Yarnovision Sock Collection!

There is an annual song contest that is unlike any other song contest. It features dozens of countries competing with their best(?) songs and artists, and weirdest stage performances, to woo the hearts of judges and TV-viewers. It is the longest-running annual international televised music competition, it is the weirdest annual international televised music competition. We are, of course, talking about the unique and delightful spectacle that is the Eurovision Song Contest, or ESC.

I've never heard of the ESC, what is it?!

Prepare yourself, you're about to discover something amazing! Basically, the ESC is a contest open to any of the 56 countries that are part of the rather obscure European Broadcasting Union. Oh, and Australia, because why not? The countries face off in two rounds of semi-finals, with the top 10 performances in each moving on to the final. Oh, and "the big five" countries (France, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Italy) and last year's winner automatically qualifies. Then, the big competition features all 25 or 26 entries who perform live in one evening and then receive jury votes and tele-votes from all countries. At the end of the night, one winner is crowned.

 That is the basic mechanics of it all, but what you really have to understand is that the ESC is a song competition like no other. Each competition features some amazing songs, some ok songs, and usually a whole bunch of songs that are out there. The theatrics are amazing. We are talking burning pianos, Russian grandmothers baking bread, men in hamster wheels, key changes that would make a locksmith sweat and just all around amazingly unique and individual performances. You will never find another competition where Finnish monster-rockers, French ballads, Swedish pop-wonders, Mediterranean hip-swingers, and Ukrainian speed-techno folk-musicians share a stage together.

 To catch you up on some of my absolute favorite performances, I have compiled a Youtube playlist. Most of the recent years competitions are also available on Youtube. Didn't have any plans for the next few hours? Congratulations, you have something to watch now. Get your tea, coffee or beverage of choice filled up, hit up the Youtube link and just sit back and be amazed.

Ok, I know about the ESC but what does that have to do with yarn?

I love yarn, and I (unironically) love the Eurovision Song Contest. So, I created this collection because it was fun and I love it. Simple as that! Hence: the Yarnovision Sock Collection 2022! Each sock kit is inspired by a specific performance. The performances are mostly from recent years, and some of the more memorable ones (and some of my favorites). There will be plenty of bright and colorful combinations, and of course also plenty of sparkles because nothing says Eurovision like a sparkly silver dress.

 

Preorders and shipping dates for the collection

So what about the sock collection? The collection will become available on February 1st for the first round of pre-orders. The pre-order period runs until February 28, 2022, at which point I will dye up the yarns and ship them out as fast as I can. The goal is that everyone will have their orders before May, so that you can knit your socks off while watching this year's Eurovision contest!

There will be a second round of pre-orders starting April 24 and running until May 22. At that time I will also create additional colorways based on this year's entries! The colorways will be based on the semifinal performances on May 10 and 12, so check back after that for some (hopefully) fun and colorful updates!

Collection playlist

Of course there is a Spotify playlist for this collection. Here you go!