Halloween is the best holiday there is. Ghosts, ghouls, goblins — and an indie dyer that fits into at least two of those three categories — are inviting you to join this festival of Macabre Misfits with our bi-yearly What’s in the Box?! box.
The Yarn:
This year we are launching a luxury yarn base: Dusk Sock, a deliciously soft and sturdy yarn, made up of 70% Superwash Merino, 20% yak and 10% nylon.
Thanks to the yak fibers, Dusk Sock has a beautiful heathered base color, similar to our Eventide yarns. Dyeing Dusk Sock is an amazing adventure. The colors come out vibrant and rich, while having that luxurious flavor of a heathered yarn base.
Our What’s in the Box?! box will feature 13 mini skeins, of 20 grams each, with a running length of 80 meters.
WHAT’S IN THE BOX!? Box 2022 includes:
• 13 20-gram mini skeins in our brand new Yak Sock base
• Information on all the colorways and what inspired them
• Little gifts to aid you in your crafting needs
• Early access to our October Shop Update (including 100-gram skeins of the all new Dusk Sock base!)
• A 20% discount code redeemable on your next order (also valid on the October update!)
Everything in the Box will be “Undercover Otter flavored” (AKA: creepy, just like us).
The Inspiration:
This year we’re getting our inspiration from the 2001 horror movie Thir13en Ghosts. It’s an underappreciated—accidental—masterpiece (and homage to the original Thirteen Ghosts, released in the ‘50s). If you want to know why, you’ve come to the right place.
In Thirteen Ghosts we follow widower Arthur Kriticos (played by Tony Shaloub, pre-Monk fame) who inherits a house from an uncle he didn’t even know he had (sus, but okay). With a plethora of outstanding bills and overdue payments, Arthur sees no other option than taking the gamble. He packs up the entire family and goes to check out their sweet new digs.
On arrival, some “interested parties” join them, all with their own reason to seek entrance to the Kriticos mansion. That’s when things go awry and we’re treated to some delicious tropes like occult books and ominous chanting.
I have to give a shout out to the ever exceptional Matthew Lillard. He “Lillards” the absolute f*ck out of this movie. It’s glorious and makes the movie so much better than it has any right to be.
As you’d expect from an early 2000s horror movie, this film is chock full of cliches and special effects (both digital and practical). Some hold up, some definitely don’t. Thirteen Ghosts rehashes the late ‘90s and early 2000s B-horror vibe, while desperately wanting to become a smash hit. It never became a cinematic masterpiece, but there is so much about this movie that is perfect, and I need to share my love for it.
We are basing all 13 otter pups (20-gram mini skeins) on the titular ghosts from this movie. Pulling information from their backstories and combining them with the on screen visuals.