Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Socks from Handspun

I had seen triple-plied socks from three different colors on someone's blog earlier this year. They used bright crayon colors. I liked the effect but wanted something no quite so bright. When we got together to dye in late Spring, I dyed one ounce each of Bluefaced Leicester in blue, pink and yellow, the three rovings here in the foreground. The colors are a bit Easter eggy and I kept telling myself that if I hated the final yarn, I could mute it down in a light black bath.

Twice before I have made socks from triple plied yarns from rainbow dyed rovings. Both times they didn't fare well with wear. For one thing, I spun the singles too thick and I wasn't careful with the washing - it only takes one mistake to ruin all that work. This time I accepted that I was essentially spinning lace weight singles and considered it practice for my newly acquired interest in lace. It took a month to spin and ply.
At the point of knitting, I was stricken with indecision. I couldn't decide if I wanted to do a traditional knit 2, purl 2 rib on the leg or just straight stockinette. I was knitting on them at the retreat and took a straw poll. Hands down, the rib was favored - except for Mim and me. We liked the confetti appearance of the straight stockinette, but I kept knitting the rib since most who favored it talked about the fit. As you can see I actually ended up knitting more than two socks to get my pair.
My socks are done and I couldn't be more pleased. I love the silky feel of Bluefaced Leicester and in spite of not using rib for the leg, they seem to fit just fine. Wear will tell. I don't have a very good scale so wasn't exactly right on my 1 ounce weights. Two of the three bobbins had substantial singles left, which I Navajo plied and inserted as corrugated rib at the top. They are blue jeans perfect and there is no black bath in their future.

6 comments:

Lee said...

So pretty!!! I like the stockinette, too.

Valerie said...

Wow....Great work! They look so cozy with the cool weather we are having right now.

I need to get busy boosting my sock inventory.

~~Sittin.n.Spinnin said...

Working on some wool now to make some socks, will see if I see it through :)

Wool Enough said...

Gorgeous socks! I too prefer the stockinette, probably because it so perfectly displays that lovely yarn. The corrugated ribbing is an ideal touch.

Mim said...

Yes we did make the right choice! Those colors are too pretty to get lost in the rib knit. Like everyone else I need to get working on some socks of my own!

Leigh said...

They're lovely, Sharon! I've not had much success with socks from handspun either, though I think I could do a better job of spinning yarn for them now. I did buy some nylon fiber to blend with wool for sock yarn. Haven't tried it yet though.