October 2017 YarnBox Socks

This month’s YarnBox angered me and it has nothing to do with Sugarbush Yarns.

First, I get gray yarn. Even after going through all my preferences on YarnBox’s site for bright colors, no pinks, etc etc.

Second, they sent 3 balls of yarn that are 50g/140m each. Which sounds fine, until you realize that:

if you have big man feet, one ball is not enough, which is why I’m assuming you get 3, or
you have small feet and this makes 3 socks… but who needs 3 socks? and
140m for 50g is not the standard for sock yarns… it should be closer to 200m (180-220ish).

It sounds petty, I know, but this is how you piss off a sock knitter with big feet. Yes, I got ample yarn for a pair of socks, but now my socks will have knots randomly in the sock where I ran out of yarn and joined another in. 180m is really pushing it for my basic socks so I’m definitely going to have knots. I’m guessing 140m will get you to about a men’s size 10.

I haven’t knit my socks, so I can’t say anything about the yarn itself, I’m sure it’s amazing, but for now, I just tossed it aside and canceled my YarnBox subscription because I’ve had enough. It’s a decent service that I’m sure works for most people, I just haven’t been happy with what I’ve received in months and they provide no way to exchange yarn or make me happy at this point.

September 7, 2017

September 2017 YarnBox Socks

I was excited to open the mailbox again yesterday when I saw my YarnBox bag waiting for me.

Then, I opened it. :/

I don’t mind pink, I’ve gotten several pink skeins in the last few months. But they were always something funky, like pink with chartreuse, they weren’t just pink. This has some notes of other colors, but they’re all muddy colors, and not enough to be interesting.

I looked at Apple Tree Knits and they have some beautiful yarns. Now, if I would have been sent the ‘Jimi’ or Zigi colorway in their Purl Jems line I would’ve been ecstatic. But this solid-ish pink just isn’t for me.

So, I emailed YarnBox because their site mentions an exchange policy, which I could not find anywhere. To their credit, they responded pretty quickly, I just didn’t happen to like their answer. Basically, if you don’t like what you get you can join a forum and attempt to trade it with other YarnBox people. Not much of an exchange policy, is it? They have an overstock section on their site that you can buy previous yarns at a discount, I don’t get why I can’t just exchange for one of those.

I updated my preferences on the site for NO PINK but I am still trying to decide if I will continue buying. I accept I won’t always get something I want and several times I didn’t, but there should be options when that happens. I’d rather just hit Etsy or find a local dyer and splurge on something pretty once in a while and actually get something I want. It won’t be a big surprise, but YarnBox’s support is on this issue is very meh.

It looks like I’m stuck with this one. I may have to do a giveaway.

August 9, 2017July 17, 2020

August 2017 YarnBox Socks

I was pretty excited when I realized the bag in the mailbox was my YarnBox shipment. Or maybe I should say YarnBag shipment. I ripped it open right in the car. To be honest, I wasn’t that excited once I saw it. Last month, I really didn’t appreciate the skein I got until I started knitting it up, then I absolutely loved it. So I hoped that would be true of this month’s yarn as well.

This month’s skein comes from Lucky 13 Fibers out of Chicago and is dyed Purple and Gray (which doesn’t show up that well in my photos). I’ve never been a fan of the colors mixed with gray, it usually comes off looking a lot like it is worn out or some of the colors didn’t take. Purple, on the other hand, is the best color on the planet, but I don’t really wear purples in my wardrobe.

I put it right through the sock machine last night and stitched up the toes during lunch today. I know, my socks are pretty boring and basic, but this is what I like to wear.

It came out better than I was imagining and they are nice looking socks, but they still weren’t anything exciting. With that said, the purple is on the darker side and the gray does tone it down a bit putting it more on the masculine side, so I can appreciate that. Most commercial sock yarns are very bright so it’s nice to get a yarn like this now and then.