Sunday, July 15, 2007

Balance


yarn: Yarn4Socks My Soc camel/lambswool blend in Hunter's Glen
pattern: Balance Socks fingering version for the April Yarn4Socks sock club installment in the medium size
needles: Susan Bates sock set size 1 (2.25 mm) dpns to get pattern gauge of 9 spi in St st

Random Project Thoughts:
Between the stiffness of the yarn and the left twist (ktbl in the 2nd st, k 1st st, then drop both off), it was slow going on the left sock. I still enjoyed this pattern so I think if I do another one (it came in sizes child, S, M, L) in a squishier stretchier yarn, it'll go a bit faster.

The yarn was a good learning experience, but I wouldn't buy it on its own if they keep the heavily fragranced softener. I'm assuming they used the softener due to the stiffness I've mentioned before, but it took me a long time to geting around to knitting with this yarn because the smell was so off-putting to me. I'm guessing the camel must be much lighter that regular wool since it came in 2 oz, 300 yd hanks, but it didn't knit up super fine like Scout's BFL I've swatched around on. I had a lot left over from both Y4S skeins for both socks.

eta: I just rinsed the socks over the weekend in a vinegar/water bath which I should've done in the first place to get rid of the softener smell. (Thanks, Batty for the reminder. I'll need to do this on the next yarn that's either smelly or stiff.) The socks themselves aren't appreciably softer, so I think the stiffness is a property of the camel down. Time will tell if it'll soften with wearing.

Next up, the Twisted Flower re-do! I've finished 1 repeat of the leg chart and would finish the 2nd 'cept I have to do that real life thing called folding laundry.

1 comment:

Batty said...

Beautiful socks. Would it help if you washed the yarn before you knit with it? I bought some linen that's really rough on the hands and the yarn store lady told me to wash and condition it before knitting, or my hands would fall off. If nothing else, doing it might get rid of the annoying smell you're describing. And maybe it would even get softer.