I’ve never used lace weight yarn, and wonder if it can be used to knit socks…? How does the thickness of lace yarn compare to sock yarn? What size needles are typically used to knit lace weight yarn?
Thanks!
Lace weight vs sock/fingering weight yarn
It’s not so much the thickness of the sock yarn that makes it different from laceweight, but the fiber and construction too. Lace yarn is fairly light and less twisted than other yarns; sock yarns are usually sturdier with more of a twist so they stand up to the wear you need.
Personally, I wouldn’t recommend lace yarn for socks. I think it would wear out very quickly and come out of shape also,…
As to the thickness, it depends. Lace weight refers to a wide variety of thicknesses in yarn. You can have “thicker” or “thinner” laceweight. It’s a broad term.
As to the needles, you use much larger needles than you would need for the thickness of the yarn to get a lacier, airier finished garment. I have never tried knitting lace on small diameter needles, and probably never will, but you would need very thin needles.