‘Tis the season, right? For knitting things…and buying a few things…
I’ve always been a bit hesitant about sock clubs. On the one hand, there is the excitement and mystery of getting an unknown package in the mail; on the other hand, there is the element of risk. A trade-off between getting exactly what you want and the element of surprise. Well, at the end of October Robyn was advertising her ‘ultimate’ sock club kit for November as a more-than-usual sock club kit, and the idea of getting a whackload of stuff in the mail was enticing enough.
Lo and behold, this is what arrived. It is indeed a whackload of stuff! All in all I think I call it a win, although I haven’t yet examined the patterns (these are all on the CD, interestingly enough). 3 skeins of yarn, 5 patterns, DPNs, 3 pairs of stitch markers, assorted treats…A fun pack to be sure. 2 of the 3 skeins of yarn are colour combinations I can use pretty easily…sadly the 3rd is too candy-electric for me so I might end up trading that one away. On the plus side, I like the tape measure and trinkets, and the tote bag is lovely and sturdy.
On the minus side, all of the DPNs are short 5-inch ones, which is a size I never use. I’ve stuck with sets of 4 7-inch straights my entire sock knitting life thus far and, well, it’s hard to change. I’ve tried the short ones in sets of 5 before but they’re just not for me. These might be for trading away also. My only other concern is that while the yarn is beautifully dyed I hadn’t expected all 3 skeins to come from the same dyer. Some variety there would shake things up a bit – after all, if you try one skein and the texture doesn’t suit you, it would be refreshing to have something different to turn to next.
So, there we have my latest foray into sock clubs. I do like the 1-month shot, I might try it again in a bit when I need some more mystery in my life. I look forward to contemplating these new stashlet additions.
And in other news…I’m swatching again. Just about on schedule given that this is about exactly what I was doing a year ago.
I’m looking forward to see how these colours blend…and will be sure to report further as events unfold. And now, back to Wednesday! May your knitting be close by.
Glenna Knits 
I can’t wait to see what your swatch turns into! Love colorwork lately.
So far I think the swatch looks great! (of course I’ve not tried colorwork yet so, naturally, I think you are exceedingly clever for knitting that up.) 🙂
I love that the patterns come on a CD- what a great way to conserve paper!
Great review… and I agree about multiple dyers.
Thanks for the input! I was curious what everyone thought. I was trying to do something different for the Ultimate kit and could have gone in many directions! If you want to mail me back the 5″ DPNs in a letter envelope I can mail you longer ones. I dont mind that at all – I carry longer ones in stock. Up to you though! Let me know!
But thanks again for the review! It’s always good to know what other people think!
That’s how I feel too about joining clubs but I did join one for a year for the fun of receiving monthly packages. Love your Twist cardigan – gorgeous color.
If you would like to trade off the skein that isn’t quite your colour, let me know 🙂 I am always up to trying something different. I am Emeraldcutie on Ravelry – Maybe there is something in my stash that might interest you. 🙂
Wow, what a haul for a sock club! And I’d suggest keeping the candy colored skein until the next time you need to make something for a baby – there are a lot of great baby patterns out there that use sock yarn, and those colors would be great for a baby girl. I also love your Twist cardigan!
Wow, that’s fabulous!! Looks like you got a tonne of stuff. I tend to go for the tacky coloured balls of yarn but I don’t mind loud socks. Like the other poster said, you never know what you could use that one for.
I forgot all about that website, Robyn has nice yarns for sale…
That is quite a fun package to get in the mail! I’m always amazed at what people put together for others, because it’s so hard to imagine what people might like, if you don’t stalk their blog pretty much all the time.
And that swatch is intriguing!
Hey, that’s a nice swatch. What’s that yarn you are playing with there?
What a haul! I second the baby sweater idea (fyi – 100gr of sock yarn more than makes one baby suprise jacket… just sayin)
So what is the swatch for?!
Thanks for the vicarious peek into the “clublife”! I’m always curious to see what the fuss is about but ultimately I don’t think they’re for me.
Thanks for sharing the sock of the month club info. I have been curious about that and think Iwould rather pick out my own items. Neat idea though.
What a great package!