Back to Normal

January 17, 2018

Yay

As much as I love the festivities and all of that, its always a nice feeling to be back to normal. Ive had a lovely time looking around Ravelry seeing what Knit Alongs 'KALs' I want to join in with and one thats really appealled is Amy Florence Commercial Sock KAL. Can't beat a lovely commercial sock yarn. Its alway a great price, I know I sell it. Id be hard pushed to say what the most popular commercial sock yarn is but if a well known podcaster is using it then .I usually sell out of that brand .

I always get a buzz when Ive managed to catch an update from an Indie dyer. I think there are some professionals at this but Im not one of them as Im always getting trolley jacked As a yarn dyer myself I have a lot of special'skeins that are waiting for the right pattern to come along , because heaven forbid I will not knit a vanilla sock using my "good stuff''. Pathetic, daft I hear you shouting at this post but as a disclaimer its the way I feel. Im not speaking for any others. Give me 3 commercial skeins that are equal in money to that one 'special skein' and Oh my giddy aunt' Im happy as larry and I take on the role of a mad woman and can't cast on quick enough. ANNND I alway love them just as much ANNND I wear them more too. What I discovered is that even though I have my own label The Yarn Tart I love commercial sock yarn equally so. Theres room for all yarns all colours and all prices. Infact one of the least expensive yarns I stock happens to be my best seller and one of my favourites. Heres a few.

Grundl is a great affordable yarn with great colours. Cashmere, cotton, wool, and merino mix. price ranges from £6.50 - £8.

But I do love abit of Regia, its a nice plumpish yarn and the colours are fabulous with desin lines from Arne & Carlo and Kaffe Fassett being really popular. The Regia Pairfect is perfect too

Head Over Heels

A lovely lighter weight yarn from Stylecraft at £6.50 per 100gms. The colour range vary between tonals and stripes . I use 2.25 mm instead of my usual 2.5mm needle as I prefer a more denser fabric with my socks but this is a personal preference.

Opal, good old Opal. Theres always a good selection of yarns from Opal with new ranges appearing regularly. 75%wool 25% nylon mix make it a good hard wearing yarn. I made some great scrappy socks using Opals Celebration range.

If you like a bit of bling then we have Rico Las Vegas, or theres Rico Superba with bamboo content and Rico Poeme.

Rowan fine Art is another luxury commercial yarn. Its no longer available but I managed to get some before it sold out completely from Rowan. Its a premium handpainted yarn, 45% merino, 20%mohair, 20% polyamide and 10% silk. 400ms per 100gms and its reduced down to £12. Ive knit several pairs using this yarn and its fabulous. A Knitted Sock Society by Rachel Coopey is a full of designs using Rowan Fine Art.

Our new Club starting in March is fab. Suffolk Socks Self Striping Club is a 3 month subscription. over the 3 months you'll receive 300 gms of self striping 4ply sock yarn, a project bag and a special Suffolk Socks pin. Ive placed an order for new to me ranges and shades which are so gorgeous I cant wait for them to arrive. I think I might have to get Jonathan to lucky dip me a shade and post it to me so I get the thrill of being a club member. The cost of the club is £40 + p&p. To keep the cost down only one post charge is included so all non UK members will receive all 3 yarns together, clearly marked with the month on it. It will be like a mini advent in March april and May.

Thank you for reading my blog. have a lovely day

Julie