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Crop Circles
My husband came home after work on Thursday and asked me why the socks had formed a crop circle on the floor in the bedroom. Funny guy.
I inadverdently forgot two pairs of socks. One was the Amble socks I just finished, they hadn't made it to the sock drawer yet. The other pair was a pair I gifted to my stepmother. I never saw them again, she never mentioned them, either. Grrr. That brings the real total up to 63.
I cannot thank you all enough for all the nice comments on Thursday and Friday. I didn't win Jane's contest, but I think I still came out ahead!
In the comments from Thurday, Jen asked:
"What is your favorite yarn and why? What holds up well over time?"
Well, first off, I must mention that all of the socks in this household are worn in shoes. I don't like to be shoeless unless it's the dead of summer and my hubby has heel spur issues which prevent him from going without shoes, so all of our socks have wear typical from shoes, balls and heels of the feet and right where the back of the shoe rubs against your Achilles tendon. Also, all of my socks are machine handwashed* and hung to dry.
Without question, the Opals, Regias, Fortissimas and the like have held up better than any of the others. They still have good stitch definition and even if they are pilling a bit, it's not bad.
Now, favorite yarn is another question...
My husband likes cushy socks, so his favorite is Mountain Colors WWQ. It's not the best choice for socks, since he's so hard on them. They will felt over time and tend to get fuzzy. It does come in gorgeous colors and the weight makes it a nice, fast knit.
LL sock and sport are nice yarns to knit with and they make nice soft socks, but they tend to pill more than other yarns. Good yarn for gift socks.
Koigu is also nice to knit with and it's held up better than I thought it would for socks. Great stitch definition and very minor pilling. Color is a huge plus for this yarn. If I had to choose one, it would probably be this.
I'd like to hear what everyone elses favorite yarn for socks is!
*Fill washer with water and Orvus. Dump socks in. Swish around and soak for awhile. Swish again and spin out. Take socks out. Fill washer again with same temperature water. Put socks in, swish, soak, swish, spin. Hang dry.
I like Trekking XXL but mostly make heavier socks from DK yarn. Who DID win
the contest? Your display is quite impressive!
Crop circle - heh. Cracked me up!
Koigu is my favorite, hands down. Er, feet down. My socks are generally
just machine washed on the gentle cycle, and hung to dry, but it does
happen that they get in with the kids' stuff and machine-washed-and-dried
with the jeans. Koigu can even stand up to that. Opal/Regia, etc., too,
of course...I don't think there's anything you can do to those to hurt
them!
I guess I don't have a favorite sock yarn yet, I haven't knit enough of
different kinds to have a favorite. Right now I'm in love with Knit Picks
sock yarn, but simply for price and nothing else. Although I do plan to
use some of it soon and start a 3rd pair of socks on the needles (must
finish the other two soon, but first have sweaters and gloves that need to
be worked).
I haven't knit enough socks to have decided upon a favorite yet. And I'm
still handwashing my socks. Maybe I need to try your method.
I have to agree with your assessments of yarn. I tend to favor the the
ones that hold up better - Regia, Fortissima, Opal. Of course, that
probably has something to do with the fact that, out of laziness or wild
abandon, I throw the socks in the washing machine and dryer (on low) with
rest of the laundry. I have washed many dozens of times and they show
almost no wear. I've recently purchased some of the newer yarns, but
haven't tried them yet.
Agreed about Opal, Regia, etc - actually, of the three, Fortissima gets my
vote because it's smoother through my fingers, though Opal has lovely
colorways. Meilenweit is great as well - and they really do MY colors,
y'know?
But hands-down favorite is Possum Laceweight. Soooooft. Of course,
it's discontinued, but I'm in denial about that.
Socka holds up best, hands down. DH is hard on socks and can wear these
over a year without getting any holes. In fact, they tend to wear out the
wool and leave the thin nylon before they get holes. I had him wear the
heel out on one pair (his favorites). The stitches had felted together. I
picked up and knit a new heel on each sock, giving them new life.