From June 15th you can purchase the Contrast Blast Socks pattern on Ravelry or Westknits.com. Contrast Blast Socks is the name of this year’s Surprise Sock Along pattern. There will be lots of fun chat in the Ravelry group and on Instagram with #SSAL2023 #WestknitsSurpriseSockAlong2023

The clues are released every Thursday. If you purchase the pattern through Ravelry, you will receive an email and be able to update your pattern in your Library. If you purchase the pattern through westknits.com you will receive an email when the update is available for download.

There are four clues:

Clue 1 – July 6

Clue 2 – July 13

Clue 3 – July 20

Clue 4 – July 27

The pattern will be suitable for adventurous beginners (you should already know how to knit, purl, increase, decrease, and read a pattern), and it will be enjoyable for seasoned knitters too. There is so much support throughout the KAL so you will find a lot of help and tips on completing each section in the Ravelry group. There will be photo tutorials and videos to assist you with visualising the techniques and construction. If you’ve never knitted socks before, we will show you every technique with clear step-by-step video tutorials on YouTube each week. This knit along is welcome to adventurous beginners and beyond with lots of support along the way. We will teach you everything you need to know! Check out Stephen's How to Knit Socks Workshop to learn all about sock knitting with me while you wait for the Surprise Sock Along cast on date.

If there is brioche, there will also be a non-brioche option.

Yes of course! The Surprise Sock Along is open to everyone, it's not necessary to buy a kit to participate. We're offering kits at a range of price points, and our customer service team are always happy to help you match yarn to skeins in your stash.

The Contrast Blast Socks are designed for two colours of fingering weight sock yarn.MC (main colour) – 1 skein (100g) fingering weight sock yarnCC (contrast colour) – 1 skein (100g) fingering weight sock yarnYou will have some leftovers of each colour. There is more yarn advice and gauge/needle information in the introductory PDF that you receive when you sign up by purchasing the Contrast Blast Socks pattern.

Thursday 15 June,16:00 Amsterdam time at www.stephenandpenelope.com

The pattern is not included with the yarn kit. You can purchase the pattern on Ravelry or Westknits.com.

If you are looking for a special colour palette, email us at info@stephenandpenelope.com. We ship worldwide!

Our system doesn’thold stock that you have in your shopping cart. Your order is only confirmed once payment has been received. Our top tips for kit ordering is to add any extra items you'd like with your Sock Along kit to your basket ahead of time and to make sure you already have a Stephen & Penelope account.

Because of the volume of orders, unfortunately it's not possible to wind yarn in SSAL kits.

All customers outside of the European Economic Area (whose order is shipped outside of the EEA) will have the sales tax deducted at check out. Once your address is added during the check out process, you will be shown your invoice without tax. Read more about tax-free shopping.

Due to the volume of orders it's not possible to combine multiple orders that are placed for SSAL.

Due to the volume of orders we aren't able to hold orders to be shipped at a later date.

During the SSAL our orders can take a bit longer to ship out than usual but we'll be working hard to get your order out as soon as possible. All SSAL kit orders should arrive before the July 6 cast on date.

Of course! You're more than welcome to purchase additional kits, our top tip would be add them to your cart using 'quick add' to avoid being take straight to your shopping cart and away from the SSAL kit selection.

You can definitely order your kit to be picked up in store. Make sure you've received a message that your order is ready before heading to the shop. If you're unsure you can always call ahead.

Sock yarn is a thin weight of yarn that is usually about 437yds / 400m per 100g skein. We recommend selecting a yarn with 15 – 25% nylon content for extra strong and durable socks. If your chosen yarn does not have nylon, that’s okay! Superwash sock yarns without nylon work well too, but we recommend using these socks as lounging socks. If you plan to wear your socks inside your shoes/boots every day, then a wool/nylon blend is your best friend.

If you use self-striping yarn, we would definitely use it for the CC and make sure your solid MC contrasts well with your CC. Knit a swatch to visualise the colour relationship!

Variegated and highly speckled yarns will disguise some of the design details, but it’s okay to use one as the CC as long as your MC has a high contrast against your CC. Stephen designed the Contrast Blast Socks with solid and semi-solid yarns in mind, so stick with this type of yarn to make sure you love your finished socks. Use multi-coloured variegated yarns at your own risk. 

We are going to play with lots of stripes and fun colour interactions, so I recommend a high contrast colour palette to clearly see the crisp design details. The MC + CC relationship is similar to my Woven Checks Socks and Cabled Trellis Socks, so if you imagine your colour combo knitted into one of these sock designs, those are good sock references for this new design’s colour relationship. Use solid, semi-solid or lightly speckled yarns to get the best contrast effect. When in doubt, do a little gauge swatch to visualise how your colours interact in the stockinette stitch and in the recommended slip stitch gauge swatch. All of the gauge and needle information is included in the introductory PDF that you receive when you purchase the Contrast Blast Socks on Ravelry or westknits.com.

The mini bucket bag and temporary tattoos are exclusive to the official Sock Along kits. You're of course more than welcome to separately add a Stephen & Penelope bag to your order for all your knitting needs!