Letters
7 Sock Yarns to Knit Before Labor Day
Dear Kay,
You said it yourself, Kay: the socks we make now are the socks we wear in the fall. I’m 100% liking this idea at the moment, because we all know that knitting in summer is best done in portable batches, a little something to make even during toasty weather.
The topic today is sock yarns. In the past two years, we have been working like beavers to pull together sock yarns for the MDK Shop that will answer the needs of today’s modern sock knitter. At last, I’m here to declare that we have done it: a sock yarn for every sock-knitting mood. Let’s have a look.
Mood: I’m in Search of Classiness
Nomade from Julie Asselin. The beloved Quebecois hand dyer cooked up 10 colors that range from classy to classic to superclassy. Here are three that are haunting me:
Mood: I’m Up for Deep Color and Wool from Uruguay
Secretos from Jay and Nicki of Laneras Yarns. The unusual spin here makes socks that are sproingy and strong. With fascinating hand dyeing. Nine colors, including my fave, the greenygreen Gillyweed:
Mood: I Want Socks That Look Like They Came From a Meadow in Sackville, New Brunswick
Lichen and Lace 80/20 Sock from Canadian dyer Megan Ingman. At this point I’ve knitted with all seven colors we carry, and I return to that lemony Citron for the way it looks like a delicious daylily.
Mood: I Need More Zing in My Life
Neighborhood Fiber Co. Organic Studio Sock from Karida Collins. A dozen colors, each more surprising than the next. I’m eternally crushing on Nekst, with that lime thing in there.
Mood: Still Not Enough Zing
Zauberballs from the gang at Schoppel. We have a hard time keeping these in house. Nine colors available at the moment, all color shifty and zingtastic. This one, Tropical Fish, is peak Zauberball.
Mood: The Hell with Zing, I Just Want Something in My Life to Be Wild and Unfettered and if That Means Socks Well That’s Just Fine
Zauberball Crazy by the Schoppel folks, in a wackier mood. This is what happens when you do a two-ply version of a Zauberball. Crazy, right? This one is called Change of Scenery. It knits up in a completely unpredictable way, which is what a change of scenery is all about. Currently stocking ten colorways, each one a symphony of, well, all sorts of things.
Mood: Amuse Me
Uneek Sock by Urth Yarns. Among the hottest yarns in favor by hardcore sock knitters, Uneek really does scratch that itch for knitting a sock and watching the colors change in an impossibly cool way. These two identical cakes of yarn unfurl stripes—and within the stripes, you’ll discover that the stripes are gradients. WUT? Save these for a moment when you just need a little pick me up. We have a dozen amusing colors, all the most fun you’ll find in a little box of sock yarn.
By my calculation, we have about eight weeks before Labor Day. I’m thinking a pair of socks every week is doable. Gotta have a goal, right?
Love,
Ann
PS In other news, my water bottle cover is done! I know you’re all dying to know how the Affixing Of The Strap went, right up there with wondering how my new sewer pipe is working (it’s great, thanks), so here you go:
Ready for the next mountain.
I hooked the clasps into the knitting, about five rounds down, and it seems to be holding up just fine. Thanks to everyone for the engineering ideas—you are a bunch of inventors, I swear.
I actually ordered two straps, one gray, one orange, and the gray one got here first. I’m liking the chrome fittings and the tonal look of the gray strap and gray bottle, so I’m declaring this a success. The imminent arrival of the orange strap of course sets me up to do another one.
Looking good! I think the orange strap would look great with the blue water bottle cozy as well.
Once you start worrying about water bottle strap colors, it turns into such a THING! HELP ME!
I knit a pair of socks in Nomade from Julie Asselin that I purchased from you last year. O.M.G. what amazing yarn. I used the color Happy and made an elegant sock design with it. My daughter said they are the nicest socks I’ve ever made for her. The color was salmony, not too bright. Great yardage. Thanks for carrying this yarn!
So glad you liked it! Happy really is the zingiest color, I love it too.
Love the water bottle “sock”.
You might try adding some grommets to reduce wear on the yarn.
I wondered about grommets as well. Do they work well in knit fabric?
I have been mulling grommets! I have seen them at work in handknits, stay tuned!
Loving the water bottle holder.. rocking that look. thanks for the wool suggestions must go shopping for a few
This is very timely — my LYS is doing a Sock Bingo challenging people to knit five pairs of socks with different features by the end of the year.
Sock bingo! So good!
This is the summer I’m determined to knit socks that fit me and I can wear with shoes. I have a tendency to make socks that are a bit too big after blocking.
Love your water bottle holder. You are too funny!!
So k yarn is my favorite go to weight yarn for socks of course but also for cowls and shawls!!!! Can’t wait to check you what’s new at MDK!!!
Thanks, Lyn! We’re always scheming some new thing, seems like.
You got me at “sproingy”!
So you’re suggesting that my summer vacation knitting plan of repairing/reknitting the yoke of a lopi cardigan might not be the best idea?
Real knitters only work on lopapeysur over the summer.
Spoken like a true lopapeysur superstar! ; )
Hi Ann and Kay. These new multicolored yarns are exciting in photos, but it would really be very helpful to see what they look like made up in a swatch. I hesitate to buy if it’s not clear how the colors look when used in a real article. Would it be possible to show some individual swatches for random colors? Thanks much for your enjoyable and informative daily posts.
Hi! The easiest way to see how these (and pretty much any) variegated yarns look knitted up is to visit Ravelry and search the yarn name. There’s a tab that comes up that says Projects, and you’ll see what people have made with these yarns. For example, here are the 27,000+ projects using Zauberballs, so fun to see: https://www.ravelry.com/yarns/library/schoppel-wolle-zauberball/projects
Love the look! Wondering about wide ribbon sewn over the top inch of the bottle cover. They used to have some snazzy tapestry-style ones which could coordinate with the knitted fabric as well as maybe reinforce it. Haven’t tried it myself, so not sure if it really works, considering that knitting is stretchy while ribbon is not. I would do something to reinforce the grommets, no matter what. A sewing store employee might have some ideas.