While I like to knit things in all different weights of yarn there is something so nice about sock yarn. Although it’s a triffle thin for some (28 stitches per 4 inches) it’s still thicker than lace, which means it goes a little faster. What I really like about sock yarn is that it so very versatile. I recently finished a couple of lovely socky projects.
The first is my charming little Ishbel by Isolde Teague made with 1 skein of the lovely Fleece Artist Casbah sock yarn. One skein of Casbah is 380 yards which is enough to make a pair of socks or a small shawl. It has a hint of Cashmere in it which makes it super soft and lovely to work with.
The second project is a wee one, some little shoes. These ones are Saartje’s Baby Booties, a popular free Ravelry pattern. They knit up in no time and look super cute! They are also an excellent reason to use adorable buttons. Each bootie gets 2 little buttons to fasten the straps. Unfortunately Nat’s little feet were on the move for this picture!
There are many great benefits to sock yarn and here are just a few:
1. You can add so much detail to all things Fair Isle because you have more stitches to work with, which is great.
2. 1 skein makes a whole project. I love it when this happens but it does make sock yarn dangerously easy to stash….The other benefit to the one skein project is low colour comittment. When considering yarn for a sweater you have to think about what colours the person who will wear the sweater likes, the pattern involoved, etc. With a one skein sock yarn project you can really just go nuts.
3. If you hold a sock yarn doubled you get a 20 stitch gauge, which is pretty close to a DK weight, and also good for lots of things.
4. Sock yarn comes in all kinds of crazy colour combinations but also some lovely subtle hand dyes. There are a lot of small Independant Dyers that do some really funky things with sock yarn, more so than other weights.
5. Socks are a lot of fun, give ‘em a try if you haven’t already!
–Alexa–
Tags: GCC, Sock Yarn, Ysolda Teague