Simply Socks Yarn Co. Blog

Opal Yarn Collections

I'm loving the newest Opal Yarn collections that have arrived at the shop! We have three new ones now, and more still making its way through Customs. What's new? Browse with me!

I'm a big fan of the Funny Fruits collection, and I'm betting you all will be too. Opal's tonal collections, where each color focuses on a single color idea, seem to do really well. I can see myself stashing at least 5 of these.

Then I have the Showbiz collection, which shop manager Heather found several she liked, She doesn't knit a lot of socks, but is more of a sweater person. I swear, nearly every time we are open to the public, she's wearing a new sweater. She said 11390 is her fave, so I know she's already planning a sweater in it. Funny Fruits would also be nice for a sweater too.

Then we have a new 6ply DK weight collection, Passion, for those who like thicker socks. The colors are vibrant and fun.

Later this summer, we're expecting the Hundertwasser 4 collection, shown above. But before it arrives, we have the previous two collections (2 & 3) coming back. I'm going to offer preorders of the 4th collection when I have a better timeline of when it will come, because I seriously think a lot of us will want it all. I mean, look at all those! Each one is a stunner! I may even need two of some! Does that sound crazy? That I'd like to knit the same color for myself and another person?

Collections 2 & 3, shown below, are amazing as well and I've already knit several of them, as they first came out 7 years ago. I'm so glad they are coming back.

I also have the sideways sock pattern that's shown in the above photos, if you'd like that. Just respond to your emailed receipt and ask.

And here's a fun hint, if you've read to the end..... this summer is the 20th anniversary of Opal's Rainforest  collection, and they are bringing back some of the original colors like Ladybug, Zebra and TIGER. Over the past 15 years, Tiger is the most requested yarn here. I can't imagine how many people this will make happy. I'll keep you update on all this, and we'll definitely get a lot.

LYS Day Pattern from Casapinka and Limited Edition Yarns

We celebrated LYS (Local Yarn Store) Day in person a week early last Saturday and it was an awesomely busy day. Celebrating a week early in person helps us better accommodate our online shoppers this week and weekend with the awesome limited edition yarns I'm sharing today and with the always popular Casapinka LYS Day Pattern, which is offered for free for this weekend when you purchase yarn. It's always a busy time for us and greatly appreciated. So read on to see all the awesome things Emma's Yarn, Wonderland Yarn and Madelinetosh have dyed for LYS Day found at this link, and then details of the Casapinka pattern and color ideas!

Emma's Yarn has created a super cool colorway named Love My LYS. It reminds me of sidewalk chalk art with vivid yet chalky hues and charcoal. It pairs really well with several of their colors, so we have created kits for you with them, like the Super Sock Set above with a full sized skein and three minis. Love my LYS is also available on DK in full sized skeins and minis too, so you can create your own DK sock sets if you want. Or use it for the Flax Sweater b/c that would be just amazing. All of these (and the Lucky Charm colorway that you've been asking about below) are currently available at our Kits & Clubs section along with the other LYS Day offerings.

Want a special mini skein set? How about LYS Lover?

Wonderland Yarns has created three limited edition colors and two Blossom Gradients in their Roaring 20's theme. Take a look at Giggle Juice, Jazz and Juleps and Jitterbug Jive. 

Then the Blossom gradients in Scarab and Waterlilies. I'm knitting a Herald shawl in one of the Blossoms right now and it's simple and satisfying.

Then Madelinetosh has released their Spring Fling color for the event. And if you purchase some Tosh (we just got in dozens of new colors on all the bases too), just respond to your emailed receipt and ask for the Peony For Your Thoughts pattern code and I'll send it to you. It's shown below. It takes two skeins of Madelinetosh TML, Tosh Sock or Twist Light. Ooooh, we also have last years Bonaire colorway back too! All at the Kits & Clubs link.

And we have more of their special I Love Yarn colorway too. Again, all these are at the Kits & Clubs link. And if they sell out quickly you're welcome to email me as I can get a second batch in a month or less.

Casapinka designs one LYS Day (Local Yarn Store) pattern a year to help shops celebrate. This year that day falls on April 27, and from now through April 27 you qualify to get her upcoming Local Yarn Cowl pattern for free by purchasing two skeins of yarn for the pattern from us at SSYC (from our suggestions here on the blog in the coming week or ideas of your own - so any two skeins of fingering weight yarn) and letting us know you'd like the Ravelry coupon code e-mailed to you around 26th/27th. You do have to let us know you want the free pattern after your purchase by either 1) putting that note on your order on our Check Out page or 2) e-mailing after your order (just responding to your e-mailed receipt is the easy way) asking. Then when she gives us the codes on Friday, we will e-mail you yours. Then you go to the Ravelry pattern page (I'll include the link in your e-mail) add it to your cart on Ravelry and use the coupon code to make it free. The pattern won't be live until April 26th at 8am, and you shouldn't expect your code until a couple hours to a day after you request it from me (as I send each individual code out and it takes a lot of time). Then please do use it right away, because Casapinka says the code expires at 11pm EST on Sunday, April 28. So, basically she gives you a very short window to download the pattern for free. Then you can just purchase it from her.

SO! 1) Order 2 skeins from SSYC. 2) Let me know you want your pattern code at Check Out or via e-mail. 3) Add [email protected] to your Contacts so your e-mail doesn't bounce. 4) Wait until April 26 or 27 to get your code. E-mail me on April 28 if you haven't gotten your code yet. - I don't work Sundays but I'll check email once late in the day b/c I want to make sure you're taken care of. 5) Use code on Ravelry to make your pattern free! Don't wait -use the code on Ravelry asap. 6) On April 26/27th, cast on with the big group of people on Casapinka's Ravelry who KAL together and share their progress. 7) Feel good about supporting a small business and some awesome dyers and creating something unique and awesome for yourself or someone you love!

Want color ideas for this cowl? Look below. Also consider creating your own combo in Emma's Yarn, Madelinetosh TML or Tosh Sock, Hedgehog Fibres Sock or Skinny Singles, or Malabrigo Sock because we have hundreds of color options. And if you aren't sure about how well your colors look together, you can always email [email protected] and ask me, Allison, what I think. But usually you can tell by putting things in your Cart and seeing them together. I'm always happy to help be your eyes though!

Hedgehog Fibres Skinny Singles in Deep End and Ink 

Skinny Singles in Electric and Fly

Hedgehog Fibres Sock in Hawk and Pollen

Skinny Singles in Highlighter and Sweet Pea

Sock in Method and Graphite

Skinny Singles in Electric and Pier

Sock in Ink and Pier

Sock in Pinky Swear and Anemone

Skinny Singles in Seed and Coral

Sock in Spell and Monet

All the above are in Hedgehog Fibres, and you could use Skinny Singles or Sock if you don't see the color left in one of the bases, look at the other. They are both fingering weight and can be used in the project. Now let's look at some Madelinetosh Twist Light and Tosh Sock options.

Tosh Sock Peppercorn and Phantasm

Tosh Sock in Texas Tulips and Silver Fox

Tosh Sock in Water Bear and No Farewell

Twist Light in Dissertation and Rose

Twist Light in Hydroponic and Texas Tea

Twist Light in Umbrella Sky and Texas Tea

If you want colors that are Casapinka-like, I have suggestions for that too. She tends to go for vivid, pale hues that speak to the 80's child in me, and Emma's Yarn is perfect for that. So below are combos that all use Emma's Sock, though you could also use the cashmere blend Hella Hanks if you want a bit of luxury.

Emma's Sock in Barbie Girl and Sugarcoated

Emma's Sock in 80s Rewind and 20000 Leagues

Emma's Sock in February 2024 and Gnarly

Emma's Sock in Ice Ice Baby and Oops I Did It Again

Emma's Sock in Cactus Flower and Poolside

I hope this gets you started on all the amazing things you can make! As always, if you have questions, just email me, Allison, at [email protected].

LYS Day/Week 2024

As you may know, at SSYC we like to celebrate an entire week leading up to Local Yarn Store Day. Partially because we are only open to the public on select Saturdays and LYS Day seems to always fall on one of the Saturdays we are not open, and also because dyers and designers do so many special things that it would decimate our small team if we did it all in a day or two instead of a week. Seriously, our community is so generous this time of year that it's worth promoting everyone for a full week, right? So let me share what to expect over the next week, now through April 27 when you shop with Simply Socks Yarn Company.

First, let's start with a free shipping weekend! Since we are celebrating here in the shop with gifts with purchases and free patterns on Saturday, April 20, I also wanted to treat those who order online. So if you use coupon code LYS2024 at Check Out today (Thursday) through Sunday April 21st, we will pay your shipping! If you are outside the US, just respond to your emailed receipt and ask me to refund $6 (since we can't give completely free shipping to expensive international shipments). I suggest putting the code in your Cart before Check Out because some of the quick pay methods like ApplePay and Paypal can whisk you through so fast that you miss the coupon code field. And if you miss it, just respond to your emailed receipt and ask me (Allison) to apply it for you after the fact.

What might you like to purchase today? Malabrigo is giving out free patterns with purchases, so that's a great choice! Here are the patterns that you can get from me after your purchase. Just respond to your e-mailed receipt and ask, or put a note on your order now through next Saturday. The codes work on Ravelry April 27-29, so you have to use them during those dates. Just put them in your Ravelry cart, and enter the coupon code at Check Out, and if you have trouble, contact me via email (respond to your emailed receipt), not them.

Langham uses two colors of Malabrigo Mechita and we have all the colors here. I like the wavy design that the short rows create. This is a simple project that is great for keeping in your car to knit when you're waiting somewhere.

The Arrow Cowl is a great way to combine a variegated skein of worsted weight Rios with a contrasting solid skein for a quick knit. This could be the perfect project you make over and over for holiday gifts this year! 

The River Cowl is a substantial winter accessory that really shows off the beauty of super bulky Rasta or Caracol. (Photos courtesy of Malabrigo Yarn)

If you love a deal, check out our ever changing Sale Yarn section. We also got in a huge restock of Madelinetosh (we're still waiting on the LYS Day color that I'll post next week), but it includes some new hues on all the bases we offer. I'll detail more about those in a few days too. We have a handful of skeins left of our limited edition spring striping sock yarn from Knitterly Things, shown below. And holiday colors are popular, no matter the time of year. Our next collections of Opal Yarn are trickling in through Customs, so you'll see several new collections hopefully in the next week.

If you'd like to try a new-to-you dyer, some lines that we offer that you might not see many places would be Qing Fibres, The Sheepy Shire, Night Owl Fibers and Frog It Yarns. We also have a huge selection of Emma's Yarn (including DK minis and sock weight minis!) and these mini skein sets are just amazing. We also started offering a wide array of Noro Yarns again this year, after going a decade without. These 200g "dragon eggs" are just gorgeous.

Yukata color 15 would be great in this easy pattern.

What's coming next week? We will have limited edition colorways from Madelinetosh, Emma's Yarn and Wonderland Yarn. We also have the Casapinka LYS Day pattern that's always a hit. It uses two skeins of fingering weight yarn for a cute cowl, so I'll be sharing more about that soon. And I'm betting there's more to share that I'm forgetting. But at least this gets you started to use the free shipping coupon!

If you're looking to shop in person, please do! While we ship 6 days a week, we are open just one day a week to the public, with all those days listed here. It's definitely worth a visit to see nearly 20 tons of yarn (not just sock yarn anymore!).

Truly Outrageous

We have one month left in our Adventures in Sock Knitting club, and I have to share a bit of the first month we did because it speaks to my heart so much. Why? Because I"m a sucker for Jem (she's truly outrageous), and the month was Jem-themed, yarn, accessories and all.

Karen sent me a couple pictures of her finished socks and I wanted to share. If you are a part of the club, you know that this one comes with patterns from Paper Daisy Creations, and Karen chose to do her own thing and do a simple striped sock with her Emma's Mini Set (or use 5 minis of your choice), and I think it's just perfect.

She says "This was a basic sock pattern with three row stripes. Stripes 1-4 were three row stripes with the middle row being two colors alternating stitches. Rotating through the 4 colors. Stripe 5-8 were three row stripes in the same order as row 1-4. I changed the order of color for every 8 pattern rows. Cuffs, heels, and toes were done in the 5th color." If you want to mimic what she did, you could get a Emma's Theme Pack kit and you'd get two pairs of socks out of it b/c she used just five minis, and these sets come with 10.

The patterns that came with the club were the above Simply Fun Cowl pattern, and the below Somewhere Socks (photos courtesy of Paper Daisy Creations).

These are some cool patterns for minis, right? Lisa has a lot more of them too, so it's definitely worth perusing her Ravelry pattern page for more inspiration. She's hosting a Single Sock Spectacular on Ravelry right now too, so take a look if you're in the mood to join in.

While our current club is sold out, we'll have our next one going live likely in late May or early June. Details will be here on the blog and social media and our newsletter as usual.

Ask the Knitters

Dear Knitters,

I'd like a small project to keep in my car. Something that is easy to pick back up after a week or more of ignoring it. Do you have an on-the-go project that you would recommend? A specific pattern please. Socks or single skein project of another sort.

With gratitude,

Carol in the Car

                                                                            *            *            *

Help a knitter out and leave your advice in the comments section below.  Have a question you'd like to see answered here?  Simply title an e-mail Ask the Knitters and send it on to [email protected] . Your question could be chosen for this series.

Emma's Yarn, Theme Pack Sets & More

Last week brought a HUGE shipment from Emma's Yarn, and thankfully it seemed to have brought some of that beautiful Florida weather along with it to us in Indiana. 

Not only do we have a stunner of a restock of some of the super popular mini skein sets like Starry Night and Isn't She Grand (shown above), but we also have new ones like Slice of Sunshine and Dream Come True.

I'm currently knitting the Herald pattern using a gradient ball of yarn, but I can't help but think of how beautiful the pattern would look in any of these Theme Packs (mini skein sets). When I consider these sets, I also want to cast on a Tropical Dilema, 

We also have the April 2024 color from Emma's, and it's a beautiful blue that reminds me of a blue sky with a bit of sandy beach. Available on DK, Sock and Minis.

I think it's worth mentioning here something that we had for you briefly on Saturday, but sold out within an hour, the Eclipse stitch markers from Katrinkles. I already have more on the way, so I'll post them when they are back in stock again. And if you're in the mood for new spring tools, we also have restocks of Purl Strings, Lang reinforcing thread and we'll soon have new styles of the Lemonwood Mini Minder.

Spring Break Contest Day 5

We're celebrating Spring Break here on the blog and Instagram and Facebook this week. You can enter once at each place.

Today you can enter to win at $20 Gift Certificate to SSYC by answering the following question. Tell me about your favorite childhood teacher. You can say a lot or be short and sweet.

Mine was my 3rd grade teacher, Mrs Winters. She was amazing. She was warm and kind and was so encouraging of me when I was having a hard time in life in a year when I was bullied. I guess I should say my fave teacher was my mom, but she was never MY teacher, so I guess that doesn't count, right?

Thanks for joining our fun this week! I'll let you know via email if you win here, and if you entered on social media, I'll send you a message and tag you there.

Spring Break Contest Day 4

We're celebrating Spring Break here on the blog and Instagram and Facebook this week. You can enter once at each place.

Today you can enter to win your choice of Zauber Perlen colors by answering the following question in the comments below.

What's your favorite summer drink? A flavored iced tea? An aperol spritz? Something stronger? Do tell!

I love anything with mint in it. A pineapple mojito sounds like the perfect spring or summer drink to me. How about you?

Spring Break Contest Day 3

We're celebrating Spring Break here on the blog and Instagram and Facebook this week. You can enter once at each place.

Today you can enter to win two skeins of Urth Yarn's Spiral Grain Sport by answering the following questions in the comments.

What do you prefer, summer or winter, and why?

I'm a summer person. I love playing sand volleyball, going to the lake, kayaking, boating... I love it all. Except the Midwest humidity. Not a fan. How about you?

Spring Break Contest Day 2

We're celebrating Spring Break here on the blog and Instagram and Facebook this week. You can enter once at each place.

Avo on Sock

Today you can enter to win two skeins of Hedgehog Fibres Sock by answering the following question in the comments.

What music brings you back to your school Spring Break Days?

For me, it's Wham. There's nothing quite like Wham to make me feel like a kid again. 

Caterpillar on Sock

No Joke Sale + Spring Break Contests!

Today may be April Fool's Day, but our sale is no joke! Find some super deals in our Sale Yarn section where we've added yarn from our own test kitchen, Malabrigo, Madelinetosh and more. We have some really great new deals including solid colors that we're testing out for our upcoming SSYC Solid lineup.

Then use coupon code NoJoke to get 10% off the following yarn lines now through Wednesday.

Urth Yarn

Opal Yarn

Qing Fibres

Hedgehog Fibres

Why? Because kiddos aren't the only ones who should have fun on Spring Break week, right?

And to make the week even more fun, we're doing contests every day. Enter with your comments here (once a day), then also visit Instagram and Facebook if you'd like to enter there (once a day) too.

How can you enter today? Just answer the following question in the comments. Tell me one of your Spring Break memories - did you go camping with your grandparents? Did your parents take a yearly drive from the Midwest down to Florida? Did you hang out at home and relax? Do tell!

One of my first Spring Break memories was in 2nd grade when my parents drove us down to Panama City, Florida. My parents were both teachers and that's where many teachers would go. It was the only trip I think we ever took as a family. I remember getting VERY sunburnt and watching Family Ties on a tiny TV while sitting in front of a box fan.

We are hanging out here at home for Spring Break. Nothing too exciting planned here. Just relaxation. Though we did have a very exciting Saturday as we watched my kids' school win the Indiana state high school basketball tournament! It was our school's first time at State. Very exciting morning. Henry hopes he gets to play for the team in 5-6 years. James enjoys watching basketball, but not playing.

Make sure you give your email here on the blog so I can contact you next week if you win.