Simply Socks Yarn Co. Blog

The Sheepy Shire is Here!

Guys, I'm so pleased to have these summer vibes in the shop! I mean, that vivid rainbow of color is just fab isn't it? Let's welcome The Sheepy Shire to the SSYC Fam!!!

Shown above in Smutty Romance Novel, Booyah!, Ta-Da!, Eureka!, Huzzah!, Voila, Ewe La La, and Electric Sheep on Meadow Sport

Tara and Mike are a wife and husband duo who dye their yarn in eastern PA. They started out dyeing over 10 years ago in Mike's dad's kitchen sink and have progressed since then into a family business/studio that allows the couple to work together. They hope to one day even open a store front so they can better get to know their supporters and create a community.

These colors are all so fun, and not only would make wonderful accents to a project, but whole projects too. How do I know that? because Tara and Mike give us pictures of entire knit up samples, which is quite rare for a hand dyer to do! Now, we don't have knit up pictures for all of the colors, just some. So for those that we do, you'll see more than one picture on our website. Ours, that we take here of the dyelot we have, and then a knit up picture after that.

Voila, Ta-Da! and Ewe La La on Staple Sock

Why do dyers not usually share knit up photos of all their yarns? Well, one knit up picture might represent that particular dye lot of a color, but the next dyelot might look a bit different. And if you don't know that's how hand dyed yarn works, then you might see a knit up sample and be a bit angry when you receive your yarn and your Eureka skein (the yellow, at top and below) has more pink and less orange than expected. So my showing you knit up pictures on our website, I hope you realize that it's just an idea of what your skein might look like knit up. I also make it obvious b/c I say on the picture that the first picture we show you is of our actual skeins/lot. So I hope you use the knit up pictures as a great tool, but know that it's just one picture that was one skein. Make sense?

Making knit up samples also is a lot of work and money. You either have to hand knit the samples yourself, or invest in a knitting machine. And then you're losing the profit from the skein that you knit up b/c you can't sell that. So it's just not something that smaller dyers can usually fit into their cost structure. And some dyers start out knitting up samples, then realize how costly and what a time suck it is and then don't do it anymore. It's just a lot. And when you're just one or two people, you have to decide how best to spend your time and money if you want to really do this long term.

It's something I totally get. For example, our shop is open to shoppers just one day a week, and even though I get requests all the time that we are open more days, we just have to focus on what has really kept us open for nearly two decades (through a huge recession in 2009 and a pandemic), and that's shipping 6 days a week. We want to continue to do that really, really well because that's what really keeps the lights on, shipping all over the world. If we were to just focus on Fort Wayne, Indiana, we would either be much smaller, or would have closed a decade ago.

I have three bases for you, and am likely to add a super bulky in the fall (and maybe even another base yarn) because these colors are so fun and I love the idea of quick knit hats and mittens in this yarn. Right now I have Staple Sock, Meadow Sport and Dandelion Mohair. Staple Sock is the classic superwash merino/nylon blend for socks, the mohair is likely the same base yarn as the super popular Emma's mohair we offer (a laceweight that can be used on its own for a gauzy piece, but most people hold it with another yarn for a fuzzy effect) and Meadow Sport which I'm really excited about. It's a squishy sport weight superwash merino/nylon blend and most dyers don't offer that. It's just a smidge thicker than the fingering weight, so perfect for the person who likes slightly thicker boot socks. I really only go up a half needle size when knitting a sport weight. We did offer the same blend from Less Traveled Yarn, and I enjoyed knitting it, but they shuttered their studio and so I can't get more than I have right now. So I'm super glad that I have this for you (and me).

I have another new dyer arriving here in a few days, and then one from the UK in July. I can't wait to share all the new color we have coming!

SSYC's 18th Birthday Party

(For those searching for the 18th Birthday Club info, I'll leave it here at the top.)

I cannot believe it's been nearly 18 years. I had a business plan that wasn't even five years. And here we are 18 years later with over a million dollars in yarn to browse in a gorgeously restored 1940s post office, doing what we love and still serving you. I can't adequately express to you you how happy I am to still be serving you through a big recession (gosh, 15 years ago?), a pandemic, and the ups and downs of life and running a business. I'm fortunate to do what I do, do it with an unbeatable team, and do it for you. 

If you're in Fort Wayne, Indiana, or anywhere close enough to get here, please do come party with us next week! We'd love to see you and show off the shop and treat you to some gifts and deals and contests.... and, of course, Cookie Cottage cookies. We are open this Saturday for our normal Saturday from 10am-4pm, but that's not technically a party day.... though our huge balloson installments will be up for you to see already! The goodies and deals start on Monday and go through Friday, when we will be open each day from 10am - 2pm. We will celebrate online soon too, and with a club, knit kits, sales, contests and more.

Here's what we have going on each day:

Monday through Friday, June 5-9 10am-2pm - Free hand made stitch markers with each purchase. We'll have our "fishbowl contest" that you can enter to win each day, meaning if you put your name in the fishbowl all five days, you have five chances to win the prizes. In addition, each day we'll be offering the following (in person only, as online offers come later):

Monday, 6/5 10am-2pm- Cookie Cottage cookies for all and 18% off one in-stock item of your choice (up to $20 off)

Tuesday, 6/6 10am-2pm- 18% off Dream in Color and Kenyarn

Wednesday, 6/7 10am-2pm - Cookie Cottage cookies for all and 18% off knitting needles (up to three)

Thursday, 6/8 10am-2pm - 18% off Hedgehog Fibres

Friday 6/9 10am-2pm - Cookie Cottage cookies for all and 18% off the "Three F's", Flock Fibre, Fiberstory and Fleece Artist

Do grab your fiber friends and come see us at 1315 E State Blvd, Fort Wayne, IN during this week. If you aren't local, and want to make a day of it, we have a list of great places to eat and knit, and nearby parks for a beautiful walk and outdoor knitting. And if you can't make it for the celebration, check out our hours that we have posted through the end of the year.  We are open our normal Saturday, June 3 from 10-4, if you'd prefer to visit on a weekend day.

The Sheepy Shire & A Long Weekend

Hi all! I just wanted to hop on here quickly between end of school events and share that our newest dyer's goods have just arrive here and after we come back from the long holiday weekend, you'll see The Sheepy Shire live at SSYC! I'm enjoying a quiet moment at one of my fave local coffee shops before I go to another meeting. Wow, the end of the school year just has SO MANY things going on that it's hard to keep up.

Team SSYC is taking a bit of time off this holiday weekend, so if you e-mail and don't hear back from me until Tuesday, that's why. James gets to go on a school trip over Memorial Day weekend, and so I get some alone time with Henry. And if you have more than one school aged kid, you know that never happens, days with just one kid. So we are going to have a super fun weekend together!

I can't wait to share the three bases we have from The Sheepy Shire next week! The colors are fresh and vivid and just what I need for summer. I think you'll agree as soon as you see them all. I'm hoping to have them live on the website on Wednesday, but there's a lot of it, so it could be as late as Friday. We also got the largest shipment we've ever gotten from Emma's Yarn, and we are adding dozens of colors to our mini and mohair offerings. I can't wait to share it all with you!

10% off Tosh Merino Light!

SSYC's MAD May Party is tomorrow, Saturday May 20 from 10am-4pm! If you're local, come in and browse nearly 4 tons of Madelinetosh, enter to win some goodies, and leave with a pattern. As an added treat, we are giving you 10% off Tosh Merino Light (their most popular yarn, by far) AND we're extending that deal online this weekend too! Now through Sunday, if you use coupon code MADMay at Check Out, you'll see 10% come off your Tosh Merino Light.

Madelinetosh does not typically allow discounts on their normal stock of yarn, but they agreed with us that not only is it a great way to celebrate MAD May (the month where local yarn shops celebrate Madelinetosh) but also because we are about to start our 18th birthday celebration! All summer long we'll be celebrating with sales, gifts, contest, a club, Knit Kits and more. And Madelinetosh is the first to help us celebrate!

Choose 7 colors of TML for a Fragmentation Shawl by Stephen West (knit by our awesome friend, Brenda)

So go here to get your TML. Stock up on the 300+ colors we have in stock for your shawls, sweaters and lightweight accessories. It's not great for socks, because it's a single, which means one ply. But it's perfect for items that don't get such hard wear, and it's BY FAR the most popular yarn Madelinetosh makes. The yardage is great and the color just glows on the skien. Want pattern ideas? What about Elfmail, Barley Light, Featherweight Cardigan, an adorable Clara.... oh a Henslowe!

SSYC Shop Manager Heather knit this Minerals shawl, holding two strands of fingering weight instead of the worsted weight it calls for. She dropped and picked up strands from the colors to make a fadey-look shawl. Get 3 or 4 skeins to make yours.

Thanks to Team Tosh for being so wonderful to work with and bending the rules this once so we can celebrate!

If you're local and don't want the TML you're looking at to sell out before you shop in person, you can order it online and choose Contactless Pickup at Check Out and get it on Saturday during the party. Otherwise, the color/quantity you want could be gone by Saturday afternoon. Hope this helps!

MAD May Party, a Toshy Contest & Dyer Deals

We're half way through MAD May, the celebration of all things Madelinetosh! This Saturday, May 20 from 10am-4pm the shop is open and we'd love to see you to share Madelinetosh contests, pattern giveaways, and other goodies. We have three to four TONS of Madelinetosh in stock, depending on the week, so it's definitely road-trip-worthy if you are within a few hours us this Saturday. 1315 E State Blvd, Fort Wayne, Indiana. Grab some knitting friends, shop and have lunch at one of our nearby faves (we have a list in the shop). And if you are local, just stop in to take a look and grab a pattern. We have more Madelinetosh than ever before!

A photo Tosh sent of how they organize before packing up our big orders.

Last fall for the first time we offered a big discount on yarn lines that we were letting go of or that were closing up/scaling back. We usually don't offer discounts on those because usually we just keep them as priced. But we wanted to make room for new lines/dyers and so created the coupon code ByeBye35 and you can get 35% off of the following dyers. Just enter ByeBye35 in the coupon code field at Check Out. Or even add it to your Cart as you shop b/c some of the quick check out options like Paypal and ApplePay can speed you past the coupon code option. And if you forget, you can always respond to your emailed receipt and ask me, Allison, to help after the fact.

Dragonfly Fibers

Lang Yarns

Poste Yarns

sKNITches Striping Yarn

Swift Yarns

Spun Right Round

Stitch Together Studios

TurtlePurl Striping Yarn

Undercover Otter

Unique Sheep

Vrinda Yarn, Asana Sport

Walk Collection

Bird Leg Bags

There are some beautiful options and I wanted to share that the ByeBye35 code is active again if you'd like to get premium yarn at a super discount. I do hope that several of these dyers or lines start up again or reach back out to us. We will continue to carry Vrinda (rebranded as Laneras Yarn Co last year) but not the Asana Sport weight that's on sale. And if I can get many of these again, I'm totally into welcoming them back - I do love working with these studios. Walk Collection (an amazing German studio) IS coming back to us late this summer/early fall, thank goodness! I'm super duper excited about that. I'm still offering a discount on what we have right now though because we may be offering different bases/put ups. I'll keep ya posted.

Since we are on the topic of dyers-that-are-no-more, Kenyarns, Olann Mills and Less Traveled Yarns have all announced recently that they are closing up too, so while we aren't offering a discount on these lines, it is your last chance to get them. They were all quite popular and we are sad to see them go but dyeing yarn is very grueling work and we get it, it's not a long term thing for some studios. Plus we are looking on the bright side that it gives us room to devote to up-and-coming dye studios!

A couple shots from last year's party and decor. Expect lots of colorful balloon arrangements again this year!
What else is coming soon? Several new dyers this summer! I can't want to share them with you. And SSYC will be celebrating our 18th BIRTHDAY this summer! As we do, we'll be sharing sales, Knit Kits, contests, gifts, an 18th Birthday SSYC Splash Sock Yarn Club and more. If you want to come see us in person, we are having a week long birthday party Monday, June 5 through Friday, June 9. We are open on June 3 as well, so if you want to come on the Saturday before the week long party starts, we welcome that. We just won't have the contests and treats out yet on that day because our open Saturdays are usually pretty darn busy for us already. And the point of having a week long part is so that we don't have 250 people in the shop on one day. The shop is big but our crew is small and while we appreciated the pre pandemic party days when we had 30 people lined up for Check Out, that's a lot at once. So spreading it out over a week is great for everyone. Plus that gives us a chance to do different gifts or specials every day, thus more overall.

Now it's time for that contest! Want a chance to win four skeins of your choice of Madelinetosh yarn? Tell me in the comments what you favorite project is that you've knit with Tosh yarn. Leave one comment before noon EST on Saturday, May 20. And if you haven't knit with Madelinetosh yet, tell me what your fave color is - we have nearly 400 here to look at! Be as detailed as you like in your comment - many of us spend our lunch time reading the blog comments from contests and some of your ideas provide project inspiration!

Above is a hat I made out of Tosh DK in Trip Wire. I make A LOT of hats out of Tosh DK and Tosh Vintage, so it's safe to say those are my favorite things to make out of Madelinetosh. I usually use this pattern. Below is the same pattern but in Danger Will Robinson. 

Manos del Uruguay - Alegria Sock

Want a super soft superwash merino/nylon blend sock yarn that's also Certified Free Trade? Give a try to Alegria Sock!

9776 - Bloom

Alegria sock yarn is available in some really great hand dyed solids and variegated hues, and now's the time to stock up because I hear the price is going up soon. It's not inexpensive to produce fair trade yarn, and just like everything else has in the past year, the price is slated to go up this summer to over $30 a skein.

2342 - Eucalyptus

I'm considering also adding other Manos del Uruguay yarns to the shop. Is that something you might like to see? Feel free to email me at [email protected] with your thoughts on that if you want. There are other dyers I want to add this summer (just secured another dye studio to our summer line up this morning!), so feel free to reach out and share your thoughts on Manos. Your input is always appreciated!

2349 - Oxygen

Trucks Full of Yarn

We have gotten in a lot of yarn this week, with more to come! We have restocks of so much Cascade, Manos, Madelinetosh, Malabrigo... and then today we received so much yarn that it was loaded onto pallets to be delivered.

What is this? Well you'll have to wait and see. But we have some big things coming to celebrate our 18th Yarniversary this summer, and this was just some of it. If you want to see the new goodies that I post throughout the day, the New link on our website is a good place to look. If you go now, you'd see the three new Tosh colors (two of them are assigned pooling colors).

What's coming soon? Well, if you're a local shopper, you'll want to stop in to enter contests, get stickers and free patterns from 10am-4pm on Saturday, May 20 when we have a little MAD May party to celebrate Madelinetosh. And if you're hoping for new goodies shop, I'll soon have restocks of Malabrigo Rios (gosh, this is hard to get right now), Dream in Color, Urth Yarn and more. Plus I'm adding two new dyers to the shop in June - one from here in the US and one from the UK. Can't wait to share more!

MAD May - A Month of Madelinetosh

Gosh, we love some Tosh here. We literally have tons of this yarn right as you walk in the front door. It's a dizzying display, and I'm not ashamed at all of my stash, that's for sure.

MAD May is a month when Madelinetosh goes out of their way to show their mad love for yarn. It comes right on the heels of LYS Day (they released this pattern for LYS Day, if you bought any of their yarn from us last week just email me for the code to make it free), and this year we are hosting a MAD May Party on May 20th in the shop, in person. Tosh is sending some goodies to help us celebrate- stickers and patterns to give away, a few OOAK (one of a kind) skeins for contests and a doorprize of Antonia Shankland's Bubble Cowl with three skeins of Tosh Merino Light to make the lightweight version.

If you want to make one of these for yourself, you can do a DK or a fingering weight version and if you're unsure if your chosen combo is awesome together, you're always welcome to e-mail me and ask. We like living vicariously through you and help you shop! And with nearly 400 colors to choose from, the options can be inspiring. The limited edition Bonaire colorway would be a great start.  Perhaps with Onyx or Natural in copper glitter.

We just got a HUGE Tosh shipment in and added to the website yesterday, so if you were waiting on a color, it might be there now. And because we get yarn from them nearly every month, we can always special order things for you.

I look forward to sharing with you the goodies they are sending for May 20 in the shop. And if you want to participate online, perhaps start on Insta or FB where I just posted a contest.

New from Cascade Yarns

I'm so happy to share the new goodies we have from Cascade Yarn, new Prints sock yarn colors and 220 Superwash (worsted weight) Handpaints!

I really like these new 20 self patterning sock yarn colors (129-151) and we have restocks too of other available colors from last season. Not only are they fun knits, but they are also quite soft and are ideal for gift socks because they are easy care. And at just $13 a ball, the price is super nice too, right?

It's been years since Cascade has released Handpaint versions of their Cascade 220 Superwash and I'm so glad they are back. The odd thing about them? When we offered them before, they were $5 more expensive than the $14 they are now. So I'm quite pleased with that. Right now, there are 12 colors and I'm hoping they add more. At this price, they are certain to be quite popular for all sorts of thicker hats, socks, mitts, sweaters, etc.

I also have a full restock of Cascade Heritage Wave colors and 220 Superwash Wave colors. These are made to look like hand spun yarn, and each skein is a bit different, as you can see from these pics. Again, the price on these is pretty darn great at just $14 and $13, respectively.

If you like an affordable and durable silk blend option, I have all the colors of Cascade Heritage Silk right now too. These are always popular for in person shoppers here because it really does look and feel nice in person. That bit of silk really does make a nice difference and would be really nice in striped version of the Vanilla Sweater. Now that I'm thinking of it, pairing a solid color of Heritage with a Heritage Wave color to make a striping Vanilla Sweater would be really cool too. Ah, the idea mill is turning! If you want to do something like this and want assurance that your color ideas are on point, just email me Allison at [email protected]. You know my crew and I are always on board for going down the project-planning-rabbit-hole with ya!