Simply Socks Yarn Co. Blog

Frog It Yarns @ SSYC!

Today we're welcoming Frog It Yarns to the SSYC flock!

Mountain Meadow, Succulents, Seashells, Pansies. I love how each reminds me of a watercolor painting.

Frog It Yarns is the wife and husband team of Tasha and Brian, which started as a mobile yarn shop selling around at fiber fairs and festivals, and grew to create their own collection of beautifully hand dyed yarns.

I love how they go so nicely together in pairs. Barbie Girl & Mountain Meadow above.

Beach Chairs & Copper Pennies, above. When I pulled Copper Pennies out to photo, I seriously thought "That looks like burnished copper." It's such a beautiful skein.

Fern & Love Shack, above.

Solstice & Party Cake, above.

Winter White & Clan Fraser, above.

If you've been hoping to try  something new, something you'd have to travel to a fair or festival to find, this one's for you, Definitely worth treating yourself. Perhaps for a Girl from the Grocery Store or a Pure Joy?

SSYC's 34th Yarn Club - Adventures in Sock Knitting

Sign ups are now open for our next sock yarn club, themed Adventures in Sock Knitting! It's hard to believe this is our 34th club - we've been offering them since 2007, and many of you have been joining them since then. It means a lot that you all re-enroll again and again and that our clubs continue to grow in size and variety. Our last club had more than double the space we have for this one, so if you want to enroll in this three month club, please don't hesitate to sign up.

By enrolling now, you are getting a special parcel mid-month in March, April and May that includes a limited edition colorway from one of our flock of hand dyers, a pattern by designer Lisa K. Ross of Paper Daisy Creations, and some goodies/tools that go along with the theme. It's basically a club full of mini Knit Kits. Each month is meant to inspire you with color and creativity and give you a project that inspires joy. 

Each surprise monthly selection is at least 400 yards of fingering weight sock yarn (superwash merino/nylon blend). I can't wait to share what our dyers are working up for you and how well they play with the patterns. And fun tools and treats are always fun.

To enroll in the club, go here to complete your order. Please don't add other items to your cart- just the club (up to two clubs on the order). If you want other items from the shop today, please put them on a separate order. Then you just wait for your mid-month shipment/pattern email in March. Yes, we need a full six weeks to get your first shipment to you, as each selection is a specific intention that requires time and effort from the dyer. And our clubs aren't small, so all this yarn and hand made tools take time to make just right. The club includes shipping fees already, so if you are in the US and you forget to choose the "free shipping" option from the shipping drop down menu, just respond to your emailed receipt and ask me to refund that $6. If you are outside the US, you do pay the additional international rate at Check Out, but because shipping rates outside the US have increase SO much in the past few years, it's likely that two of the months will have to ship together, and if you'd like all three shipped separately, we contact you about that cost. In the past two years, our international customers seem fine with all the shipments coming together to save on shipping fees.

Have questions? Feel free to email me, Allison, at [email protected] and I'll try to get back to you quickly. Space is limited, so please don't wait too long to sign up. Over the past 15 years, I can typically keep sign ups open for about 10 days, but in the past year they have sold out in 3 days or less.

Orders for clubs aren't eligible for return. Once you complete your order, you've paid and signed up for all three months. We do not automatically enroll you at the end of the three months, but as a previous club member you do get advance notice of clubs going live.

In a winter mood

I think this gray, super cold weather is getting to me. I've just been in a bit of a moody funk for the past week, and I'm going to cast on a bright new project in hopes that it helps. Yes, I have lots of projects on the needles. But that doesn't stop me! I enjoy the process more than the finished product, really.

I wandered around the shop today a bit and settled on color 11315 from Opal Yarn's Crazy Waters collection. We have plenty of it, if you want to join me in a bright pair of socks. It's a bit outside my normal color-comfort-zone, as I can't remember really gravitating toward this much orange, but I think that's what I like about it.

Next week in Indiana it's supposed to be over 50 degrees, which is completely odd since we've been dealing with negative 10 lately. Hey, Indiana, go home. You're drunk.

What do you craft when you're in a funk? Do you like a challenge? Or do you prefer something easy-peasy like I do? I thought of using some of the new Pashmina we got to make a Sophie Scarf, but even that just seems like too much thinking for me. I don't even want to look at a pattern. I just want to cast on and knit. I may go as far as a 2x2 rib on the leg. Ha! Aren't we smart and awesome that we all chose a hobby that can be whatever we want it to be, whenever we need it to be?

Madelinetosh Pashmina

We're barely in 2024, and we already are getting inundated with SO MUCH great yarn! In the next month you'll see a lot of new offerings here in the shop, and today I thought I'd start with sharing that we have over 200 different colorways back of Madelinetosh's luxurious Pashmina yarn!

We have stocked this beautiful merino/cashmere/silk sport weight blend for years, but we've never had this many different colors in stock at once. We have old faves like Cosmic Wonder Dust (above) and Forestry (below).

We also have new and vivid hues like Indigo Space Dreams and Rumor.

And, of course, since I've been carrying Madelinetosh now for 13 years I know about a lot of older colors that most shops have never even seen. Like Autumn Winds and Night King below. And since they likely just carry some of the 150 core colors and not 400+ colors at a time like we do from the Tosh archive, you'll see oh so many colors here.

Aren't the two above colors just perfectly wintery, but in different ways?

Want pattern ideas? How about a fabulous On the Beach sweater? A Ranunculus sweater would be fab too. Or a Hiberknitting Cowl? It would feel wonderful around the neck as a Sophie Scarf too.

If you're headed into the shop on one of our open days, Pashmina is definitely one you want to see and feel in person. 

You asked, we answered!

Over the past year I've had more requests for non-superwash yarns. John Arbon's Devonia fingering weight and DK are great options, and now I have another for you from Queensland Collection - Walkabout Organic Shetland DK. It comes in a beautifully curated palette and it's perfect for colorwork b/c not only do the colors look fab together, but it comes in 50g balls. And it's just $8!

This yarn can be used as sport or DK, depending on what you're doing. I have started a shawl in it and I'll let you know how it goes. Similar to this one, but I'm doing a different stitch pattern and holding it doubled so I can change a strand/color here and there for a gradient look.

For those of us that like a more rustic feel sometimes, this is it. I really have enjoyed knitting it the past week. If you're used to knitting the base yarns that hand dyers use, it's not slick like that, like a superwash merino. It has a bit of tooth to it. So really nice for sweaters that you'll wear a shell under. I think it would make a really nice hat too. I'm doing a shawl.

We also have a beautiful restock of Tenderfoot, a very popular heathered sock yarn from EYB. The price is great at $16 and like Walkabout above, it comes in a palette of colors that just look fab when combined. It has a bit of a rustic feel to it too, but certainly is great for sweaters and socks and feels nice on my feet. Shop friend, Laura, knit Terry a pair of socks in this yarn a couple years back. She used her sock knitting machine because she knew that I was not going to be knitting a size 12 or 13 pair of socks anytime soon. And cuz she's amazing like that.

My friend Diana also made this fab Bistro sweater holding two skeins together for a marled look. Quite a nice effect, right?

If you're a fan of gradients, you'll see new colors and restocks from Queensland Collection in Perth fingering and Rainbow Beach sport. Both fab and reasonably priced.

My friends did a thing.... Madelinetosh bought Dream in Color

Saturday morning when I was readying the shop for our open hours, my phone started pinging as two people I really like started texting me what they were up to. A couple weeks ago the Madelinetosh group purchased Dream in Color, and for the past week they've all been together in Arizona working on showing the Tosh dyers how to dye like Dream in Color in all it's artistic glory.

Laura (owner of Madelinetosh) and Veronica (former owner of Dream in Color) texted me all sorts of things including these pictures and I was so happy for them, but also low key jealous! 

Laura and Veronica

When I posted these pics to Facebook and Instagram, I got a few questions about it all. Here are some answers. Yes, Veronica at DIC is teaching the new dye studio how to dye her colors, so they don't anticipate a change in how things are dyed. Of course there are always differences in hand dyed yarns from batch to batch, but knowing that the person who created all the colors is personally teaching her methods and will be available along the way is wonderful. DIC will still get all the base yarns (Smooshy, Smooshy Cashmere, etc) from the same mill they always have. Yes, SSYC will still get our exclusive yarn Colossal Sock. In fact, we already have an order in and hope to get it in 6 weeks. It will be up in the Sale Yarn section as usual when we get it.

Of course, any business changes over the years, no matter who owns it. Prices change, dyes become unavailable, etc. But I'm just super happy that I like the person and her company who purchased Dream in Color. And that I still get to work with and see Veronica through Lemonwood. And that I get to see all of them later this month at Vogue Knitting Live in NYC.

I'm just so happy that Dream in Color will go on. Schaefer Yarns, Fleece Artist and Dream in Color were among the first hand dyers I offered in the shop almost 19 years ago when SSYC opened. Their colors are/were inspiring, the women were/are great to work with, and they were all great examples of women-owned businesses that are/were run with tight margins and big hearts. I learned a lot from all of them, and I'm grateful that Laura and the Madelinetosh group will work to keep Veronica's artistry going for us all.

Snow Day

Today my kids went back to school after winter break, and OF COURSE this is the first time this year we had real snow and bad roads and of course there's a school delay. Which made me think that snow days used to be the best days ever, and now they are filled with elearning. As a kid I played outside til my feet were frozen and my snowsuit was soaked. I remember coming inside and putting my boots and mittens over the heat vents so they could dry by the next day. My mom would pour hot water over a packet of cocoa mix, and I remember having an iced strawberry Pop Tart with it. Then my neighborhood friends and I would sit criss-cross-applesauce in front of the TV and play Super Mario Bros or Duck Hunt, or watch Neverending Story or Labyrinth. It was the best.

I'm finishing up a hat for a friend that was supposed to be a Christmas gift - cast on 132 sts on US 2.5, with a 2x2 rib for the whole thing using this yarn

This made me think, what would my perfect adult snow day be now? I think it would be watching movies and knitting. And drinking various hot beverages all day long. No phone, no kid arguments to mediate (they would be getting along perfectly, of course, or putting away Christmas decorations without me asking). Just me, my knitting and endless hot teas and cocoas. Perhaps I should get my knitting friends together and have a snow day theme overnight getaway???

How about you? What's your perfect snow day?

Warm feet for 2024.... plus a free shipping treat!

The weather has finally turned really cold here in Indiana, and of course there's an urgency to filling my sock drawer. If you're in the same mood as I am, I'm betting that you could enjoy what has arrived this week in the shop.

First, we have three new Opal Yarn collections plus restocks. The three new collections include two 6ply DK weight series, and one 8ply worsted weight collection! These typically come just once a year, in the fall/winter, and it's that time. Take a gander at 6 Ply Rainforest, 6 Ply Cuddle Gang and 8 Ply Frosty Ice.

What Opal Yarn gets wrong in translation (I mean, come on, the name Cuddle Gang? Can't come up with a better way to describe stuffed animals? Ha!) they definitely get right in a perfectly fun knit. I rarely see a yarn that I don't like. And knowing that these collections will knit up faster, give me even quicker gratification, and will keep my feet super warm? That's a win-win-WIN in my book.

For those of you who like a fingering weight collection, last month we got in the Rainforest 4ply, so the same colors as the above 6ply version. And we also got in Crazy Waters, shown above. It's full of vivid hues, and 11315 is my fave. I also have plenty of Country, and I've worked my way through one sock of 11290. Want more from Opal? You can find everything I have in stock here. I offer every line that comes to the US, and I even specially import some collections directly from Germany when they don't come to the US. So you're going to find more here than anywhere else, really. There's even some of last year's collections in our Sale Yarn section for a steal.

I also have a fresh restock of fair trade Alegria Sock from Manos del Uruguay. If you want a truly soft and durable knit that is fair trade certified, this one's for you. I even have their Superpool Sock Kits, which are a full sized skein and mini. And there are knit up pictures of each color on our website, which are rarely provided by hand dyed yarn studios. Shown above is Big Top.

Want more sock goodness? We got a bunch of new Regia collections last month, and they are fab. Super cool stripes in the Magic Mirror collection (2736 shown below), some fun nordic inspired colors in Folkloric and Arne & Carlos, and a DK weight gradient (shown above) that is just as good for sweaters and winter accessories as it is for socks. Ooooh, and we have a restock of the super popular Premium Merino Yak too.

If you want a little more sparkle in your life, give a try to our New Years Confetti Cast On Sock Sets! These feature a full sized skein of the sparkly+tweed Confetti yarn and a mini. I also have a full array of the Confetti colors here, if you want skeins for a stunner of a sweater. And there's a bit of holiday goodies here for the next few days if you want to stock up before next Christmas.

Want to try just one or three and get free shipping? Use code 2024Ship, and we'll cover the cost of your US shipping now through Sunday, Jan 7. It's my 46th birthday, so let's consider this a little birthday gift from me to you! Hard to believe I started this shop when it was in my 20's, and here a I am now nearly 20 years later. THANK YOU for your loyalty and support!

Please keep in mind that while we typically ship within 24 hours, when we offer free shipping we are usually pretty darn busy and it can take a couple days instead to get things out the door. And we haven't offered free shipping since last Socktober, so we know this coupon code will be well used. We LOVE being busy, so thank you for your understanding if you don't get tracking for a couple days! If you have trouble with the code or forget to apply it, just respond to your emailed receipt so I can apply it for you on my end (through Sunday). And while we can't offer free shipping outside the US (it's just so crazy expensive) if you want to get $6 off your international shipping, just email me after if you want me to refund $6.