Category Archives: Sock Yarns

Hand Spun Merino Bamboo

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Here is another skein of Hand Spun yarn by Eva. It is 50/50 2 ply Merino/Bamboo, 421.5m/101g. The colours are mainly deeper purples, blues and forest greens.

I knit these up in a Size Small Plus, with the 72 cylinder and 36 ribber on the Verdun 47. I used a 1×1 rib top then switched to 5×1 ribbing for the leg and instep.

Its difficult to find (for me) merino/bamboo that contains no nylon, and while many look for that nylon content, a few of my sockkies (fans of Trekking Pro Natura for instance) are no-nylon-allowed folks, so I was pleased to find this in Eva’s Etsy shop.

Koigu KPPPM P163

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Turquoise is always a winning colour for me, and for socks. In this Koigu colourway it is joined by all its cousins in the blues and greens families, along with some other accent colours for punch.

This pair, Size Medium, gets the colours organize into stripes. Knit with the 72 cylinder and 36 ribber on the Verdun 47, using a 1×1 ribbed top and stockinette for the balance of the sock. I reinforced the heels and toes with a deep blue Wooly Nylon. I used two 50 g skeins.

Fortissima Cotton Stretch Reef

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From my stash of Fortissima‘s Mexiko Cotton Stretch series, in colour #31 – Reef. 41% Superwash Wool 39% Cotton 13% Nylon and 7% Polyester.

I’m pretty careful about scouting for knots when I rewind sock yarn for knitting. With this yarn there aren’t many knots, and the ones that do exist are so well tied that they don’t create an annoying princess-pea in the fabric. They do, however, interrupt the pattern. You can see on the Right sock, near the bottom of the leg, where the jacquard does a quick repeat.

I’m just sayin.

The pair (above pics) is size Small +, knit with 72 cylinder and 36 ribber on the Verdun 47. I knit a 1.x1 rib top and a 5×1 ribbed leg and instep. This is a mid-calf length sock.

And here is the same sock but in size Small, also mid-calf length, using a 3×1 rib on the leg and instep instead of the 5×1.

Two by One Ribbing

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The other day I blogged on some socks with a e-wrap selvedge and 2 x 1 ribbed topper.

The e-wraps I’ve been doing have all been: e-wrap, knit one row, change applicable cylinder needles over to rib needles. So to do that, I actually put the ribber on before completing the first row of knit so that I can switch out the needles at the beginning of the row before the ribber hits it.

I wondered what would happen if I knit 2 rows instead of one before switching to the ribbing.

Here’s my experiment, using Colinette Jitterbug, colour Sahara from stash. (100% merino, a little heavier gauge than Koigu).

A. With One Knit Row before Ribbing

And B. With 2 Rows Knitting before Ribbing

In the top pair, with one row knit, the loops on the selvedge are two stitch (I think) size, while the extra row knitting renders those loops as single stitch size and looks very similar to the edge on a 1×1 rib.

The two rows knit, B, also has the added effect of a piping-type edge. It isn’t/doesn’t roll, just gives a pronounced finish, and on the outside of the garment, not inside against the skin.

(If you haven’t caught it before on my blog, almost all my photos can click to enlarge if you want a closer view.)

Work wise, I found no difference in difficulty or time between the two edges as both require the same number of needles swapped in and out. I suppose the B pair uses an extra yard of yarn for the extra row.

Koigu KPPPM P926

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When I last went to Koigu on a stash enhancement mission I had ‘a list’. On the ‘I don’t need more’ list was: green, as I have several bags of green already in the stash. But when I say P926 I was helpless to its cries of ‘take me home’.

The greens in this colourway are absolutely alive, vibrant, and stunning!

These socks are Size Small, knit with the 54 cylinder on the Legaré 400. I reinforced the heels and toes with  Wooly Nylon.

For this pair I used the 36 slot ribber, using only every other slot so as to get a 2×1 rib (vs other pairs I’ve blogged on recently where I used a 27 slot ribber with the 54 cylinder to get a 1×1 rib).

My early efforts with a 2×1 rib used a different selvedge, created by raising on needle of each knit stitch pair, knitting around, then placing those needles back in work. This worked by I was never really happy with the finished edge with that method. Getting a 27 slot ribber allowed me to knit a 1×1 rib that was more pleasing to my eye.

But using the e-wrap cast on creates an instant selvedge, so there is no reason to use the method mentioned above with a standard cast on.

I like the look of this 2×1 rib topper. I can’t say that I like it more than the 1×1, but it is another choice of look, and I think for a smaller foot and fuller leg, the elasticity will be less tight with 18 purl stitches vs 27 in the circumference.

Koigu KPPPM P872

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It was such a grey, rainy, snowy, windy dreary day yesterday. My antidote: Koigu KPPPM P872. If that don’t make the sun shine, nothing will!

100% Premium Merino fingering weight; recommended by Koigu to hand wash and dry flat. (I use the hand wash setting on my washing machine and dry flat.)

I knit this pair of Size Small socks with the 54 cylinder and 27 ribber on the Legaré 400, with an e-wrap selvedge, 1×1 rib topper and stockinette leg/foot. I reinforced the heels and toes with Wooly Nylon.

The colours in the photos are fairly true on my monitor. I’d describe them as mid-way between pastel and berry/jewel tones.

Bright and cheery socks for a grey day!

Hand Spun Merino-Silk

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This delicious yarn was hand spun by Eva. It is a 3 ply 50/50 Merino/Silk, 325/93g; It has a very good (for socks) twist and I just love the pink, blue and purple medley. The silk makes this a sturdy yarn with a lovely glow.

This pair of socks is size Small, knit with the 54 cylinder and 27 slot ribber on the Legaré 400. I used an e-wrap selvedge and 1×1 ribbed top, switching then to full stockinette for the leg and foot.

I reinforced the heel and toe with Wooly Nylon. I probably didn’t need to, with the strength of the silk in this blend. But I had the bright purple sitting out from the other day so went ahead to add a little extra durability.

I didn’t weigh these socks, but I had enough left over I could certainly have made a Small+ or maybe even a Medium pair. When I have one unique skein under 400m I don’t like to risk running short (and especially if I’m adding Wooly Nylon reinforcement which would be a massive pain to frog).

Eva spins such beautiful yarn!

 

Jitterbug Dusk

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From my stash: Colinette hand dyed Jitterbug in colourway Dusk. 100% superwash Merino, 291m/110g.

I guess I would call this a 6 ply weight, of maybe Sport. This is my favourite Jitterbug colourway and I’ve been greedily hoarding some, bring out but a skein or two at a time so as not to use it all up.

My photos, on my monitor, are reasonable true. Though the light blues are perhaps less bright, in keeping with the colour name Dusk.

I knit this Small+ pair with the 72 cylinder on the Verdun 47; with a 1×1 rib top, and 5×1 ribbed leg and instep. I used about 3/8 turn looser tension than I would for fingering weight, and shortened my leg and foot a bit so that the tension change didn’t oversize my lengths. The cranking was a tad stiff at that tension (which I extrapolated from my notes on this yarn with a 54 Legare). The next pair I’ll go for a full 1/2 turn looser.

With this gauge of yarn I could have knit the same size (and width) on the 54 cylinder in full stockinette.

The feel of this yarn is what you would expect from a decent Merino, and the heavier weight and darker colours makes it a great choice for cool season wear, but many favour this weight for warm season ‘activity’ wear – like hiking – as well.

I reinforced the heels and toes with a deep purple Wooly Nylon.

I just got this pair out of one skein – I had only a few feet of yarn left, so I would have been into a second skein for a Medium or larger pair.

Vivacious Bamboo

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News of the world and the weather are both overcast lately (at least in the Western half). So here is a pick-me-up in a very hot pink sock yarn. The colour is Vivacious, one of Pantone’s colours for Fall 2013. It’s made with a pure magenta washfast acid dye, and the yarn is my pot dyed 60/30/10 Merino/Bamboo/Nylon fingering weight.

These are a Small+, knit with the 72 cylinder on the Verdun 47.  An e-wrap 1 x 1 rib top, with a 5×1 rib leg and instep.

Fortissima Cotton Stretch

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From my stash – Fortissima Socka, Cotton Stretch in colour #39. 41% Superwash Wool 39% Cotton 13% Nylon 7% Polyester. Wash/Dry delicate/perm press.

The above pics are all of a Size Small pair knit with the 72 cylinder on the Verdun 47. They are a mid-calf sock, with a 1×1 rib top and a 5×1 rib leg and instep.

This pair is Size Medium, knit with the same cylinder at a looser tension. The topper is still 1×1 but I knit the leg and instep in stockinette instead of the 5×1 rib.

This picture shows the Small pair on top, the Medium pair on bottom, and a mid-size (Small+) pair in between. I knit all on the same cylinder but at different tensions, and slight pattern modifications: longer in the leg and foot, ribbing in the small sizes, longer topper on the medium.