 6ply version of Heritage that we had here in the shop years ago. It was discontinued and I've been waiting several years for a replacement. I'm super happy with this one.

This will be perfect for thicker, squishier socks like this or this. I also like it for a Dahlia Hat or a DRK Everyday Sweater. 

My time seems to be very limited now that school has started, I'm coaching some school sports and playing volleyball, the kids are enrolled in their activities and James is started Driver Ed (I had to tell you b/c I'M STILL SO SHOCKED THAT THIS TIME HAS ARRIVED).... really, we are quite busy this time of year so anything I can do to get more out of my limited time is great. Sport weight socks it is!

Happy Labor Day Weekend to All!

In honor of this holiday weekend and the hard work it takes to build the wonderful country we have, SSYC is celebrating Labor Day by taking it off! We will be closed from Friday afternoon til Tuesday morning so my staff and I can have some time off to relax, rejuvenate and appreciate our families and friends.

I'm turning off the computer Friday afternoon and leaving it off until Tuesday morning. At least, that's what I'm telling myself! So if you e-mail me during this weekend, I hope you're not upset if you don't get a response until Tuesday. 

Please do place orders over the weekend if there's something you'd like to snag, especially the dyers we're letting go for 25% off, as those are dwindling now. Just know that orders won't ship the same day or next as usual. That we will start shipping them on Tuesday. As always, we won't offer contactless pickup during a holiday weekend. If you want contactless pickup, please know that box won't be out until Wednesday b/c we need 24 hours to get those orders together. Make sense?

Thank you for 17 years of giving us something to work for. We enjoy serving you and building SSYC into a place we like working and a place that allows us to contribute in a meaningful way.

Malabrigo Yarn + Why I Spend So Much Time On Photography

Reason 9,231 that I take new photos so often for our website.

This is Malabrigo Rios in 684-Camaleon. A gorgeous color on a soft and durable worsted weight yarn. But obviously can look very different from one batch to another. Above is 684-Camaleon. Below is 684-Camaleon Lot 2.

Most yarn shops/websites don't distinguish between lots that look different. But wouldn't you be upset or confused if you ordered the one on the top and received the one on the bottom? I would be. So I spend a lot of time taking photos of our yarns in enhanced natural light so that I can be as accurate as I know how to when representing yarns on our website. 

Of course, we aren't perfect and hand dyed items can always look a bit different than the one picture that represents so many skeins. But we can certainly try, right? So I try. And I spend a lot of time trying. And I like to think that matters :)