2022 Geek-A-Long: Choosing Sock Yarn

Y’all, I am a mess today. I’d go so far as to say I’m a hot mess. Actually, scratch that. I’m a cold mess. It is cold as the Icewind Dale’s armpit today. Pandemic parenting is a marathon, not a sprint, and today I’m winded. We got our first significant snow storm of the year Friday night and into Saturday. That meant that yesterday was spent shoveling and trying to build a snowman. The snow wasn’t having it, and after nearly 2 hours of stubbornly trying to make the snow stick to itself, this is the best we could do:

In related news, Mabel the Merciless claims to like the hood I made her becuase it keeps her noggin extra warm and doesn’t fall off, but also told me it makes her feel like she looks like “Old Margaret” and it was one of those moments where you just stand in awe and say “yes. That is 100% my kid. I didn’t know that snark was hereditary, but here we are.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CZVK0vxpk_e/

Skip to today, and I am wrecked. Though I’ve certainly thought about it more during the pandemic than any other time in my life, I don’t actively think about my disability all that often. But let me tell you, after a few hours out rolling that snow around and clomping up and down the hill in our yard, and I am acutely aware of my arthritis. As I type this, I am legit using 3 different types of heating pads. I am considering taking out stock in Ibprofen because I am single handedly keeping that industry alive and robust right now. I folded half of a load of laundry before remembering that I needed to write a post about sock yarn. I knit half a row on a sweater design I’m playing around with before remembering that I need to make the final edits on Bardi Cardi and release the pattern, and put my Arrrgyle Vest in testing. Mabel the Merciless is climbing on me and demanding that today’s post be about Narwhals.

Narwhals look like they have unicorn horns, but the horn is actually a tusk and they use it to fight and they are then only animal with straight tusks in the world.

Merciless, M. t. (2022, Jan 30) Narwhale Tusks Are Actually Lances. Journal of Narwhale Facts You Didn’t Know You Needed.

So what does all of this have to do with Sock Yarn? A lot, actually. Despite the countless resources that will tell you otherwise, there is no one right way to parent, or work from home, or just be a person who is existing right now in our insane world. My house is a mess, but what would be the point of cleaning it on a weekend that we’ll be trampling snow in every 5 minutes? Some weekends we are very structured with specific activities and schedules. Other weekends, like this one, it’s a free for all with popcorn and mozzarella sticks for dinner. My point is that I clean my house based on what I plan on doing with my house on any given day. I believe kids need structure, but that structure should be dependent on what needs to get done. Mabel is allowed to stay up late on weekend nights with unrestricted access to screen time. On school nights though, it’s all screens off before dinner with the exception Bob Ross which she can watch before bed because it makes her chill, and a strict 8:30 bedtime. On week nights we eat at the table and I put thought into dinner. On weekends we eat in the living room more often than not and if she wants to eat mac & cheese 3 meals in a row, I’ve got no notes. This weekend I’m a mess, but it was the exact right kind of weekend to be having.

Socks are one of the most versatile garments you can make, and similarly, the tools used to make them span a vast spectrum. So when faced with the question “what kind of yarn should I use to make socks?” you first need to answer, “What kind of socks do I want to make – and – what do I want to do with my socks?”

Though this is painting with a very broad brush, I’m going to break fiber and weight options into categories, and talk about some of the pros and cons. I’m not going to cover color selection today, we’ll talk about that next week when I’m back again with a post about the absolute necessity of swatching for socks.

Sock Yarn: Weight

For the purpose of this post, I’m going to talk about just specifically sock weight (also called “fingering weight”) yarn, and talk about it as it applies to making socks. You can absolutely knit socks out of heavier yarn. That might be the right choice for slipper socks, or even just a regular sock that you’re planning to put in shoes large enough to accommodate them. You can also use any of these types of yarn for projects other than socks, and may have experience using sock weight yarn with larger needles for sweaters or shawls. For this year’s Geek-A-Long though, we are making color work socks, and we recommend you choose sock weight yarn, and sock needles. Sock weight can generally be broken into 3 categories: Light, Medium, and Heavy.

Light – Light weight sock yarn is the most common choice for color work socks. You’ll generally be using needles in sizes US0-US3 (2mm-3.25mm). Gauge will typically range from 8-10 sts per inch. Our Vacation Yarn falls into this category. This is yarn that comes pretty close to being “string”. It’s what we’ll be using for our GAL socks, and the advantage is that when working colorwork your finished fabric is heavier than fabric knitted in just one color. The color not used for any given stitch is carried along the back and the end result is that it’s twice as thick. Not double knitting thick, but thicker than the same stitches with just one color. If you plan to wear these socks as standard socks, the kind you can put in your regular shoes and walk around town in, then you want a lighter weight sock yarn for your color work, otherwise your socks will be too bulky for most shoes. For this year’s Geek-A-Long we’re using Vacation Yarn, and we’ll have kits available throughout the year for each pair of socks. That being said, you don’t have to use Vacation yarn, or even light weight fingering for your GAL socks. The theme of this post is “do what works” and that applies across the board.

Medium – Medium sock yarn is just a touch heavier than light weight, and you’ll get around 7-9 sts per inch. The difference between medium and light is fairly subtle when they are in the skein, but quite noticeable when they are knit. Medium weight is a great choice for a single color or textured sock. I also tend to use slightly larger needles with it. With light weight sock yarn I’ll typically use US1 for my smaller needles and US2 for my larger. With medium weight, I typically up that one size and use US2 for the smaller and US3 for the larger. Like anything else, that’s not a hard rule, I’ll use the size that gets me the gauge I want, but on average, that’s how it shakes out for me. Adventure yarn is a medium weight yarn.

Heavy – Heavy weight sock yarn is something of an urban legend. Like, it exists, but most of the time it’s just misattributed Sport/DK or Medium weight. A general rule is that you’ll get around 380 yards per 100g. We don’t have a heavy fingering weight base, but they do exist. They are a great choice for slipper socks.

Sock Yarn – Fiber

Here, I’ll break it into 2 categories: Everyday and Luxury.

Everyday sock yarn is going to be something sturdy. Something that can handle the regular wear and tear of walking on your feet. When you make a sweater, one assumes that you will not put it on and then roll across the ground all day. But socks have the expectation of being stuffed into shoes, and rubbed on the ground when worn. So you need a fiber that can take that abuse. I strongly recommend that for a sock you are going to wear with any regularity you pick something with at least 20% nylon or acrylic content. I have nothing against pure wool socks. They are great. But you run a much higher risk of felting them if your feet get sweaty, or having a mishap in washing. I like to hand wash my hand knit socks regardless of fiber content, but I also want to know that if they get mixed up in my regular laundry and go through the wash I won’t have much to worry about. Merino and Blue Faced Leister (BFL) plus some nylon are my go-to fibers for everyday socks.

Luxury sock yarn is for those projects that aren’t as likely to be worn every day, or for when you need something special. It’s absolutely got a place in my world, but it’s not what I reach for most of the time. That said, I recommend making and wearing cashmere socks at least once. These are yarns that typically don’t have any synthetic fibers, and they need a little extra TLC in terms of wear and care. I made my Shersocks out of Interlude (Cashmere, BFL, and Silk) and everytime I wear them I’m pampering myself. These are stay at home and do a facial socks. These are socks for drinking the good tea and having the extra nice cookies that I hide in the back of the pantry. I’m not going to tell you not to use luxury yarn for the GAL socks, but make sure you are OK with either treating the socks gently. I wanted my GAL socks to be highly wearable.

~Megan-Anne

No judgies. If you want to roll across the ground all day in your sweaters, live your best life. But be ready to repair snags and holes.

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