Soak @ City of Craft

It’s holiday season and many of  our local Soak retailers are promoting handmade holidays, local shopping events and a focus on shopping at small businesses. We’re super excited to be part of this great holiday theme. We’re local, we’re a small business and our products and philosophies promote both handmade gifts and those made with love.

One of our favourite local events is City of Craft. It’s this weekend! We were able to get a limited edition copy of the 2013 poster, which we’ll hang with pride at the office. It’s so lovely.

2013 poster

2013 city of craft poster

If you’re in Toronto, we invite you to visit the workroom at City of Craft. They’re stocked with Soakboxes, Soak, Flatter and gifts galore. If you can’t make it this weekend, you can also find Soak products at Kid Icarus (printers of the aforementioned 2013 hand-printed poster) and event sponsor, as well as the workroom itself, on Queen West. Another sponsor, the Ontario Crafts Council has Soak at their holiday pop-up shop gallery through the 24th.

If you’re farther away, visit any of our fine retailers this holiday season. Thank them for having a great business in your community. Happy holidays!

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Knitter’s Frolic in TWO days!

Knitter’s Frolic

We’re busily preparing for this year’s DKC Frolic!
We’re packing new bottles of Yuzu Soak and Handmaid luxury hand creme,
Yuzu Twosome
Soakboxes galore,
Soakbox #1
Basins,
Carrie
Stick n’ Soak tattos,
Temporary Tattoos
And of course bottles and bottles and bottles of Soak!
Soak bottles staggered
Come see us. Come shop. Come say hello. We look forward to seeing you there!

Knitter’s Frolic

15th Annual Knitter’s Frolic

Saturday & Sunday, April 27-28, 2013

Marketplace: Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Workshops: Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
The Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre
6 Garamond Court, Toronto, Ontario


The Workroom at City of Craft

CUTE!! @art_attic stitched up the Horned Owl doll.

One of our favourite local Toronto events are the City of Craft shows. I could not be happier that they have decided to start doing a Spring show on April 20, in addition to their usual Winter one!

Our local sewing shop, The Workroom, is going to have a booth. They are going to be selling Soakboxes and Soak in both 3oz and 14oz bottles. They have all 5 scents, so this is a great opportunity to check out the our new Yuzu in person.

The Workroom will also have a number of products by local artists, such as these super cute  Kiriki Press Embroidery Kits, Uppercase Magazine and sewing patterns by Victory Patterns.
Victory Patterns


Weekly Affirmation: Costuming with Soak

Every Thursday we post a comment, tweet, email or secret message we’ve received from one of our Soakworthy customers (stores, fans, consumers, friends). Sometimes, on a rough day, it’s really helpful to read an inspiring message from someone in our community. Someone who appreciates what we do. Someone who is as passionate about Soak as we are. We appreciate all the love that comes our way. Really we do.

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Our friend Virginia from the Boston based shop Gather Here is currently doing some costuming for the film industry. We have had a lot of fun keeping up with her finds on twitter and instagram, as well as her uses for Soak products at work!

“Wrapping costumes this morning. Using @soakwash for the vintage undergarments. http://instagr.am/p/WUVvnqTF7-/

“After 14 hours shopping for clothes I need to testify that @soakwash #handmaid is awesome. Handling fiber really does a number on my hands”


Soft Launch

There are many definitions of a Soft Launch. Today it’s the unoffical announcement of our new scent, Yuzu and our new Soakbox, Elvis Paisley.

Yes, it’s a bit crazy to use this format for such exciting news, but sometimes, that’s just how it goes. The official launch will be the week of February 11th, where you’ll get more details on what we are up to than you could ever hope for. Until then, here’s the long and short of our exciting accomplishments.

Yuzu Collection

First: Yuzu. It’s the scent you’ve been waiting for. It’s so lovely it’s a bit silly. It is a kiss of tart citrus + crushed eucalyptus. It is currently available in our 3oz Soak bottles and 3oz Handmaid. It’ll be showing at TNNA this weekend, and on our website for sale (wholesale and retail) in the next week or so.

Yuzu Twosome
Second: You may notice Yuzu’s unique and lovely label. It’s the first in our upcoming series of designer labels. This label collection (yes, all 8 tiny bottles have different labels) is designed by the lovely and talented traditional fine art printmaker, and a turncoat commercial textile designer Lizzy House. Collectible, indeed.

C031.14 15

Third: Yuzu appears in our newest Soakbox, Elvis Paisley. Once again, we’ve got a lovely custom color by Lorna’s Laces and a beautiful pattern designed by Fiona Ellis. We’re telling you this because in hours, we fly to The National Needle Arts Tradeshow in Long Beach where images, tweets and posts about these new products will surface and spread like, well, like new Soak scents do.

Here’s a sneak peek at the products. Between flights, set up and tradeshow time, we’ll do our best to get these products up and online sooner than later.

If you are a Soak retailer or would like to be, email chris@soakwash.com to order any of these products. If you are looking to shop, ask for them at your favorite yarn shop, bra fitting boutique or visit our website. The products won’t go live for a bit (sorry) and the Soakboxes won’t ship until mid-March, when they ship to lovely yarn stores around the world.

Watch in the coming weeks for more details on all the tiny fragments of exciting news we’ve shared today. We wanted you to hear about the excitement from us first. Enjoy as it all unfolds! And thanks again for choosing Soak. We are forever appreciative of the love you’ve shown for our products. It’s truly Soakworthy.


Happy New Year with Labels of Love

Happy New Year Soak friends!

We are all well rested from our break over the holidays and are settling back into our routines at the office. The chocolates are being rationed for mid-morning tea breaks and we are bundled up in new hats and mitts. Good thing, as Toronto has been hit with a fair amount of snow over the last week. It isn’t as much snow as some places, but there is certainly no denying that winter has arrived.

Soakbox Promo

One of the best things about coming back from the holidays this year is hearing from customers who gave or recieved Soakboxes in the last few weeks. It is such a great gift!

January is an exciting time for knitters. Suddenly the knitting list has shortened, the calendar has opened up, and we can knit for ourselves. Provided of course that the knitter in question finished all the gifts that need to be made! I know of at least one member of our office who gave 1 fingerless mitten and a card that said “IOU: one fingerless mitten”. Ahem.

So unlike our local knitter, there is suddenly time to knit for the most important person in your life: YOU! To celebrate our favourite knitters, we are running a promotion for everyone who didn’t find a Soakbox under their trees this year. If you buy a Soakbox online from us in the month of January, you will receive a pack of Labels of Love as well. There is no code, no extra work to be done. Simply place your order and we will do the rest!

Happy New Year, from all of us here at Soak!


Free Shipping!

Celebration wearing a mini hat

We would usually have a Soakbox post here, but we are interrupting our schedule to tell you about something very exciting that will certainly help with Soakbox knitting. We are offering free shipping to Canada and the continental US starting today until December 11.  All orders received by us by midnight on December 11 will be shipped out to you in time for Christmas.

From Soakboxes to minisoaks, we’ve got lots of choices. Don’t forget to check last weeks gift guide if you are stuck for ideas!

If you are looking to order your Soakboxes or other Soak products in person, you can check out the list of retailers on our website to see which shops near you carry our products.


Weekly Affirmation | Blog Comment Love

Every Thursday we post a comment, tweet, email or secret message we’ve received from one of our Soakworthy customers (stores, fans, consumers, friends). Sometimes, on a rough day, it’s really helpful to read an inspiring message from someone in our community. Someone who appreciates what we do. Someone who is as passionate about Soak as we are. We appreciate all the love that comes our way. Really we do.


We love feedback on the blog (clearly you know about it, as you’re already here!) As you may know we just ran a Soakbox contest, promoting our Knit-A-Long, leading up to the holiday. We asked a question. “What is your preference: french manicure, or solid colour for your nails?” All you had to do was answer. (we keep it simple like that). This was one of our favorite comments, among the hundreds that poured in. Watch the blog throughout the season, we’ll be posting a lot of knitting lovin’. Thanks!

 

“I was so caught up in the pretty I forgot to answer the question…solid color for me : )”- Amber

Soakbox: may your nails match your knits. #5


Soakboxes: knit-a-longs, magazines and manicures

Working on something special this fall? How are those hands holding up? It’s time to put down your needles and pick up a Soakbox. What’s that you ask?
Lace Kelly getting polished #2

Soak, Handmaid luxury hand creme, nail polish and custom dyed to match yarn. Who could ask for anything more? Ask for them by name, get one at your LYS. They’re everywhere! (or have your LYS get in touch with us if they don’t stock them yet)
We’ve got some great things brewing related to our Soakboxes this holiday season. Watch for knit-a-longs, tutorials, give-aways and Ravelry updates about each design.
If you spot someone knitting Soakboxes, do let us know. We’re gathering images, feedback and manicure shots!

Looking for more about Soakboxes? Want to blog yourself? Here are some fun links. Check out Annie’s blog. Meet Natalie. Hello Knitty! They are also featured in the holiday issue of Knit Simple magazine (we’re super proud)

Our website is stacked wtih new products for all your holiday needs. From stocking stuffers (Handmaid anyone?) to full bottles of Soak, we’ve got your holiday gift giving all sorted out.

 Applying Handmaid creme #1

As for Soakboxes, here are some holiday ideas to start you off. There’s still time to knit before the holiday season!

  • Knit up the knits and put them back in the box for a great gift for the non-knitter in your life (if you can resist them yourself!)
  • Host a manicure & knit night with friends. Bring some bubbly and knit all night long.
  • Have your LYS host a class around Soakboxes.  

Have you knit all four yet?

 Soakbox: may your nails match your knits. #6


Soak, on the Shopping Channel! Watch it now.

We’ve been busy, and a bit out of touch with the blog. Thankfully it has been all in the name of good things and lots of work! We’ll be more on top of this moving forward.

Yesterday, as you may already know, we had our debut on the Shopping Channel! It was a very exciting day, full of new friends, new activities and selling Soak!

Jacqueline was the guest on-air, and Chris watched the numbers and helped from the sidelines. When experiencing such new and exciting adventures, it helps not to be alone!

We are very pleased to share with you the link to the great gift set we made, exclusively for them (you have to click to see it), as well as some awesome photos of the television that Chris took in the green room (the nice place where guests wait when they aren’t on air) and Jacqueline’s Dad took from home (the nice place where parents watch proudly as their children sell stuff on TV). We love the grainy look of the shots, combined with the TV buying information. All scents are available online, so get them now! Thanks for watching. We’ll let you know our next air date as soon as we have it.

Oh, and did we mention, you can even watch the video of our on-air episode too! (you have to click on the video link above the image on the Shopping Channel page selling Soak…)

Check it out! Thanks again for choosing Soak. We wouldn’t be where we are today, without you.