Weekly Affirmation: Lace Kelly
Posted: 18/04/2013 Filed under: Knitting, SWmain, Testimonials Leave a commentEvery 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 found this great affirmation from Lisa on the Jimmy Beans Wool webiste this week. They have a great e-commerce site, where you can also leave text and video reviews of products they sell. What a great idea!
“This is the PERFECT gift for a knitter – great yarn, great pattern and lots of little goodies to make it interesting. I bought one for myself, even though I don’t even wear nail polish and am so pleased with it. Once again, Lorna’s Laces and SOAK have a winner!”
Thanks so much Lisa! We are so happy to working with Lorna’s Laces, and have lots of new plans up our sleeves for the coming months. Stay tuned!
Weekly Affirmation: Costuming with Soak
Posted: 21/03/2013 Filed under: Business, Craft, Knitting, lingerie, Soak Stockists, Soak Worthy People, SWmain, SWProducts, SWsoak, Testimonials, Uses for Soak Leave a commentEvery 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”
Yarn Pop and Soak at Stitches West
Posted: 13/02/2013 Filed under: Knitting, Soak Stockists, Soak Worthy People, SWevents, SWsoak, SWstores, tradeshow, Travel Leave a commentThere are so many knitting and lingerie events around North America, it is hard to keep up! We have a few that we do regularly and we love seeing everyone at those shows. We are super excited that even though we won’t be there personally, Soak still has a presence at many events, marketplaces and tradeshows thanks to our distributors, Louet and Bryson, as well as many independant retailers as well.
Soak will be officially taking up a corner of the Top Shelf Totes, booth number 1140 at Stitches West, February 21-24. We met Lori a few times over the last few months and fell in love with her sewn project bags.
Lori will have the full range of Soak products, including our brand new Yuzu scent and Elvis Paisley Soakbox. This will be Yuzu’s first appearance in a marketplace, we are so excited for you all to see it and smell it.
Yarn Pop has matched up some of her prints with Soak labels to make perfect little gifts. I think that a little knitting bag is the only thing that is missing from a Soakbox! Top Shelf Totes are all fully lined with a large tooth zipper, so they are very sturdy. You can feed your yarn through the grommets in the side so that there is no worry of the yarn getting into a tangly mess inside your purse.
These would also be wonderful for non knitters as a toiletrie bag with some Soak and Handmaid. They look ready to go on an adventure together.
Thank-you so much for hosting us Lori! We wish we could be there as well.
Happy New Year with Labels of Love
Posted: 03/01/2013 Filed under: Craft, Knitting, Soak Fragrances, SWLL, SWpromotions 2 CommentsHappy 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.
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!
Soakbox Knit-A-Long: Matching Knits and Nails
Posted: 03/12/2012 Filed under: Design, Knitting, SWmain, SWsoak 1 CommentOver the next few weeks we are running a knit-a-long for the four patterns in our Soakboxes. We will be posting detailed information on each of the patterns as well as fun things you can do with your Soakboxes for yourself, as a gift and as a group. You can order a kit from us directly, just click on the link on the right, or you can ask for it by name from your local yarn store. May your hands be soft, fibers fresh and nails match your knits!
We have seen a few posts floating around talking about matching knits to nails over the last few months. Naturally we thought it was high time for us to put out our own list of favourite nail trends and matching knits!
I fell in love with these simple rainbow fingerless mitts by Elise Dupont quite a while ago. The pattern is available in french from the online magazine In The Loops, or as an english as a ravelry download. They are such a great showcase for little bits of colour. Similarly, the rainbow French Tips that Jennifer of Fab Fatale posted are a great way to push the nail trend without committing to something too complicated. 
How cute is the Honors Geometry cowl by Katie Canavan?! The colour combinations for this are endless. I love how it looks in the bright colours, but wouldn’t it look fabulous in neutrals as well? The triangle look is a perfect match for the triangle nail tutorial I found. It’s not in English, but the photos are very clear on how to get the triangle effect. 
The tagline for these nails was Aztec, but I think most knitters agree that they look more like a colourwork sweater! These nails are certainly something to aspire to, I can’t imagine the patience required, but they do look like a lot of fun. I had a lot of fun looking at different colour combinations of Ann Weaver’s Oranje cardican on Ravelry. In the end I went with her original sweater from the pattern photos. The pop of orange is so much fun.
Of course, nail polish is only the beginning of things you can do on your nails. Nail decals are a fun alternative to having high detail without the worry of making a mistake. They go on like temporary tattoos. It would be so much fun to pair Natalie Selles’ Oh Deer! mittens with these deer decals from JsUtopia. There a lots of decal options out there, so the pairing options are endless. 
The ombre trend has been all over recently. Knitting and nails are only the tip of the iceberg. I love this simple cardigan by Tanis Lavallee. I love how Julie’s Ombre moves from brown to red, and would look great with almost any combination of colours. 
Of course we have to include something about Soakboxes as well! A solid nail matched with a solid yarn is an easy and fun way to get matchy. It’s also the easiest to change almost as often as you change your mittens.
Do you have any favourite nail and knitting combinations? Share them in the comments!
P.S. Don’t forget, we’ve still got free shipping going on for continental US and Canada until December 11! Order your Soak products today!
Free Shipping!
Posted: 26/11/2012 Filed under: Business, Craft, Knitting, SWevents, SWmain, SWpromotions Leave a comment
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.
Happy Thanksgiving
Posted: 21/11/2012 Filed under: Knitting, SWmain | Tags: cyber monday, holiday, Knitting, sales, thanksgiving, turkey Leave a comment…to all our friends and family celebrating this week. We wish you a safe and prosperous transition into the holiday season. Watch for holiday specials, promotions and treats in the coming days.
Soakbox Knit-A-Long: All Knitted Up and Gifted Away
Posted: 05/11/2012 Filed under: Knitting, SWmain, SWsoak Leave a commentOver the next few weeks we are running a knit-a-long for the four patterns in our Soakboxes. We will be posting detailed information on each of the patterns as well as fun things you can do with your Soakboxes for yourself, as a gift and as a group. You can order a kit from us directly, just click on the link on the right, or you can ask for it by name from your local yarn store. May your hands be soft, fibers fresh and nails match your knits!
We’ve been thinking a lot about who we would like to gift Soakboxes to. Our knitter friends are an obvious choice, and ourselves of course!
But then we got to thinking about other friends and family. What about our non-knitter friends? They might love the idea, but the “some assembly required mitts” may be beyond their skill set. So that’s where your abilities come in. You could knit up the pattern, and then slip it back into the box, all ready to be wrapped up and given to a worthy friend.
We are sure that it is not just knitters that enjoy matching their polish and their knits!
So who is on your extra special list? Who deserves both the gorgeous Soakbox, and a knitted gift?
Soakbox Knit-A-Long: Clark Cable
Posted: 26/10/2012 Filed under: Knitting, SWmain Leave a commentOver the next few weeks we are running a knit-a-long for the four patterns in our Soakboxes. We will be posting detailed information on each of the patterns as well as fun things you can do with your Soakboxes for yourself, as a gift and as a group. You can order a kit from us directly, just click on the link on the right, or you can ask for it by name from your local yarn store. May your hands be soft, fibers fresh and nails match your knits!
Clark Cable is one of the more advanced patterns in our series, but one of the great things about fingerless mitts is that they make great canvases for practicing new techniques! Cables are often thought of as really advanced, but the truth is that they are surprisingly easy, and they make a great visual impact. We are sure you will have all your friends asking after them when you are done!
Cables
As always Knitty has a great tutorial with photographs on how to work cable stitches.
Errata
There is one tiny mistake the original pattern. We did go through and manually correct the patterns that are in the boxes, but we will mention it here again, just incase one was missed, or if you aren’t sure what it means.
In round 14 it should read as: P3, k3, turn work so that WS is facing; you will re-work the last 6 sts once more, and all the way round. WS now facing: K1, (p2, k6, p3, k1) four times, p2, k6, p2, k1. Turn.
Needles
Choosing needles when working in the round on small circumferences can be a bit of a puzzle. In this case Isobel, our test knitter, recommended working with two short circular needles rather than double points as she found the cable needle plus lots of needles a bit of a handful.
Ladders
What are ladders? Well, other than something that you use to reach that last can of chickpeas in the pantry, they are a pesky side effect of knitting in the round. What happens is that there is too much yarn going from one needle to the next and it creates a gap between the stitches that looks like a little ladder. Due to the reverse stockinette background of the pattern it is bound to show up a little bit, but there are a few ways to minimize things.
One way is to make sure that the first and last stitches on your needles are pulled snuggly to reduce the amount of extra yarn.
Another is to use magic loop or two circs, as this will give you two sets of ladders instead of the three that you would get with dpns.
Whatever you decide to do, I am sure that the overall effect of the ladders will lesson once it is blocked. Isobel found that once she had washed them in Soak and eased them into shape, the ladders disappeared all together!
Yarn Quantity
It is always a good idea to check your gauge on a pattern, but there is an extra reason to do it on this one. There isn’t a lot of extra yarn, so you are going to want to make sure that your mitten isn’t going to accidentally come out too big as you will then run out of yarn. It is easier to check that your needle size is right and start over than to knit 1.75 mitts and discover that you have run out!
Happy Knitting!
Soakboxes: knit-a-longs, magazines and manicures
Posted: 10/10/2012 Filed under: Craft, Knitting, Soak Worthy People, SW101, SWCustomerContributions, SWhowto, SWLL, SWmain, SWProducts, SWpromotions, SWsoak, SWstores, Testimonials | Tags: fiona ellis, hand cream, Knitting, lornas laces, soak, soakbox 2 CommentsWorking 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?
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.
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?
soakworthy.com 