For my birthday, I promised myself 7 pairs of socks that I can toss right in the washer. Simple commercial yarn FROM MY STASH that are everyday handmade. And while I still use my fancy handspun joyful socks, at least I get a day off occasionally from handwashing them.
It has been fun. I discovered Kroy yarn - gee why didn't you tell me about that? And I am using up some dubious choices I made in the past. Like the bumble bee yarn that was to support the Steelers, only to find it contained green - the wrong color. Still the socks will be better than commercial white ones that never fit very well.
I have finished 3 pairs and have two more single socks done. I suspect I will go over my 7 sock goal too, and before a month has passed. Then I will have cleaned up my yarn storage area a bit, turned it into east care garments and can get back to some fancier spinning and knitting and spoiling.
Sock one is Kroy Cyan Stripes done at 64 stitches on 2.75 knitpicks wooden DPs.
Sock two may be some old Magic stripe at 72 sts on size 1 metal needles.
Sock three is interesting. It was from a massive cone of carpet yarn I bought on ebay for felting - kinda feels like a cross between Romney and Shetland, very pleasant. However this stuff won't felt. I am quite sure it is pure wool. I had intended to use it for some class I was teaching. Now, I toss a skein in every time I dye. The yarn has the most pleasing feel on the foot, which is good since there's about 10 lbs left. Anyway, 64 sts on 2.75 metal unknown needles. Ribbed.
2 comments:
Ten pounds of sock-worthy yarn? What wealth!
Nice socks. And you'll love having the machine-washable ones. Just avoid acrylic like the plague. Not worth the effort, in my experience.
Love the colour of the last socks - and what speed! I'm envious!
I decided to forego handspun socks ages ago, luxury or not, as I'm just too hard on socks and just too much of a woollen spinner and the handwashing got in my nerves. However I've recently been discovering the joys of artisan sock yarns, and while I don't expect them to last as long as the regular commercial sock yarns which seem to contain a stronger wool (any wool is stronger than merino...), I think they strike a fine balance between everyday and luxury socks.
I'll let you know in a year or two how this works out!
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