Sock Tube Cranking News
and charity knitting for Wool-Aid
We found a couple of misfit skeins of yarn for the last of our sock tube cranking services for the spring! The misfit skeins are really delightful, but a little wonky – perhaps they’re less than a full skein, or have a dye error in them. If you get 5 or more sock tubes cranked from your stash yarn, we’ll pick the skein that best matches the yarn you’ve sent, and include it in your order for free!
Stash tube cranking is a great way to STASH DOWN this year. You send us your yarn, and we crank it into a tube on our Circular Sock Machine. We can crank 54, 64, or 72 stitches at a wide range of gauge. Fingering and sport weight yarns are best. Bill has made thousands of tubes and loves answering questions about how to work with specific yarns. If you have any questions or want to chat, please reply to this email!
Spring is coming, which means cranking season will end soon. We’ll take all orders through the end of March, and then only on a small scale through the summer. If you’d like a batch of tubes that you’d like to work on this year, now is the best time!
New Wool-Aid Charity Sock Guidelines
We found these last few misfit skeins when we dug deep into bins to curate yarn to donate to Wool-Aid. Wool-Aid is a charity that accepts handknit items to send to children and teens around the world who are in need of warmth. It is the primary charity that I knit for, because they request items made from at least 80% wool, and the yarn does not have to be machine washable, as many of the children that receive the hats, mittens, and sweaters, live in areas without washing machines.
Most of the items Wool-Aid requests should be made with worsted weight yarn (handspun is perfect here), but they have recently changed their guidelines to accept THIN SOCKS made from fingering, sport, and DK weight yarn. They are interested in tough-wearing yarns, and our Corriedale base fits their request. If you have scraps and the time, and are interested in knitting for Wool-Aid, you can find more information on their website. They also still accept thick socks knit with worsted weight yarn held together with a fingering weight wool/nylon blend.
If you have scraps of our other yarns, I know that holding two strands of Targhee Fingering, for example, makes a very squishy and warm hat that also fits Wool-Aid guidelines.
Quick shop news!
The last day to preorder February yarns is tomorrow, Tuesday, February 20. I am also working on some ready-to-ship batts, which will be randomly added to the website as they’re finished. I know the batt section of the shop has been mostly neglected for...months...but I am changing that this year. If you’re a spinner, pop into the batt section from time to time, and you might see something you like.
Thanks so much for your interest in our shop! We’re here buried under unexpected snow if you want to chat about sock tubes or charity knitting. Be warm and well, friends!