Keeping a secret, part 3: Planning the big reveal

What a week we’ve had. The suspense, the drama, the shipping of media samples! Alas, here it is. The final story in the beginning of a great new collection of products. We’re certain these Soakboxes will be here to stay.

Conceptually we were sorted and the designing began. We finalized our new 3oz bottles. They’re 100% post-consumer resin and super cute. Flight friendly and environmentally friendly. We created mini versions of our new labels for Soak 3oz and branded the new and now in high demand Handmaid.

We finalized our yarn colours, to match our Soak fragrances, of course, and Fiona finalized patterns.

As Fiona pointed out, “four colour-ways were selected to encompass both fashion-forward shades and the classics. In my classes when looking at colour selection I point out how each hue has its own personality and provokes a response in us. So I based the designs for each pair of mitts on this theory, designing the patterns to fit with the mood of each colour and Soak fragrance.”

Fiona loves the detail in each pattern. Her words describe them best:

Clark Cable: reds are considered warm, passionate and powerful. This is a classic dark red so the cable design for this colour-way is dramatic and suitable for evening wear. The cables open up to create a saucy little hole for the thumb.

Double Pointe Pink: lights or pastels feel young, delicate and soft. Pale pink is very feminine and reminds me of ballet slippers. So this design has cables to look like the lacing of the ribbons and also includes my signature I-cord trim.

Lace Kelly: this shade is an on-trend combination somewhere between blue & green. Both are thought of as cool, tranquil and calming. The eyelet lace is wonderfully ladylike and is my homage to the demure beauty of the style icon whose name we riffed on to name our colour.

Cuff au Lait: browns, the colour of earth, are comfortable, rustic and fertile, darks shades are opulent, light shades make me think of edibles: milk chocolate, caramel and of course cappuccino. The polish is something that you can wear with just about anything and so the design for this one has a “wear it every day” feel, the fold over ribbed cuff makes it cozy and casual.

As we worked through the packaging, we scheduled photo shoots and naming parties to bring it all together.  When we started receiving bits and pieces at our warehouse, it became harder and harder to keep the project quiet. We even invited hand models from our local knit scene to assist in the photo shoot, trading secrecy for first access to the new designs.

In summary, each Soakbox includes a bottle of Soak and Handmaid luxury creme, in matching scents, stylishly coordinated to premium nail polish and matching Lorna’s Laces custom designed yarn.
 

We’re all really excited about this project. While it’s still the start of summer, think towards knitting on the beach, cozy fall projects and holiday as this is the perfect gift, for yourself and those who knit. They’ll hit stores starting in June. Ask for them by name. In fact, print out this post and take it to your LYS (or gift store) and have them contact me to order them for you.

Images are available here. Feel free to share them, comment, blog and repost. Please be sure to link back to our website or this blog, so that our great team can be credited for their hard work. The products are live on our site as well, although as mentioned, they won’t ship until sometime in June. If you have any questions (purchasing, selling, promoting or just sending lovely feedback) related to this or other Soak projects, please be in touch! We would love to hear from you.

 “It is always exciting to see a project that begins as just a bright idea come to fruition but when it exceeds your own imaginings it is doubly so.” Fiona Ellis.