November Artist of the Month – Rainy Days & Wooly Dogs

Our November Artist of the Month featuring Rainy Days & Wooly Dogs’ GothSocks will be available on the stroke of midnight Saturday the 31st EST.
Isn’t it fun that on Halloween night you’ll be able to get some GothSocks? Leave the candy to the kids, we’ve got some awesome self-striping sock yarn with a goth twist for the adults!

Here’s our interview with Stephanie the dyer behind GothSocks:

1. What is your name, company name and which city and state are you from?
Stephanie Cullison, Rainy Days & Wooly Dogs from Kirkland, WA.

2. How long have you been dying yarn?
I’ve been dyeing for only about a year and a half. First time dyeing was at a friends house with Kool-Aid. I was hooked. I met up with some fibery friends for a “dye party” and we bought a bunch of undyed fiber and some acid dyes and there was no looking back

3. How did you get started?
A friend and I started up Rainy Days & Wooly Dogs because…well…I love yarn. I love fiber. I love dyeing it. It seemed like it would be a lot of fun to combine all of those and sell them! After a month or so of dyeing semi solids we talked about making things a little more dark and gothy and the idea of GothSocks came about. We hadn’t seen anyone doing black or gothy in yarns and figured it would be fun. I eventually took the biz over myself  and have been making GothSocks on my own ever since!

4. What motivates you?
All sorts of things. I guess I could get really sappy and say my kids and family. I have been a stay at home mom for 16 years. My kids have been my whole life for all those years. They still are. My oldest is my only daughter and I think it’s really important for her to see that no matter what…you can do and be who you want to be. I have been rocking funky hair and being the “weird mom” in the suburbs for years and I think it really is important to be yourself. That’s what motivates me

5. What is the favorite product you’ve ever made?
I love all of them. Really!  But I really love my Cake or Death? GothSock because I am a huge Eddie Izzard fan and every time I dye up that colorway I can hear the Church of England skit that it was pulled from.

6. Do you have any advice for other fiber artists ?
Stay true to yourself and have fun. That’s the key. I think a sense of humor is an imporant thing to have. If it’s not fun then you’re doing it wrong

7. Are there any designers, fiber artists or any other artist you consider your role model?
I have long admired all of the indie fiber artists around these days. Our community is full of some of the most amazing people. I can’t think of just one that I would call a role model.

8. Please share with us a zany or interesting thing about you. It does not have to be fiber related.
I asked my husband to help me with this question and his response pretty much sums things up, “Your existence and the way you live is pretty zany. Isn’t that enough?” So there. If that’s not enough for you….I think the fact that I have 4 kids and a home biz makes me very zany indeed (even if I didn’t have purple hair!). Oh..and did I mention that I’m double jointed too? Yup. Zany indeed.

Halloween weekend update!

This weekend’s updates are going to be two-fold.

First we’re going to have our Artist of the Month feature which will be available on the stroke of midnight Saturday the 31st. Isn’t it fun that on Halloween night you’ll be able to get some GothSocks? Leave the candy to the kids, we’ve got some awesome self-striping sock yarn with a goth twist for the adults! You can have a look at the colorways that will be available right here. Donna and I have already picked some for ourselves and I can’t wait to cast on! There’s a limited amount available, and it will go fast! There will be an interview with Stephanie of Rainy Days & Wooly Dogs right here on November 1st as well.

Secondly we’re going to have our regular Sunday night update on November 1st at 9pm EST.

We’ll have for you new colorways of Artsygal Stripes, of Lotus Yarns Aura, the new Dream in Color Knitosophy colorways as well as a restock and new colorways of Madelinetosh Tosh Worsted. Each link will bring you to a photo of the yarns in question.

Sign ups are open for our December Sock Club featuring Anne Hanson from Knitspot and Roxanne Yeun from Zen Yarn Garden. The Element for the December Club will be Fire and will feature Roxanne’s cashmere blend sock yarn. Spaces are limited so sign up early!

Don’t forget our “Lucky Draw!” drawing on November 1st! One of the winners could be you!

October 18 update

Our next update is going to be on on Sunday October 18 at 9pm EST.

We’ll have for you the latest Knitspot and Laura Chau patterns, 5 colorways of Noro Retro, a wool, silk and angora Aran weight yarn (5 more colors are on backorder), new colorways of Madelinetosh Sock (including Citrus, Sequoia, and Terrarium, my favorite!) and a restock on Lotus Yarns Aura.

Sign ups will open for our December Sock Club featuring Anne Hanson from Knitspot and Roxanne Yeun from Zen Yarn Garden. The Element for the December Club will be Fire and will feature Roxanne’s cashmere blend sock yarn. Spaces are limited so sign up early!

Our October Sock Club will be shipping tomorrow. There was some delay with the dye job but the yarn is on its way to us. As soon as they arrive (they’re coming from Canada) we’ll get your clubs out to you. So sorry about this delay!

 Did you all notice the coupon above? If you live in New England and are planning to visit Stitches East in a few days, print a copy of the coupon and bring it to our booth, you’ll get 20% off all of our yarns! We will have lots of hand-dyed sock yarns like Madelinetosh, the new Dream in Color Knitosophy, Lotus Yarns Aura, Fleece Artist and Handmaiden yarns and kits, Artsygal Stripey as well as lots of other Indie dyers and lots more!

Come and find us at booth #418 and say “hello”! Don’t forget your coupon! We’ll be there from Thursday night until Sunday.

Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival

Last week-end, Sarah and I packed the truck and headed north in pursuit of a picture perfect fall week-end.  Friday it started to rain on the way up (did I mention our site at the festival was outside), and it rained all the way through Sunday mid-day.  Despite the horrific  weather Sarah and I had a GREAT time.  We arrived at our Bed and Breakfast The green Trails Inn in Brookfield Vermont, around 5pm on Friday.  We were pleasantly surprised, the innkeeper Jane Doerfer, professional cookbook author,  was delightful.   Non stop eating all week-end.  The food was outstanding.

 

The Green Trails Inn.

Across the street from the Green Trails Inn was another fabulous fine, Ariel’s Restaurant.   Located at 29 Stone Road Brookfield, Vermont.  

The Famous Vermont Floating Bridge across the Street from the Inn.

Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival.  We love you Vermont, what a great group of knitter.  It didn’t matter if it was raining or flooding the Vermont Knitters came out any-ways and we had a great time, see you next year.

October Artist of the Month: North Loop Yarn

Please welcome Laura, our October Artist of the Month. We are featuring her Silky Merino, a 70% merino and 30% silk sock yarn. This yarn is really soft, comes in gorgeous semi solid colorways and will make luscious socks or shawls!

Here is our interview with her:

1. What is your name, company name and which city and state are you from?
My name is Laura Taylor, my company is North Loop Yarn and I just relocated from Austin, TX to the Portland, ME area.

 2. How long have you been dying yarn?
I’ve only been dyeing yarn for a little over a year.

 3. How did you get started?
I got started at my dining room table with some cheap sock yarn and tiny dye pots. I started dyeing because I wanted control over the colors I was knitting with and soon after decided to start selling it as well.

 4. What motivates you?
I’m constantly motivated by the seemingly endless colors and color combinations that exist and I love coming up with new ones.

 5. What is the favorite product you’ve ever made?
My very favorite yarn I’ve ever made was the “Sedona” colorway in superwash sock yarn that I created specifically for Sock Summit.

 6. Do you have any advice for other fiber artists?
If you’re dyeing in the kitchen in your rental apartment try really hard not to get red dye on the stovetop!

 7. Are there any designers, fiber artists or any other artist you consider your role model?
Not one specifically – I used to spend a lot of time (and sometimes still do) browsing indie dyers on Ravelry and Etsy and being inspired by all the wonderful work out there.

 
8. Please share with us a zany or interesting thing about you. It does not have to be fiber related.
Currently, almost everything I own is housed in an 8×10 storage room – sadly, yarn included!

You can have a sneak peek at the colorways available right here. And starting October 1st, you’ll be able to find them in the shop right here.

One Skein Wonders

I have been doing a lot of ONE Skein fast projects to get ready for Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival and Stitches East.  I have had a lot of great yarns to work with so the projects go pretty fast.    

This is a wonderful Tam from Ysolda Teage “Snapdragon”the yarn is Tosh Worsted colorway “Violen”. The pattern flows nicely and is very enjoyable to work with.

This is one of my favorite projects the Azapa #809 Journey Hat from Reenie Hanlin. This is my Mom doesn’t she look FAB in  this hat. This Hat only took me 1 day to make .

Another Journey Hat using the Debbie Bliss Luxury Tweed Chunky.

Wow, these are great.  My new Mitts from my new favorite Yarn Maiden Hair (which we are getting in very soon), using Anne Hanson from Knitspot “Delicato Mitts”

Nice Fall Socks.  Pumpkin Fleece Artist 2/6 Merino Wool.  Pattern Gridiron Sock by Knitspot.

Last but not least these are my Metro Sexual Gloves. Looks really good for that man in your life that likes some fashion and warmth.  Made from Noro Yuzen. So much fun to make. All these projects are on my Yarn4socks Ravelry site if you want more details.

September 27 update

 

Our next update is going to be on on Sunday September 27 at 9pm EST.

We’ll have for you the latest Knitspot patterns, 10 new colorways of Araucania Azapa plus another new line for your enjoyment: the beautiful Debbie Bliss Luxury Tweed Chunky (preview colorways here). This yarn would be perfect for the new Whitfield Jacket by Anne Hanson, don’t you think?

There’s still a couple spots available in our October Sock Club featuring Maggie from Dyed in the Wool Handmade and a pattern by Rochelle of Yosemite’s Knitting Addiction. You don’t want to miss out!

 On October 1st  we will have the pleasure of having North Loop Yarn as our October Artist of the Month. You can have a peek at what colorways will be available right here. There will be an interview with Laura here on October 1st as well.

Don’t forget our “Lucky Draw!” drawing on October 1st! One of the winners could be you!

MORE:

Did you all notice the coupon above? If you live in New England and are planning to visit either the Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival or Stitches East, print a copy of the coupon and bring it to our booth, you’ll get 20% off all of our yarns!

 Don’t forget to check out our Closeout section. You’ll find some great deals on Sublime Extra Fine Merino dk and Cashmere Merino Silk dk, Little Dog Design, Yarn Sprout, Yarntini,  Ella Rae Jaspe, Kollage Luscious, Noro Kureyon Sock and more!

Contest Winners!

Thank you everyone for all your anniversary wishes! We’re looking forward to another year with great people like you.

It was fun seeing all your guesses, sadly, no one got the exact weight, but there were some close ones!

The total weight for the Bethuen Shawl was 186g and the closest were 185g on one side and 187g on the other.

Our winners are:

• Carla
• Mara
• Barbara
• Kjirsten
• Flying Dandelions
• Erica

All of you should have received an email from yarn4socks at yahoo dot com asking for your mailing address. Please check your spam if you don’t receive it!

We’re looking forward to sending you your prizes!

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The sale is still going on until midnight tonight!

3rd anniversary sale – extended!

We’ve decided to extend the sale one more day to include September 14 as well as today.

We had some troubles with our software last night and the coupon didn’t work until a couple hours after midnight. So to make it up to you who were up last night and couldn’t shop, you have one more day to enjoy the sale!

You can use the same coupon code that we posted  a couple days ago tomorrow as well.

Thank you for your patience this morning and enjoy one more day of good deals!

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For the contest, go to the previous post. You have until midnight EST to participate.

3rd Anniversary Contest

Donna just recently finished the Bethuen shawl for our Bethuen Shawl KAL. She used approximately one skein of  Handmaiden Silk Twist and approximately one skein of Berocco Sox Metallic [Ravelry details here].

Front

Back

For this contest, all you have to do is guess how many grams the finish shawl weighs. Every 4 hour, we’ll pick the winner from whoever guessed the closest to the correct answer.

Do you think you know how much it weighs?