Sock Review

Sock Review, which yarns have stood the wear and tear?

I can’t believe we are already approaching the end of September. I don’t know about you dear readers but I feel like I have not even caught up with what I wanted to do this Summer, and yet it is already that time of year where I worry about gift knitting and winding yarn. In the midst of all this is excitement over a CAL that I have been anticipating, The Sock-along, which is not only a CAL but a blog hop as well! Tamara (craftyescapism) has written a blog post (found here) about sock making tips. Fay has written hers about yarn choices and up next is Caroline (mindandmusecrafts) who will be writing a post about crochet socks vs knit socks and so many more posts for you to enjoy!

Even though I am not taking part in this blog hop, I wanted to type up the yarn review I did in my 2018 Edinburgh special, I had a couple of people who commented and said that they liked the review, so in honor of that I am including a post about it!

I currently own 8 pairs of handmade socks, for EYF I had 6 pairs of handmade socks, and I was working on pair #7. Of these 6 pairs, 2 were made with a wool/nylon blend, 1bfl/nylon, 3 merino/nylon. Two crochet sock pairs and 3 knit.

• Let us start with the Merino/Nylon Socks (75/25 the most common blend among indie dyers)

These socks were made with the Enchanted forest colorway by Petra from Made by Black Elephant and a 3.25mm crochet hook. In hindsight I could have probably managed to use a 3mm hook as my gauge was very loose. Now, this yarn was not a high twist yarn, I have found that high twist yarns wear better in socks than non high twist yarns, especially if they are merino based. I wore this sock for the first time at EYF 2018 and it pilled like crazy.

Another example of a Merino base this time DK and knit.

This is a blueberry waffle sock pattern that I made using a 75/25 blend of DK Merino yarn, while I loved knitting with the yarn, it was soft and squishy, if you look closely at the heel, it did fuse together after only one use. The heel used was a traditional heel flap and gusset which is supposed to be sturdier. If you zoom into the picture, you will also be able to notice that I continued a slip, knit pattern on the heel turn. Doing this also helps make the heel sturdier.

Another Merino knit sock, was a tube purchased from Littlebeanloves . With a sock tube, I just knit the cuff, toe and an afterthought heel.

These are one of my most used socks, and even though it was incredibly hard to capture the black and green, you can’t really see any wear and tear in the sock. I think it is due to the fact that the tube was knit at a much looser gauge than what I tend to do, therefore adding the after thought heel did not strain the sock.

• BFL SOCKS

Out of the indie dyed yarns BFL/Nylon is one of my favorite yarn blends, I feel it works really well with the nature of crochet stitches and it is very durable both for knitting and crochet. Incidentally, I have made one pair of crochet socks and knit socks in this blend.

Crochet –

If you focus on the heel of the sock you will see very little wear and tear in the heel, this is after having worn them for 12 hours straight while at work. The small amount of wear and tear there is on this sock I feel is due to my loose gauge and not the yarn. These socks are a shortie version of the My Sweet Socks pattern by Caroline. It’s a free pattern!

Knit –

 

This is a heel shot for The Hermione’s Everyday sock pattern knit in Voolenvine Yarns footsie base. The colorway is simply the best – Gothday cake! The shady heel photo speaks for itself, so pilling, no fuss, no mess. This sock remains one of my favorite ever!

 

• Last but not least wool blend/75 nylon

I have two socks to show for this category. One of them was crocheted by mom (for me) but the other one was the first sock I knit for myself.

These socks are one of my most used house socks but I have also worn them in boots when we travel in winter and guess what?! No wear! The yarn used is Lion Brand Sock Yarn, mom used a half linked double crochet for the whole of the sock, except the heel which is made in single crochet.

AS for the knit socks, the heel tore the very first time I ever wore them! As you can see by the left hand photo, the heel was fixed but the hole will be forever etched in my mind. OH, the trauma of spending months on a sock only to have it crash and burn!

Anyway, the yarn used is West Yorkshire Spinners in the Goldfinch colorway, no pattern, just a 64 stitch sock with a fish lips kiss heel. To be very fair, I think my tight gauge was at fault for my heel disaster, as you can tell from the right hand side picture, the body of the sock is not worn in the least. this colorway remains one of my favorites!

All in all, I think that while I love indie dyed yarn, I find it more enjoyable to knit socks with a 75/25 wool blend or with a BFL blend yarn.

If you have any questions about my sock making please feel free to comment!

Which is your favorite yarn blend for socks?

 

Clarisabeth