It's hard to believe we've done more than 30 yarn clubs, but WOWZA. If that's not showing that our clubs are appreciated and well loved after nearly two decades, I don't know what is!
Yesterday our club sign ups went live for our 3 month Hand Dyed Surprise Sock Yarn Club and we've already sold out of 1/3 the spaces in less than a day! Thank you for a wonderful response and start!
What's so awesome about this club? For most of us, we can't afford to spend an insane amount of money on traditional works of art like famous paintings or expensive statues - we can visit them once in our lifetime if we are fortunate, but we don't get to own them. But we can treat ourselves to the best in fiber art like you'll see in this club, as each skein is a squishy little hand painted work of art that is doted on by a fiber artist. It represents inspiration in color and fiber. The mind of a dreamer and a dyer. This is approachable, usable art that we not only can collect and own, but we then get to build upon it- use it to create something of our own. For ourselves or something we love.
This club features three months of hand dyed sock yarn surprises - hand made, squishy works of art. Each month you'll get a skein of at least 400 yards/100g of fingering weight, hand dyed sock yarn (so enough for a pair of socks for even my size 11 feet). The cost of $110 covers the highest quality sock yarn we can find (made by some of my favorite people/artists) dyed in a limited edition color, shipping and e-mailed pattern suggestions.
I'm super excited about this club because not only does it featured three dyers that I love working with, but also three different fiber combos. So if you're used to superwash merino and nylon, it's a great way to try something new or luxurious. I don't want to share too much because each month is a surprise, but this club features some really beautiful dye methods and fibers and if you were hoping for something outside of your normal box but still perfect for hand made socks, this is for you.
If you aren't sure you like the idea of surprises and you'd like to see two of the three inspiration color cards for the skeins, please email me at [email protected] and I'll e-mail those to you so you have an idea of two of the three color ideas we will be focusing on. The chosen dye studios create whatever they are compelled to based on my color idea, but they have the freedom to create what inspires them. So while the colorcards I share could help alleviate worries that you might get a skein you hate (hey, that might happen anyway once in awhile since hundreds of people don't all have the same likes and dislikes), just know that the color ideas are for inspiration and the artist still can deviate in a way that works for them. And just because you might not adore one of the surprises you get doesn't mean that you won't have a friend who might love to knit the color, or a daughter who might love a cowl or socks in that color, right?
If you have any other questions, please feel free to comment here or e-mail me at [email protected] I'll try and answer as fast as I can so that you can decide if you want in. Our last club (for the self patterning yarns) sold out in mere days, but our artisan clubs like this usually stay open for a week or so. Here are a few questions I've received so far:
I received an e-mail yesterday asking "Just one skein each month?" I think what's implied in this question, from someone who joined our Socktober Splash club, is that she expected more than one a month since the last club was for three balls of yarn a month. But that yarn was a commercially dyed special, and it was noted that the cost was over 40% less than usual because we were delving into our own self patterning line and so the price was much less than usual. Those balls were great, but not the cost of hand dyed skeins created in an artist's studio. This club features hand dyed skeins that are typically $28-$36 apiece for premium and luxury fibers. So the cost of $110 for the club and shipping is actually quite a deal. I try and offer various clubs so we meet the needs of everyone, and we are planning on another self patterning sock yarn club in the early summer for our 18th birthday, if you'd like to plan for that too.
When do these ship? They leave here in the middle of April, May and June 2023.
Can I participate if I'm outside the US? Yes! Please do! We have several people who participate in Canada, UK and Australia. Join us! But note that if you are outside the US, all of your club months may have to ship at the same time at the end, or you can pay actual shipping cost when it's time for each month to ship- we've found the cost of shipping outside the US for our clubs the past year has forced this. The club just includes one shipping fee (as you'll see it's added at Check Out) for international people. International shipping costs have varied so wildly for the past two years that I don't think it's fair to collection $70 at the beginning, or expect us to cover all that. I can share that many of our international club members have already joined in the past 24 hours, and have noted they they are all fine waiting til the end in June to have them ship (or sometimes we include them in regular shop orders too).
Who are the dyers? Nope. Not gonna share that ahead of time. It's a surprise!
What are the fibers? Each one has superwash wool, but that's all I'll share. There are other fibers that lend themselves to wonderful socks. It's a great chance to try something that you might not have tried before, that's vetted by SSYC.
Do I have to decide today, or can I wait til next month? The club definitely won't be open in March. Spaces fill up sometimes in mere days. Please don't hesitate more than a day or two if you definitely want in.
Can I order more than one subscription? Yes! You can order up to three on one order. No more than that please. But do not put yarn or anything else non-club on the order, as it will be taken off. We need the clubs to be on orders alone to be properly counted for you.
I joined the National Parks club and it was the best!! I am still making things from the yarn-beautiful things. Your clubs don't disappoint. Thank you.
Posted by: DenaZS | February 21, 2023 at 10:25 AM
Do the fiber blends include a lot of nylon?
I don't usually make socks so prefer blends with no more than 20% nylon if I can't get 100% natural fibers. Every time I knit something with 25% nylon I may love the final result but don't enjoy the knitting time.
Thanks!
Posted by: Cheryl | February 21, 2023 at 05:26 PM
No, not a lot of nylon. 10-20%. The typical amount. The perfect amount really - enough to do what it's supposed to, but not using it to keep the cost down for a budget yarn or anything. Does that help?
Dena, I'm so glad you loved the National Parks Club! That was super special to us, during a time in the pandemic when none of us could travel, so knitting the yarn was like a little escape. We loved knowing we could send people a little vacation in a box!
Posted by: Allison | February 22, 2023 at 08:35 AM