Simply Socks Yarn Co. Blog

Fifth Day of Sock Yarn

On the Fifth Day of Sock Yarn, Simply Sock Yarn gave to meeeeeeee....

three skeins of Emma's Yarn of my choice!

To have a chance you win three skeins of Emma's Yarn in whatever colors/bases you'd like (three full sized skeins or 10 mini skeins), just answer the following question in the comments:

Coffee or tea? What's your preference? And if you'd like to be more specific, is there a particular coffee you like or a tea that you can't live without?

I'm a coffee girl, all the way. I drink two cups (usually from this roaster) in the morning, and often switch to their decaf in the afternoon. Black. And sometimes I do have tea in the afternoons (I'm drinking this one now). I like a nice green tea with mint, or a black tea with a bit of a flavor. So I'd love to know what ones you have found that are special to you, or that you enjoy on a vacation, etc. I love to try new things.

Have you tried Emma's Yarn lately? Emma and Aspen grew up in their mom's yarn shop in Florida and then opened a dye studio. They create such beautiful colors and their color names are super fun, like Yarn Husband above or Tropic Like It's Hot below. 

Monster Knits creates a slew of cool patterns that use their minis and Sock and Mohair, and as a "thank you" she's giving the Free Falling cowl pattern below for free using code THANKYOU on Ravelry at Check Out. Just add the pattern to your Ravelry cart, click on the coupon code button, add the code and Check Out. Done and done! (I did it. It works.) I think it would looks great in the cashmere blend Hella Hanks we have. And you could even hold a strand of Marvelous Mohair with it for a fuzzy halo.

Flamingle, below, is one that we've helped you find just the right colors of yarn for - it uses Hella Hanks and Mohair.

And Sunshine State of Mind is a great way to use two colors. We helped many of you choose your colors of Sock and Mohair.

And Love Your Store is a great pattern to use one skein of Sock or any 100g fingering weight yarn that you've purchased somewhere, couldn't live without, but were unsure what you'd make with it.

And for those who are thinking "hey, I thought you were "simply socks" and you have lace weight MOHAIR??" Yep, we started out 17 years ago selling just sock yarn but over the years have evolved to carry a wide array of weights from our favorite companies. We still focus on sock yarn, but we also carry every color of worsted weight Malabrigo Rios and Cascade 220 Superwash, and even a super bulky in Malabrigo Rasta. You all have guided us over the past decade+ into carrying SO MUCH yarn that we just keep expanding and expanding to serve you. We still focus on easy care wool blends, but we do a lot in that range, overall.

We have 7 more Days of Sock Yarn coming up, so do stop here at the SSYC blog (the shop journal - I've been writing/sharing shop and life stuff here for over 17 years) every day until Christmas Eve so you can win. Full details of the contest can be found here. If you have any trouble entering the contest, just e-mail service@simplysockyarn.com with your comments and I'll add you to the contests when it's time to randomly choose the winners.

Fourth Day of Sock Yarn

On the Fourth Day of Sock Yarn, Simply Sock Yarn gave to meeeeeee.....

three skeins of Dream in Color yarn!

To have a chance at winning three skeins of your choice from this amazing Arizona dye studio, simply answer the following question in the comments below:

What is something that a kid in your life doesn't or wouldn't understand the concept of. Like a simple device or a word - nothing heavy or existential please. Let's keep it light.

I recently had to explain to my 15 year old son what a handkerchief is. My mom pulled one out of her purse, and it had a hand made lace edges and embroidery on it, and she said to him "this was probably made by your great great uncle Willy's mom".... Willard died 15 years ago in his 90s, so that would make this handkerchief at least 100 years old? And I had to explain to James that a century ago there weren't all these disposable things like toilet paper and paper towels and Kleenex... much to his horror. It seems like an odd thing to try and describe, how all the toiletries we use several times day weren't even a thing, and instead were replaced by things like handkerchiefs that were little works of art.

Microbatch Color 18 - Jolene by Dolly Parton

So, back to yarn! If you win, you can choose three of any skeins of Dream in Color yarn, and that includes the 50% larger skeins we keep in our Sale Section. Colossal Sock is our exclusive yarn dyed by Dream in Color, and it's such a wonderful yarn. It's a slightly "rustic" or "toothy" sock yarn - so not the ultra smooth ones that come from other hand dyers. It's slightly on the heavier side of fingering weight, and it comes in 150g skeins so you have plenty for a pair of socks. We've offered it for several years now and it's widely used for sweaters too. And if comes in all of Dream in Color's delicious colorways.

Microbatch No. 7 - Moody's Mood for Love

For this batch that we just listed yesterday, we have some super special colors - 20 of them, to be exact. Veronica and her team at DIC came up with 5 pieces of art and 5 pieces of music to inspire colorways, and we at SSYC did the same. So you'll see 20 different "microbatch" colors based on our faves. Here are the details so you can perhaps find one based on your favorite music or painting.

Microbatch No. 1 - Convergence by Jackson Pollock

Simply Socks Yarn Co's inspirations:

Art
Microbatch No. 1: Jackson Pollock’s “Convergence”
Microbatch No. 2: Michelangelo’s “David”
Microbatch No. 3: Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”
Microbatch No. 4: Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss”
Microbatch No. 5: HOTTEA’s “Atlas”

Music
Microbatch No. 6: Blue in Green- Miles Davis
Microbatch No. 7: Moody’s Mood for Love- George Benson
Microbatch No. 8: Feelin’ Good- Nina Simone
Microbatch No. 9: Vogue - Madonna
Microbatch No. 10: Can’t Help Falling in Love With You- Elvis Presley

Dream in Color's inspirations

Art
Microbatch No. 11: Basquiat’s “Bird on Money”
Microbatch No. 12: Van Gogh’s “Postman”
Microbatch No. 13: Escher’s “Hand With Reflecting Sphere”
Microbatch No. 14: Chagall’s “La Mariée”
Microbatch No. 15: Filipp Malyavin’s “A Peasant Girl”

Music
Microbatch No. 16: Mad World- Michael Andrews
Microbatch No. 17: Bitter Sweet Symphony- The Verve
Microbatch No. 18: Jolene- Dolly Parton
Microbatch No. 19: Right Down the Line- Gerry Rafferty
Microbatch No. 20: S.O.S. - ABBA

We all had a really great time coming up with inspiration and then seeing what Veronica and her team came up with for these 20 brand new colorways. Veronica says that she thinks she saved the detailed recipes, so we're hoping that we can do these on Dream in Color's other base yarns too. I mean, who wouldn't want a cashmere Starry Night scarf? Or a Bitter Sweet Symphony cashmere hat??

Microbatch No. 17 - Bitter Sweet Symphony - The Verve

I hope you enjoy our thinking-outside-the-box and that you connect with our collaboration. If you really like any of the above 20 microbatch colors, they are currently available in the sale yarn section til they sell out and hopefully I can get more in a couple months. 

We have 8 more Days of Sock Yarn coming up, so do stop here at the SSYC blog (the shop journal - I've been writing/sharing shop and life stuff here for over 17 years) every day until Christmas Eve so you can win. Full details of the contest can be found here. If you have any trouble entering the contest, just e-mail service@simplysockyarn.com with your comments and I'll add you to the contests when it's time to randomly choose the winners.

Third Day of Sock Yarn

On the Third Day of Sock Yarn, Simply Sock Yarn gave to meeeeeeeeee....

three balls of Opal Sock Yarn!

To have a chance at winning three balls of your choice of the most addictive knit that is Opal, simply answer the following questions in the comments below:

Are you going to have a resolution for the New Year? Perhaps it's knitting related? Like, you want to get good and brioche, or you want to knit half of your projects from stash? Do tell!

I have a non-knitting and a knitting resolution. I'm not one who usually enjoys resolutions, but I'm keeping it light and easy. This past year I've tried to focus on self care and more balance and better health. And I feel very good about my progress this year. I haven't injured myself (I was in a boot many months in 2021), and my sand volleyball team even won the tournament this summer (and we're twice the age of most of our opponents)! I haven't gotten injured again, and I'm feeling pretty good about my health overall.

This is my most recent finished sock, color 9425 from the new Regia Celebrations collection- FESTIVE!

As far as knitting goes, I want to make more time for my knitting. It brings me such relaxation and joy, yet it's been relegated to the back of the queue of things that I do. I knit every week, usually while watching my son's basketball games, but I know I would feel better overall if I made daily time for stitches. But one of the things that I love about knitting is that it is what I want, when I want. It is always there for me when I need it and I know that if I leave it alone for awhile, it's still there for me and I get right back in. I can knit complicated things when I want a challenge, but for the most part knitting is my calm, so I knit easy things- simple socks, hats and cowls. Things that make me feel great, but that I can do while watching games, TV, etc. And I feel great about it. Life is challenging enough right now, so I like that knitting is the opposite for me.

What Opal Yarn might you want to choose? Well this color from the Schafpate collection shown below is currently sitting next to me, waiting to be cast on. Rainbow+aqua? Yes, please.

There's also the new Cats & Dogs collection, which gives me all the 80's/90's Lisa Frank feels.

Then there's the new Rainforest 6ply if you want socks that will knit up faster and give you a warmer, thicker finished sock.

And then the Van Gogh collection is back this year too! At least while supplies last.

But then we have all these too. I just finished this one and it was such an addictive knit.

We have 9 more Days of Sock Yarn coming up, so do stop here at the SSYC blog (the shop journal - I've been writing/sharing shop and life stuff here for over 17 years) every day until Christmas Eve so you can win. Full details of the contest can be found here. If you have any trouble entering the contest, just e-mail service@simplysockyarn.com with your comments and I'll add you to the contests when it's time to randomly choose the winners.

 

Second Day of Sock Yarn

On the Second Day of Sock Yarn, Simply Sock Yarn gave to meeeeeee......

A $50 Gift Certificate to the shop!

To have a chance at winning $50 to spend however you like, simply answer the following question in the comments below:

Please share a food/recipe that you can't live without this time of year or on Christmas day. If you don't celebrate a holiday, perhaps a hot beverage you enjoy or a special spiced cookie that makes it feel like winter. Snickerdoodles are our winter-cookie-of-choice. The kids can even help with them (pic from a couple years back).

I make homemade cinnamon rolls for every Christmas morning. This is something I started doing 10 or so years ago. Mostly because I had kids and they love a special something on Christmas morning. Our Christmas morning breakfast consists of fruit, cinnamon rolls and bacon. The rolls can be made the night before, or even earlier and frozen. And I make several pans and sometimes trade cinnamon rolls for crock pot egg casserole with my neighbor.

This year on Christmas Eve, my siblings and their fam are coming over and we're doing chili, soup and hot snacks and little noshy things all day while we open gifts and play games and watch a movie or two, so I'd love your ideas on special finger foods that you might have to share. I found this one and I think it looks festive and super delish. I love the ideas you've shared with me over the years and I've added a lot of recipes to my traditions!

If have family who wants to treat you to something special, but they don't know what you get you, our gift certificates are a great choice. If they want to have it immediately e-mailed to you, they can do that. Or they can put their e-mail address as the recipient and have it e-mailed to them to print out the gift certificate and put in a card. It's easy peasy and then you can browse for lovely yarn Christmas evening!

We have 10 more Days of Sock Yarn coming up, so do stop here at the SSYC blog (the shop journal - I've been writing/sharing shop and life stuff here for over 17 years) every day until Christmas Eve so you can win. Full details of the contest can be found here. If you have any trouble entering the contest, just e-mail service@simplysockyarn.com with your comments and I'll add you to the contests when it's time to randomly choose the winners.

First Day of Sock Yarn

On the First Day of Sock Yarn, Simply Sock Yarn gave to meeeeeeeee......

Five skeins of Life in the Long Grass yarn!

To have a chance at winning five skeins of your choice from this stunner of an Irish dyer, simply answer the following question in the comments below:

What's a holiday tradition that starts the season for you? Is it shopping for a gift from the Angel Tree?  What about your kids' Christmas concert? Perhaps the first snow?

For me, it's putting up our tree. We don't do a themed tree or anything, but instead a 12 foot tall tree in the middle of our family room that holds all the family ornaments we've collected over the years. We each get a Hallmark ornament every year, plus there are dozens and dozens of ornaments the kids have made and all sorts of things we have made together over the years. We can't even fit them all on the tree each year even though the tree is HUGE. I have thought of getting another tree, but I just don't have the time to put up another one.

Another decoration that we really like putting up are paper chains that we make out of those inexpensive holiday paper packs you can get from places like Hobby Lobby. We string the paper chains across the windows each year and we write little notes on the inside of some so that each year we can read them - things like "My family is awesome!" and "I want a dog!" or "Mom made me write something". You can see the pile of them on the floor here that we are getting ready to string up. Scroll through these pics if you want to see the paper we use and how it started.

LITLG Singles in Firefly

What five skeins might you like to choose for your prize? Perhaps you're like our shop friend Diana and you want to knit a Pavement sweater in the Moonbow color of Zebra Sock.

Or maybe you want to choose five skeins of your own in Singles to join in the new Stephen West KAL. Whatever you choose, we have oh so much Life in the Long Grass yarn for you to choose from. I really don't think you'll find more of this yarn anywhere else in the US. We have A LOT.

We have 11 more Days of Sock Yarn coming up, so do stop here at the SSYC blog (the shop journal - I've been writing/sharing shop and life stuff here for over 17 years) every day until Christmas Eve so you can win. Full details of the contest can be found here.

12 Days of Sock Yarn Starts Tomorrow!

For the 13th year, we're celebrating our exclusive holiday at Simply Socks Yarn Company starting this Monday!  From Dec. 13 through Dec. 24 you have a chance on this blog to win a special knitterly gift each day.  Could be yarn, could be knitterly goodies, and it will definitely be awesome. There's a wide variety of things to be won, from special skeins, entire Advent sets..... even some gift certificates. We're making it a celebration to remember, as usual! 

How can you join in? Simply visit the SSYC Blog every day from Dec. 13 through the 24th and answer the question in the comments section before the following day's question is revealed (the comments will be closed on the previous post once the next day is up). You'll automatically be entered to win the gift shown for that day. If you participate each day, you'll have a dozen chances to win (one chance each day). And yes, you can win more than one day! It has happened before.

You don't have to participate in any particular holiday to win anything- you just have to want some awesome free yarn or goodies. Over the years because of this event, I've incorporated new traditions, recipes and projects into my life that I wouldn't have learned of otherwise. And I've read some heart warming stories and gotten to know a lot of you better than I did before (it was especially nice in 2020 when we were still distancing b/c of COVID). I'll post the randomly chosen winners in January, and you'll also get an e-mail if you've won a prize.

Thanks for sharing this with your fiber friends and joining us for another year of fun! This really is a great time of year for me, and from the e-mails I get, you all enjoy it a lot too. It really is worth it to read through the comments if you want pattern or holiday inspiration. I like reading the comments while I'm enjoying my lunch break.

Aurora Cabin Shawl - KAL Starts Dec 26

Want to participate in Stephen West's newest Hiberknitalong? The Aurora Cabin Shawl is the pattern for the upcoming event which casts on on December 26. We just got in kits using the same Life in the Long Grass yarn used in the pattern from the popular Irish dyer that is being featured in the pattern!

Above is the fingering weight singles option in warm, below the fingering weight singles options in cool.

Stephen West featured two color options in his shawl pictures, a cool and a warm option, and I have both those for you. The pattern uses Singles, but I also ordered them for you in Sock. The Singles and Sock can be used interchangeably - it won't make a difference to the needle size you use or how it knits up at all. But the Sock is a plied yarn with a bit of nylon, which I know many of you like. So I ordered both for you. Again, it doesn't make any difference in how you follow the pattern -same weight yarn and colors and same price.

Above is the fingering weight sock in the warm option, below in the cool color option.

FYI, in his pattern, he chose other color names for the colors than what LITLG uses, so you'll noticed that the color names on our skeins are of the actual LITLG colors, as they aren't renamed something else. Also keep in mind that each dyelot is slightly different and the images you see on our website are accurate for the dyelots and skeins you'll get from us.

If you'd like to see pictures of the finished shawl, they are all available on the Ravelry pattern page. And if you would like a different color combo, you know where to find me - just email me, Allison, at service@simplysockyarn.com.

Quick Holiday Gift Idea - Saratoga Beanie

Need to get a last minute project done? Rasta is definitely the way to go, as this Malabrigo yarn is super bulky and comes in dozens of Malabrigo's beautiful hues. Heather, our shop manager, recently pointed us in the direction of the Saratoga Beanie and we all agree it's fab.

You just need one skein of Rasta and you could get this done in an evening. 

The stitch pattern of the hat seems to make the most of the wildly variegated hues of Rasta too, which is a bonus. And, come on, look at the top of this hat. I'd be sitting down all day just so people can see the top of it! I think I'd like it a lot in Trompo, shown below.

Want other Rasta pattern options? Aspen Leaf Knits has a slew of other cute patterns that use Rasta too.

 

Happy Holiday Open House, Y'all! + A Contest!

Today's the first day of our in-person yarn party! Instead of a one day party, we're spreading out the Christmas Cheer to five days. This allows us to better serve you (rather than having 200 people in the shop on one day), and offer more goodies, sales and gifts. Five days is better than one - at least, that's my math!

Here's the full blog post about it, and here's what we're featuring each day. I do hope you'll come say Ho Ho Ho if you're local, or grab a carload of friends if you're not and drive in to see us. We're at 1315 E State Blvd in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Plenty of parking in our lot and side street.

Monday through Friday, December 5-9 10am-2pm - Free cotton tote with purchases each day, shown below. 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:

Monday, 12/5 - Free hand made stitch markers with purchase

Tuesday, 12/6 - Free hand made stitch markers with purchase

Wednesday, 12/7 - Cookie Cottage cookies for all!

Thursday, 12/8 10am-2pm - 15% off three US dyers Urth Yarn, Laneras Yarn Co. and Miss Babs. (regular stock, not sale items)

Friday 12/9 10am-2pm - 15% off three imports from three different countries - Hedgehog Fibres of Ireland, Uschitita of the Netherlands and Qing of London

The discounts are only available in person and not before or after the day offered.

I recruited Terry onto the last-minute Party Decorating Committee.Thank goodness for tall people who can put up the garland in the windows. But, oh man, I do love these windows and all the natural light they let in! When I said to Terry "Thank you so much for helping me decorate last minute- I completely forgot about it." His response was "Hey, I'm Team Allison." That guy deserves a new hand knit hat, am I right?

I thought it would be nice to do some online contest this week since we're also doing in person ones. So let's do one today on the blog and do check Instagram and Facebook for another one later this week. Just answer the following question in the comments: Have you been to shop at SSYC in person? If so, tell us (a sentence or two) what your experience was or what you thought. And if you haven't seen us in person, tell me what yarn line you might like most to see in person? Please answer by Friday at noon EST and I'll chose two people to win a $30 gift certificate to the shop!

Oh, and if there's someone in your life who wants to treat you to something you really want, our online gift certificates are always a huge hit this time of year.

Yarn, Yarn & More Yarn

As if it wasn't already busy enough around here filling all the awesome holiday orders coming in, we are also unpacking, photographing and organizing another three-quarter-ton of yarn this week. It's like a yarny Christmas morning times 500. OK, maybe times 1000.

What else has arrived? Well, many of you have already found the two imported holiday yarn restocks we were waiting on - the holiday colors from West Yorkshire Spinners in UK, including more of the 2022 Gingerbread color. 

Then we got a restock of the popular holiday skeins and sock sets from Flock Fibres of Canada. We have had these before too, but not yet this holiday season. Shown below are Gingerbread Party and Yule Ball. You'll find other options and single skeins in the Kits & Clubs section too. I love that these are certainly cheerful but not red/green Christmasy.

Then we received a few more Madelinetosh holiday colors. Those are Dancing on Ice, Norway Spruce, Light Show and Cindy Lou Who. All in the Kits & Clubs section.

Want minis? We have OVER 100 different colors of Emma's Smalls, which are 81 yards of their sock yarn. Shown below is Cosmos.

We also have restocks of Emma's mini sets like On the Vine shown below.

Then we have beautiful restocks of Hedgehog Fibres sock yarn, which brought back the original 7 skein fade set used in the super popular Find your Fade shawl. Ooooooh, we also have the 30-mini skein set back too. That would be an awesome Christmas gift.

Want the new Opal Yarn collections? Those got here too! We have the Schafpate 14 collection, Rainforest 6 ply, and Cats & Dogs.

I've already snagged a ball of Schafpate color 11194 for myself. Aqua and rainbow? Yes, please! And I love each of the Cats & Dogs collections. It looks like it's inspired by the vivid colors used by Lisa Frank, right? I had that Trapper Keeper in elementary school, so you know I'm gonna snag these. And I like that each one focuses on an individual color story. For those who have been asking for more 6ply self patterning options, we're finally starting to get the winter collections like Rainforest 6ply in stock from Europe. We have the fingering weight collection too.

Whew. That's a lot of yarn, right? What's coming next week? Well, I'll have a fresh batch of Life in the Long Grass from Ireland, including five skeins sets like the two in the Aurora Cabin Shawl, which is the Hiberknitalong 3 pattern from Stephen West. Both the warm and the cool color options, but in limited supply.

For those of you who are coming to the shop next week to celebrate our week long Holiday Open House, I can't wait to see you! Full details of days, times and happenings are here. Hope to see you! 

Week Long Holiday Open House!

Typically this time of year we are getting ready for our Holiday Open House, which is an in-person yarn party when we have treats like cupcakes or cookies, sometimes do a Christmas craft and show off all the goodies you might want for the holidays. Like last year, this year we have decided that instead of having a big, busy day at the shop (we sometimes see a few hundred people in just a few hours) we want to space things out again. So we have decided to instead replace that big party with a week long Holiday Open House, being open to the public next week Monday through Friday, 10am-2pm each day.

A week of open days was a first for us when we did it last year, but we found we like space out things a bit so we don't have a couple hundred people descending on the shop at once, and we think that being open for a week straight (we are typically open to the public one day a week, and ship the other days) will allow us to help you better choose things you need to knit for your holiday gifts and get little gifts and tokens of appreciation each day from us at SSYC. Plus if you're bringing a friend or two with you, you have more days to fit into your busy schedules.

What can you expect next week? If you shop in person with us, we'll have various treats we will give out here and there.

Monday through Friday, December 5-9 10am-2pm - Free cotton tote with purchases each day, shown below. 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:

Monday, 12/5 - Free hand made stitch markers with purchase

Tuesday, 12/6 - Free hand made stitch markers with purchase

Wednesday, 12/7 - Cookie Cottage cookies for all!

Thursday, 12/8 10am-2pm - 15% off three US dyers Urth Yarn, Laneras Yarn Co. and Miss Babs. (regular stock, not sale items)

Friday 12/9 10am-2pm - 15% off three imports from three different countries - Hedgehog Fibres of Ireland, Uschitita of the Netherlands and Qing of London

The discounts are only available in person and not before or after the day offered.

Do come see us at 1315 E State Blvd, Fort Wayne, IN during this week. And if you can't make it for the celebration, check out our hours that we have posted through March.  We are open our normal Saturday, Dec 3 from 10-4, if you'd prefer to visit on a weekend day.

Holiday Goodies & Knit Kits are LIVE!

Now's the time to grab the special batch of holiday goodies  at the Kits & Clubs link, including our Holiday Knit Kits. Two weeks ago we released our first batch of holiday wares (some are still available here with the new), and this post shows our second batch that just went live this morning. It's worth noting that I'm still waiting on two imported lines to arrive Flock Fibres with sock sets from Canada, and more of the West Yorkshire Spinners holiday colors from the UK. This includes the new Gingerbread color that we had and sold out already. Both lines are en route, so hopefully by next week.

First our two Holiday Knit Kits. We've been doing these for well over a decade now and they have become a very popular part of what we do. Each Knit Kit comes with a hand made bag, a limited edition skein of yarn, three hand made polymer stitch markers and two Soak washes in the Wild Mint scent.

First, we have our Howliday Cheer Knit Kit. I don't even own a dog and I'm snagging one of these for myself! This drawstring bag is a linen canvas fabric, so sturdy and very high quality. It easily holds a three skein project and even has three pockets to hold your accessories. Each is handmade by Vickie at Bird Leg Bags.

Dream in Color dyed up the limited edition Howliday Cheer colorway to go with. It's dyed on their Smooshy yarn, which is 420 yards of fingering weight superwash merino/nylon. You get one of these with your kit, but if you need more for a larger project, please e-mail me because I usually have two or three extra skeins.

Then you get three polymer clay stitch markers (like the ones in the Countdown to Christmas set- though those are even more detailed and intricate) made by our artisan.

Then I have the Kitschy Kringle Knit Kit, which includes the same high quality linen canvas bag with interior pockets, and the fabric is just the best, isn't it? It invokes all the Christmas cookie baking feels, doesn't it?

This Knit Kit also comes with a limited edition skein from Dream in Color, two Soak washes, and three adorable mitten stitch markers. As always, the amount of Knit Kits we have is limited, so please don't hesitate if you really want one.

Waiting for holiday stripes? We have those from Freckled Whimsy all these striping skeins come with a solid colored mini for toes and heels. And if you want non-holiday colors, those are all here.

Knitterly Things is back as well! We have lots of Julia's striping colors for you including Joyful Noise, Holiday Celebrate and Son of a Nutcracker... and lots more. Plus a restock of her non-holiday hues here.

Julia also made three special speckled holiday colors for us, and I also have a restock of Emma's Yarn minis that would look great if you want solids for toes and heels too.

Merry Woofmas would look great with Foxy Lady, Don't Call Me Peaches or Freshly Cut. Or, heck, get them all for a larger project.

Merry Mint would really be set off by Stiletto and Tealicious

Cheers! would be fun with Securrrity, Grayscale or Love + Leche

Then I have some really cool Madelinetosh holiday skeins. We've asked them to bring back skeins that we haven't seen for years, and some of them I'd never seen before, here they are: Warm Woolen Mittens, Frost Bitten, Mint Condition, Grinch, Mistletoe, Frosty, Fireside, Caroling and What's Your Poinsettia. All these are shown on Tosh Merino Light, but will be available on Tosh DK, Tosh Sock and Twist Light Sock too. And as a side note, with adding these holiday colors, this brings the tally of Madelinetosh colors we've ever offered to over 500! Can you believe that? We've offered over 500 different colors of Madelinetosh over the past decade! No wonder our offerings are literally head spinning.

Finally, for those who haven't grabbed one yet, or did and wanted another, we have more of the 12 Days of Stitch Markers ready for you!

If you're interested some holiday cheer, check the Kits & Clubs section now to get yours!

Oh, and I want to share that I made the Hat Set Club sign ups inactive for a few days on accident and it's now back up for those who want to sign up. If you haven't yet, it really is a great gift for yourself or someone you love for the holidays. The club ships in mid Dec-Jan-Feb and you get three months of goodies- each month a skein, pom and pattern to make a hat. They are all surprises to you, but I'll share that one is a hand dyed stripe and I just saw it knit up for the first time and it's AMAZING. Don't miss out if you want a treat!

Free Gift w/ Purchase thru Saturday

Thank you for allowing SSYC to serve you for 17 holiday seasons! To show our appreciation, we are giving you a gift with purchases placed online Thursday, Friday and Saturday.... so Nov 24-26. You don't add it to your order or have to request it. We will automatically tuck one in your order if it's placed online during these three days. Contactless Pickup works too, but please know that orders placed this weekend will be put out on Monday, not this weekend.

We have two bags to give away, so if there's one that you'd prefer, just tell us in the note/comment field on the Check Out page. Otherwise, we'll choose one for you - either this sunny zippered sock project bag or the cotton tote.

It's hard to believe that's we've been serving you for nearly two decades now! To celebrate the season, we'll be releasing our second batch of holiday goodies on Monday (I'll preview the wares on Friday), and this includes our two Holiday Knit Kits.

What might you want to purchase today to get your free gift? Well, we released our first batch of holiday yarns two weeks ago, and you can see those here.  Shown above is the Regia Celebration collection which I'm knitting right now, and shown below is the super festive Candy Cane striping sock yarn from West Yorkshire Spinners.

We have a huge array of sale yarns right now, a full selection of Emma's Yarn in Sock and Mohair so you can knit the new Casapinka sweater, and a huge array of Madelinetosh - including the new assigned pooling colors to go with these patterns. Pairing Tosh Sock or Hedgehog Fibres sock yarn with the Mohair would be nice too, and we have hundreds of color options in stock and ready to ship. And don't forget about Malabrigo Sock which can be paired with their brand new Mohair for the sweater.

We also received more Freckled Whimsy striping sock sets and Knitterly Things Vesper for those that love hand dyed stripes - the holiday colors are released on Monday. Shown above is Vesper Striping Sock in Live in Technicolor.

Want Opal Yarn for gift socks that are fun to knit and hold up to wash and wear? We have the last part of the Van Gogh collection (which was re-released after a decade and they are already dyeing more to keep up with demand) and the beautiful Holidays collection.

Thank you so much for allowing us to serve you for another holiday season. We are having a week long party starting on December 5-9th from 10am-2pm. Each day in the shop we'll be doing contests (you can enter every day), and different give aways or sales of the day. I'll share all those here on the blog next week. But it's definitely a great time to wrangle your friends and drive to our shop in Fort Wayne, Indiana if you haven't before - 16 tons of yarn is a heady thing!

Assigned Pooling Yarns & Pattern Ideas

We have received a ridiculous amount of yarn in the past couple weeks, and much of it I know many of you have been waiting for - options for assigned pooling patterns like those of Dawn Barker.

Fizz shown above in Seated Ballerina, Pop shown below in Marilyn

What do we have in the shop for you? First, Dawn Barker's new collaboration with Madelinetosh! She and Tosh came up with four new colorways that work quite nicely with her patterns and you can find them at SSYC! These colors are Seated Ballerina, Marilyn, Comic Book Art and Everyday Objects. We have these colors available on Tosh Merino Light and Tosh Sock so you can do fingering weight projects, and Tosh DK if you want a squishy and thicker DK weight project.

Aren't these all lovely? Shown above and Comic Book Art and Seated Ballerina, and shown below are Marilyn and Everyday Objects (all on Tosh Sock).

Then we have the colors that many of you have been waiting for, the Color Burst Collection from Wonderland Yarns. These are also intended for assigned pooling colors like those of Dawn Barker.

The Color Burst Collection skeins I have right now are on Cheshire Cat (fingering weight 100% superwash merino) and Mary Ann Sock (fingering weight superwash merino/nylon) - I have some colors on each of the bases, so if you don't see the yarn in one line, check the other. It's also worth noting that I show two skeins in one photo and while the skeins might look a bit different, as in you see more of one color in one skein than another, they are the same and look the same in person, they are just twisted slightly differently or show the back of the skein.

A Brush with Fate

A Refreshing Moonlit Swim

An All Night Diner

An Inkling of Something Brilliant

Blue Skies & Rainbows

Cash in the Pocket of Last Winter's Coat

City Lights on Wet Pavement

Crackling Fire on a Rainy Day

Dandelion in a Sidewalk Crack

Rainy Day Rainbow

Splashing Through Puddles

Tranquility of a Fresh Blanket of Snow

Wildflowers on your Bedside Table

Wishing on a Shooting Star

I especially like these with Turn it To the Max by Joanne Bint, shown below.

Want a few other pattern ideas? Take a look at Sunrise Sunset in Wishing on Shooting Star, Little Buds in A Brush with Fate or Splashing Through Puddles. Or Glide with Blue Skies & Rainbows.

Ask the Knitters

Dear Knitters,

It has recently been shared with me (by a bold and honest daughter in law) that my entire family does not enjoy the hand knitted socks I've been giving them. They don't wear them. Obviously, I don't want to waste my time knitting for those who don't use what I'm making. Rather than get down about about, I'm deciding if I want to find other projects they might actually like and use (I'm thinking not), or if there are organizations that might appreciate my talents.

Can you relate? Do you have advice on how I can turn this frown upside down?

Thank you, Knitters!

Debra in Dallas

 

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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 service@simplysockyarn.com . Your question could be chosen for this series.

 

Holiday Goodies Part 1, Now Available

Today is our release of our first batch of Holiday Treats! That's right, we will do two different days where we release our yearly holiday and Christmas themed goodies. What's all included today in the Kits & Clubs section?

Well, two of the collections we have already released because most of you requested that we add them as soon as we get them rather than waiting. Those are the West Yorkshire Spinners holiday colors, which includes the new Gingerbread colorway shown above AND the Regia Celebrations collection. I couldn't wait on the Celebrations collection either, as I already started knitting mine last weekend. I highly recommend stashing one of each of the eight colors.

What else can have you been waiting for? Our exclusive Kenyarn Vintage Vixen color back again in fingering and DK weight. These sold out within hours the first time we had them for Christmas in July. If you miss out, we will get them again.

Then we have the awesome Gettin Blitzen, Santa-gria and The Naughty List from Dream in Color.

More hand dyed yarn? Yes, please. We have those five gorgeous, earthy tweed inspired colors from Less Traveled Yarn on 757 Sock (merino/nylon) Tweed Sock and Tweed DK. All at the Kits & Clubs link.

We also have the two holiday hues from Less Traveled Yarn, Mistletoe and Sleigh Queen. Aren't these AWESOME?? Kits & Clubs section, friends!

We also have more of our 12 Days of Stitch Markers sets, which are just the most adorable 12 hand made polymer clay stitch markers that are so detailed and perfect that many of your have purchased more than one set. They are all packaged in tiny envelopes that are beautifully numbered so you can use it as a garland until you're ready to open yours. Or you can reuse the garland as a special package for 12 little trinkets. The markers are a surprise until you open them, but if you want to e-mail me, Allison, at service@simplysockyarn.com to ask me to send you a picture of one, I'll do that so you can see the quality and detail you can expect from your 12 different markers. Check Out this video here. I have gotten wonderful e-mails from many of you who bought yours during our Christmas in July event and ended up buying several because once you saw them you had to get more. Thank you so much! I love that our artisan's attention to detail is appreciated.

Want traditional red and green stripes? We have Urth's Christmas striping yarn back in Sock Kits (shown below with 2 matching 50g balls of yarn) or worsted weight (below that) to make cowls like I do for people for Christmas gifts.

Want our exclusive Hat Sets? We have our Jollyville Hat sets with a red or green pom. This festive speckle is dyed just for us by Madelinetosh and you'll find them at the Kits & Clubs link. I also have the Jollyville color for you on Tosh Merino Light and Pashmina there too.

We also have started up our monthly hat sets again, and you can find the three I have available in the Kits & Clubs section. If you haven't seen it, we have also released our next three month Hat Set club. Do sign up this week if you want in - it's a great value for yarn, pom and pattern each month for three months. It's a great gift too- if you want to share this link with a family member who might want to know what you want for Christmas this year.

Want something easy care for gift items? I have more of the Holidaze color from Cascade in Heritage Wave and the Prints. The Heritage Wave colors are great if you want a pair of socks that looks like they are made from hand spun yarn, and the Prints are super festive, self patterning colors. And the price point is unbeatable.

In addition to all these awesome holiday goods, I have two other things that I know are of interest. First, you'll find some lovely colors of Dream in Color's Colossal Sock in the Sale Section - these are the 150g skeins that are 45% off the typical price for that much. I have extra of the cool Andromeda Watercolor colorway that was for our Halloween Knit Kit, so if you wanted more or weren't able to get the kit, you can grab the skein here. 

Then I have a Christmas special for you - Madleinetosh's Silk Merino skeins for 50% off - they are now just $18.50 a skein. These are all potluck, meaning that we choose the color for you and you get a surprise and a super deal. If you order more than one skein, you'll get more than one color. These pictures show just some of the dozens of color options we have available. You're welcome to tell us your preferences in the comment field on the Check Out page, but please know it's potluck and if we can't fill your request, we will still send your order from what we do have. As in, if you say, I'd like two contrasting colors to make the Eschers Dream Cowl, we will do our best but if we don't have anything that suits your note, we will still send the order with skeins we have b/c it is Potluck. Other pattern ideas for one or more skeins of this great yarn are the Tied Knots Hat, Chloe's Crown (a cool headband for a quick gift knit), Tinsel Mitts, emPower People (a simple bandana), and Nightfall Cowl.

What can you expect in our second Christmas release in a couple weeks? We will have holiday striping hues from Knitterly Things and Freckled Whimsy, sock sets from Flock Fibres, two of the coolest holiday Knit Kits I've ever put together, special holiday hues from Madelinetosh and likely more that I'm just not remembering right now. But I wanted to offer these goods in two batches so that a) you could start your holiday knits leading up to the season, and b) so we can better manage this busy time. We are a small crew and this is wonderfully fast-paced time for us. We want to serve you without a several day wait. I can't wait to share all the wonderful delights that our makers created for you.

If you're local, or want to plan a holiday trip with your friends, we are spreading out our typical-one-day Holiday Open House- instead of one party day, we'll be open for 5 days starting Monday, Dec 5 through Friday, Dec 9! Bring your friends and come celebrate the holidays with us from 10am-2pm on Dec 5-9th. Each day that week we will celebrate with different sales or giveaways PLUS contests and all will be detailed a week before in our e-newsletter and here on the blog.

SSYC 2nd Hat Set Club

Last year we did a first for us, a yarn club that wasn't intended for socks. Our Hat Sets that we release mid-month in the winter months (yes, I'll start that up again soon) were so popular and sold out so fast that many people missed out before they even saw they were available. So I decided to do a Hat Set Club so that you wouldn't have to wait and click and refresh over and over to get some of that good stuff. 

And one of the questions I got most often over the past few months is "Are you doing another Hat Set Club? And WHEN??" And the answer is yes and now.

If you sign up for this club you'll get 100g or a bit more of yarn, a hand made pom pom and a pattern every month for three months in mid/late December, January and February. You don't need to stalk our website to see what the monthly clubs are (but you might still want to to see what we release each month). Instead you get your own special hat set just each month. You pay now for all three months to save your place.

Have questions? Feel free to e-mail me, Allison, at service@simplysockyarn.com or leave comments here. If you're local, you can choose contactless pickup and I'll refund $10 from your order. And if you're international, it's worth noting that like the last club if shipping goes up a lot (like it has this month) you'll be contacted to see if you want to wait to have everything shipped together or if you'd like to pay more to have it shipped to you every month. Right now, one international shipping fee won't cover all three shipments. It's just the nature of shipping outside of the US right now and I'm being transparent about that right up front.

Each hat set is a surprise until you open it, but I will share a few tidbits today.

• The price is the same as last year! Even with the cost of everything going up, I was able to keep the price the same. It's a Thanksgiving Miracle - LOL!
• For the first time, we have a DK weight hand dyed striping yarn made just for the circumference of hats! So cool.
• All yarn is heavier weight - think DK or worsted weight- and made in the US.

The hat sets pictured here are ones we've done over the past year. None are the same as what you'll get in the club. The hat shown above was knit by me for my lovely mama. Hats shown below were all knit by shop friend Holly.

 

Regia Celebrations Sock Yarn

I have a fun new Regia sock yarn collection to share today - Celebrations! 

Schachenmayr says this about their newest collection

Dark green, blue, red, silver, dark pink, green, gold and the pastel shade grège - as colorful and different as the colors of the new REGIA Celebrations Color are the occasions that are celebrated around the world at the end of the year: Whether winter solstice or Christmas, the Hindu festival of lights Diwali or the Mexican Día de los Muertos, Thanksgiving or Hanukkah - knit your favorite socks for your favorite holiday.

I absolutely adore the colors in the Celebrations collection. They are modern and fun and the patterns created aren't the typical ones you see in self patterning yarn. Love love LOVE.

I started knitting up this color already, and posted a picture of my yarn barf on Insta and FB and woah, the comments! Hundreds of comments about your experiences with yarn barf and some really good ideas on how to find the middle of the ball of center pull yarn. If you have thoughts on yarn barf, leave yours too!

If you're looking for other fun, colorful and easy care options to for gift knitting, I have other ones for you too. Consider the new Arne & Carlos collection and the 6 ply colors we just got in. I LOVE all these tweed colors in fingering and 6ply too. Don't forget all the West Yorkshire Spinners colors that we got in from the UK. These colors are flying right now, especially all the holiday ones. Definitely great for gifts too, as they are easy wash and wear.

Cascade Yarns, Heritage Sock Highlighter Hues!

It's worth noting that Cascade Yarns has released some really nice neon/highlighter colors in their most recent release of Heritage Sock!

5775 Highlighter Green

5774- Highlighter Yellow

5776 - Highlighter Violet

5772 - Highlighter Pink

5773 - Highlighter Orange

I think these would look supremely awesome combined with black for some super cool striped socks, don't you?

This brings us to over 100 solid colors of Cascade Heritage sock yarn right now, in stock and ready to ship! That's pretty darned awesome, I think.

Easy Holiday Gift Knits, Week 2

Have any of you started or completed more holiday gift knits since last week when I post about it? No? Me either. But. BUT. I have started at least pondering gift ideas. And that's something, right?

Twilight

Today I want to share some DK weight projects using the yarn that we just got back in stock, Laneras DK. Laneras (recently renamed from Vrinda) is the company known for creating yarns that use the "opposing ply" spinning method to create a more durable yarn with out using nylon. One of the four singles is spun in the opposite direction so that when the four are plied together the opposing strand gets tighter. The resulting yarn is more durable and takes the dye differently, creating the subtle barber pole effect seen in the finished yarn. 

Free Soul

I think this yarn is stunning paired with Janina Kallio's patterns. I knit two of her shawl patterns in the past year and I see no reason why I should stop myself from knitting more. She has some nice DK weight patterns that would knit up faster than their fingering weight cousins, and one of them, Orbit, uses just one skein of yarn.

Project photos courtesy of Janina Kallio/Woolenberry

How nice is this little shawl? I think every person needs one of these in their wardrobe, right? Just a bit of color peeking out from the neckline. Just enough fabric to keep our necks from getting cold this winter.

If you want to combine two colors, you could go with Sara. Just one skein of each would be plenty for this pattern. I like Pier 39 and Saruman, or Romance and Tuscany's Gold.

Or you could go with a three skein project and make a Northern Sky. Just the idea of cozying up with this shawl makes me happy. Especially in such a dynamic yarn like this DK.

I hope this helps propel you toward your gift knits, if that's what you want to do. Or I hope it just inspires you to give this gorgeous yarn a try. It really is quite lovely and knit worthy! I'll keep posting holiday gift knit ideas in the coming weeks.