Dogs Steal Yarn

My favorite indie dyer right now Sunshine Yarns: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=4375
Check out her new overdyes, they are gorgeous. I am also a big fan of Sundara sock yarns, her colors are really stunning.

I love twisted.etsy.com. Very cool organic stripes!

My fave places to get lesser known sock yarns are woolgirl.com and loopyewe.com. They both sell some of the basics as well, but I've made a few fun discoveries through them.

Try Zen Garden over at etsy.com. And if you love having multiple projects going, try Tipsy Knitter over at etsy. She has the BEST little bags perfect for socks or other small projects. Great fabric prints to choose from.

Your sock yarn club for next year sounds nifty. Enjoy!

I have to second Bertha, I've been lusting over this one all day at Sunshine Yarns:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=7743997

I've knit one pair of socks with her yarn and I love to wear them, and then had her custom dye some stash yarn for me and it's beautiful.

A lady at my LYS could not stop raving about Claudia Hand Paints the other day - so I bought some :) Tess' Designer Yarns Super Sock and Baby is a great yarn that also smells really good. I've also had great luck with Woolarina yarns (http://www.woolarina.com/shop/index.php). On my wish list is anything from Sundara yarns (http://sundarayarn.typepad.com/sundara_yarn/.

I know Yvonne Ellsworth, who is LavenderSheep. She has great colors, decent prices, and she has a couple of places that she deals her yarn through, as well as her own website, lavendersheep.com She lives in Hood River, OR, about an hour or so from Portland on the Columbia River. Lots of trails and rivers and windsurfers to see in the summer. :)

The one I've most recently checked out is Wollmeise, a German dyer who's just opened up a webshop. Her colors are fantastic and come in three different intensities, so you can get exactly what you're looking for. And you can order mini test-skeins of other colors to check them out. Really fun stuff - it's not the cheapest, with the exchange rate, but it's actually not that bad, and shipping is surprisingly fast.

Gee...you could start your very own KAL. :-)

Check out Yarn Nerd Yarns from The Loopy Ewe.

www.adamknits.com

Hard to believe he's only been knitting for two years.

Try Lisa Souza:
http://www.lisaknit.com/

and yarnforest:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5268814

Sundara has gorgeous colors. Also, check out Sophie's Toes on Etsy - I can verify that her yarn is scrumptious.
(http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=47909)

I know and love Melanie of LotusYarns - she has lovely colorways. I have several skeins of her yarn!

I'm not sure why the link didn't work - but I'll try again! Here's Lotus Yarns: (http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5137849)

That sounds like a great plan!
My favorites at the moment are Sundara Yarns (sundarayarn.typepad.com) and Woolly Boully (woollyboully.etsy.com). Have fun

Amen--what is that slavish desire to be the first and only with a colorway? I don't get it.

I recommend my friend Gail, the Kangaroo Dyer. Her yarn is available at Webs and it's really nice! Great reds and oranges, good yardage, strong as hell.

I had to exercise serious restraint with the Ravens....

Oh, and it's called Franklin!

I haven't knit socks with it, but http://www.theknittery.com/ have gorgeous merino and merino/cashmere handpainted 4 ply sock yarn and they're Australian: merino straight from the source!

Psst. . . I have something to send you (don't worry, it's not sock yarn, I think you're weighed down enough with that at the moment). Would you send me your mailing address?

Also, where did you get those beautiful clogs you're wearing in the Tussie Mussie photos? I really feel like if I'm going to knit the sweater, I've gotta have the clogs to go with.

Oh yeah, and I've gotten some lovely things lately from Violin Jodie, here: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5218296. Her colours are intense and wonderful.

Jana of Handmaiden (www.handmaiden.ca) is my best pal & she has some new sock yarn (cashmere & merino baby) that is to die for. We are starting our own group called SABS (socks-at-bars) where we'll knit the crazy new Cat Bordhi sock patterns (http://www.catbordhi.com/NP1.html). At bars. We're mamas with babes who need to get out of the house every once in a while. Too bad you don't live in Vancouver!

Dream in Color Smooshy, ShibuKnits, Sleeping Dragon, Chewy Spaghetti and Seacoast Handpainted are some of my new favorites that haven't been mentioned. Great online shops include yarn4socks.com, Simply Sock Yarn Company, and Sonny and Shear.
Enjoy!

I really like hello yarns! Adrian has some great colors and a variety of weights.

Your plan for next year sounds great. I can't wait to see the yarn you get.

And (belated) welcome to Portland!

I love the small ravens we have in the Pacific Northwest. My sister has done a series of paintings from Saltspring Island. They are as small as crows, but very smart. Perhaps they are your neighbours.

I just recently got some Madeline Tosh from yarn4socks.com and I LOVE it. I'm having a hard time deciding what to pattern to make.

I have been lusting after some of Sundara's yarns but haven't been lucky enough to have the $$ for them when she updates her shop.

Also have to inclue Yarn Pirate (www.yarnpirate.com) her yarns are AWESOME! I've met her and she's seriously cool as well.

What beautiful sock yarn! Very envious. I can only point you to the knittery (linked in a previous comment) they are australian, and I've only bought the 4 ply merino, but its lovely.

i think it was already mentioned, but sundara yarns (not just sock yarn!) are really nice...and i htink she's up in the seattle/portland area!

I'll second Yarn Pirate. I want to try Yarn Chef and DharmaFey, both on Etsy. Beautiful colors.

love the glimpse at the sock yarn stash. that could totally be claudia's stash. great minds think alike, eh. :)

Oh my goodness, if I ever have several hundred bucks to blow in perfect happiness, I'll come back I read the comments.

I like Emily Parsons/Sophie's Toes at Etsy. I think she advertises on Knitty. Not technically savvy enough to link...

That's a great idea! I think I need to give myself permission for an "extravagance" like that.

Deb at Fearless Fibers has some GORGEOUS colorways, and she's in the Portland area, too. :) I'd also recommend the lovely stuff at Ball and Skein.

Good luck finding Sweet Georgia - she's not dyeing anymore.

My favourite indie dyer is Indigo Moon - http://www.indigomoonyarns.com/

Her colours are just fabulous!

Um, I dye some... http://crazymonkey.etsy.com -- I do small batches of colors I like to put together, and will do some unique dyes if requested. :)

Mmmm, socks...

Okay, I love the Yartini colors. I bought some in a colorway called Tequila Sunrise awhile back, and it's so lovely I may have to put it in a vase. They sell Yarntini at Twisted, on NE Broadway and (I think) 28th. I love that shop.

And are you going to the Blue Moon stash sale this weekend? I'm kind of giddy with the thought of getting to play with it all.

Not a suggestion but a question. From whom did you get the fabulous tiger-striped yarn?

don't forget Dani at Sunshine yarns!

I'm absolutely shocked that two of my favorites haven't been mentioned-- Wollmeise-- amazing sock yarn from Claudia in Germany. Dyeing genious, very hard twist to her merino superwash. Love it. http://www.wollmeise-yarnshop.de/ (Click on the US flag for English. It's 12 Euro/skein with VAT reduction for non-Europeans)

The other one-- and I hate telling people about her because items FLY out of her etsy shop--- but you should certainly check out Pigeonroof Studios. She's been in a nasy accident, but she still updates the shop. Amazing.

Wow. Your comments are a goldmine of good suggestions.

I like Sundara at the moment, and my Zen Garden is seriously nice yarn.

i just got the notice for the sock club, too, and finally decided that i didn't have the money (really and truly) for it. i was kind of regretting the decision, but then i read this post and i enjoy the idea of this much more. thanks for the great idea and happy hunting!

I also recommend Sunshine Yarns on etsy. I met Dani at Rhinebeck and got to see many of her colorways in person--they are vibrant and really beautiful! Even though it was really hard to choose a color, I managed to ordered a couple of skeins from her recently. They arrived quickly and I can't wait to start knitting them up. The comments on this thread are giving me tons of ideas of where to look for sock yarn. Thanks!

I was debating about whether or not to renew my STR membership but I caved in after receiving the Lenore shipment. I like your idea though!

I've been very happy with the yarn I received from KnitPixie and The Knittery--such beautiful colors, such squishy yarn!

OOPS! I so meant SockPixie, not KnitPixie, which seems to be something else entirely. Sorry!

What a great idea! I too was in the 2007 Rockin' Sock Club but I decided I didn't want to go for it again (as much as I enjoyed it). I want to choose my own yarns but never thought of doing it the way you described. I may just join in the fun :) I'm sure there are others who might be interested in doing this too - perhaps a blog/yahoo group is in order??

As for dyers - I discovered Sweet Georgia just as she was shutting down (I still hope she will come back!) and I did manage to acquire a nice stash of her yarns. I have to second Dotty's vote for Indigo Moon though - Trish has a super eye for color! I HIGHLY recommended checking out her offerings. http://www.indigomoonyarns.com/hand_painted.html

One year of STR was enough for me to. Glad I did it, not interested in a second round.

I've been getting into mohair blends because I find merino wears out so fast. I like Apple Laine which is wool/mohair/silk and dyed in a manner that looks like Koigu. I love Schaefer Anne, a wool/mohair/nylon blend, for the colors and the feel, but the yarn is so fine it takes a long time to make something to fit my big feet.

spunky eclectic, hello yarn, spirit trial fiberworks. Those are the top 3 that make my stash. :)

LOL, everyone's beaten me to most! (Oh, but go look at Yarn Forest's Aurora 6; I haven't knit it yet, but it feels and looks fantabulous!) But aha, I have one more local dyer. I haven't purchased from her yet, but Shelley at Butternut Woolens
http://www.butternutwoolens.com/
has some fantastic grays in her Super Sock recently. Got to meet her at OFFF, and things looked gorgeous.

As well as crows, keep an ear out for Canada geese flying over in migration season. (I always get chills down my neck whenever I'm lucky enough to hear them.) And if you do go out to the Blue Moon sale, look north towards the Columbia after you pass Sauvie Island. Those white dots you'll see on the ground in the distance are flocks of whistling swans (wups, tundra now,) or possibly trumpeter swans.

It sounds like you've got enough local options that you could do a 100-mile sock club! We've been doing this for food (trying to eat as locally as possible - check this out for inspiration - http://100milediet.org/) but I hadn't thought of it for yarn! I'll watch your progress with interest!

That is an idea great enough to be worthy of your wonderful sock yarn stash. Others have mentioned her, but Dani's yarns (Sunshine yarns) are lovely if you've never worked with them. I'm into the Pumpkin Latte I got from the Plucky Knitter right now, too.

Dyebolical Yarns on etsy is my fave. All her colors are inspired by comic books and superheros.
Rachel makes a "Flash" colorway that might appeal to you.

I admit that since I started dyeing (for myself, not commmercially), I prefer to dye my own sock yarn, so I don't have any suggestions for you. I think mostly I just like to be surprised at how it turns out. Yes, I'm easily amused.

If you do get to missing pigeons, there's a large flock that hangs out most of the time in Lovejoy Foutain Park, near where I work (south end of downtown): http://www.portlandonline.com/parks/finder/index.cfm?action=ViewPark&PropertyID=242

My favorite crow is story is when a flock of them were flying down to dive bomb a raccoon, who had climbed a 20-ft cherry tree to get at the fruit. All the squawking and cawing brought us outside to watch.

I should add that although I saw the pigeons Tuesday, flying over, they're more likely to be there when the fountain is on (I think April->September, but I'm not sure of the dates)

Definitely check out White Willow's store on etsy

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=40138

Her yarn is lovely to work with and her colorways are amazing! She's a bit low on stock right now (her little boy's been ill, but he's on the mend now!) but bookmark her! You'll be glad you did. I'm doing a pair of Jaywalkers in her Rainbow Sherbert color scheme and, honestly, I want sherbert and lots of it every time I pull them out.

Which, I realize, is not a good thing.

Hi, I love Wollmeise's yarn even though it is a tiny bit splitty: http://www.rohrspatzundwollmeise.de/flash_content/rohrspatzundwollmeise.html

Karin

Ah! I am jealous of your sock yarn! I'm halfway through my first sock, and already I feel the need to drop everything and start more. :) As for indie dyers, if you want original colorways with original names, I like www.dkknits.etsy.com

http://www.simplysockyarn.com/StoreFront.bok does a mini-sock club in the summer-fall (Aug-Sept-Oct). It is three months of yarn from small dyers, enough for a pair in colorways that will not be repeated and not available in the dyer's normal offerings. No patterns, just yarn because as she says--there are enough patterns and intelligent people out there knitting socks.

I just found your blog from the Yarn Harlot. Being a dog person, I was intrigued by the name...and just wanted to let you know that I've posted a few of my homemade dog treat recipes on my blog, so if you feel the urge, check them out...i'm sure you're little guys would love them!

iwww.indigomoonyarns.com

An excellent idea. I'm partial to Chewy Spaghetti and Etsy's Fearless Fibers and Hazel Knits. And I'm totally in love with the STR Raven series, too.

I have bought sock yarn from Cider Moon. They have great colors and a variety of types of yarn.

Kristina

My vote goes to www.poshyarn.co.uk, fantastic hand dyed yarns, several sock yarn options. Dee does a weekly sale on a Sunday evening and there is always something I covet!

Lisa Souza's my favorite. lisaknit.com

I am crazy for http://www.madelinetosh.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=4. Her colors are so vibrant they are practically alive. I feel the same way about handknit socks and wear handknit socks everyday. It's a rare day when I wear store-bought socks. I'll only buys shoes that show off the handknits too.

This is a good idea! However I don't have any self control. I did join again next year. I think I'm as addicted to "happy" mail as I am to sock yarn;) Sheepaints really has some beautiful yarns. I found her through Woolgirl.com (another Oregonian).