Comment on hand knit socks

#1

I’m not very hard on socks normally…in fact I have some store bought cotton/nylon blend (Gold Toe) that I’ve had for years and while the heels may be getting thin they are still wearable.

I have 5 pair of hand knit socks that I mostly wear to bed or around the house. Two of them are knit in sock yarn which is something like 80% wool and 20% nylon. The rest are acrylic/wool blends. They all get about equal wear.

My point of this is that the only socks I have left are the original socks made with sock yarn and they are the oldest! The blends have not survived developing holes in the heel part of the sole. So… it pays to use sock yarn or at least a blend that has nylon or polyester if you want your socks to last longer. :thumbsup:

#2

I totally agree. When I first started knitting socks, I was using whatever I could find. Unfortunatly “whatever I could find” at the time was Walmart. I needed DK yarn, so I bought baby yarn, as that was the only thing that I could get. Then I discovered Mary Maxim, but being a novice and unknowledgeable, I bought the cheapest thing I could …Mary Maxim Mellowspun.

Long story short, it only took about a year or two of hard wear for those socks to run down. Of all the socks I have made out of sock yarn, I have only had to darn one pair, and that was a Regia Bamboo sock yarn.

Not only do the non sock yarn socks not last…they are also kinda uncomfortable. They don’t breathe as well…and your feet will sweat!

#3

Amen, Sista! I’m with you 100%, too. I have one pair of socks made with 100% wool - they have not held up well at all. Even though I washed by hand, hung to dry they have felted and developed the bigest hole on the ball of my foot. Never again will I use anything that doesn’t have some nylon or similar for socks.

#4

My DMIL pointed this out to me when she was bemoaning the fact that Aunt Gerda was no longer able to knit my husband and FIL socks anymore due to age and failing eyesight.They still have a few pairs she’s made and we talked about buying them socks all the time.

Last weekend my FIL saw the tulip socks I was knitting and asked me who they were for. So I told them to expect them in his package on his birthday (yesterday). He almost seemed disappointed to get a regular pair of socks.

#5

I agree - the nylon really helps. I knitted a lot of socks with Woolease that did not wear well and lasted no time at all. Some with Encore Worsted have lasted longer. But the hardest wearing have been those with the superwash wool/nylon blends. In particular Kroy Socks and Lornas Laces. The Tofutsies didn’t wear very well.

#6

Hi! :knitting:

I am an AVID sock knitter. There’s just something about socks that keeps me happily occupied and fascinated every time! In the process of learning to knit them, though, I’ve worked through several types of materials and I have found that sock yarns work best!

There are many sock yarns I like that are a combination of wool and nylon but also there are many I absolutely love that have no nylon in them. I particularly like the Gloss yarn from Knit Picks (It knits up beautifully!) and some of their other yarns with no nylon content.

So rather than forego yarns I love that have no nylon I send for reinforcing yarn in a matching color. They have it at Yarn market for $1.50 per spool. I’ve used it for heels and toes and it’s easy to work with and I’m sure it’ll extend the wear. In fact, some of the Jawol sock yarns come with matching reinforcing yarn right in the ball of sock yarn. How neat is THAT!

http://www.yarnmarket.com/yarn/Lang_Yarn-Jawoll_Reinforcement_Thread_Yarn-3475.html

I started using the re-iinforcing yarn almost as soon as I started knitting socks. I so love the feel of the finished socks on my feet and the warm snuggly feeling when wearing them that I decided if I was going to make socks I wanted them to last!

Hope this helps! And happy sock knitting!

Ruthie :hug:

#7

Thanks for all of the useful information! I knit socks but haven’t worn them enough to wear them out. I save them for some odd reason. I’ll try to wear them more to see if I am having the same issues as some of you.