Hi everyone, wishing you all well. I’ve never knit a pair of socks so I haven’t worked with sock yarn. So I’m just curious, what makes sock yarn different? Is it stretchy? Also, would it be good used in any other projects? One day I’ll get around to making actual socks! And…Happy Holidays to you all. : )
Yup, stretchy is one part of it. Sock yarn is usually stronger (often with a bit of nylon) and absorbs moisture.
It can be any weight but it’s usually very fine weight and it can certainly be used for other projects. I’ve seen many pretty patterns for shawls made with sock weight yarn including self-striping and self-patterning.
Clara Parkes has a book, “The Knitter’s Book of Socks” about socks that goes into sock yarn in fine detail.
Thank you, salmonmac, I’ll definitely check that out. Enjoy your holidays! : )
Sock weight is usually fingering weight, but socks can be made with any weight.
I always have yarn left over after making socks, sometimes there’s enough to make a pair of fingerless mitts. I love them, they keep my hands warm in the winter and that helps keep the aches at bay. They make great reading gloves. So, yes. You can use sock yarn for other things.
Thanks Jan and GrumpyGramma, I’m gonna get me some sock yarn and I’ll probably start on a project other than socks, for now…those fingerless mitts sound right up my alley. I still have to learn to use dpn’s or magic loop in order to make socks : )
@susianna, most sock yarn is washable wool and nylon to give it strength. You asked about it being stretchy, I would describe it more as ‘memory’. The wool not only stretches over your heel/ankle, it doesn’t stay stretched out, but hugs your leg.
Like @GrumpyGramma, I keep my left over sock yarn.
I have a 2 dedicated drawers just for it. One is for darning yarn … I keep about 10 yards of each sock yarn available for darning. The rest is put into another drawer. A couple times a year I’ll pull out 5-6 skeins of left over sock yarn & create socks for my grown daughter (changing yarn after every 10 rows).
I also use left over sock yarn to create crazy shawls or weave into ‘rug mugs’.
If I need other ideas, I can always do an advanced search on Ravelry asking for patterns using fingering weight yarns (15,986 free patterns came up! socks, scarves, hats, sweaters, pillows, ornaments, shorts, leg warmers, cowls … and more!)
There’s also a very nice book for sock yarn called “Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders”. My library has it and you might want to check yours. It’s fun just to see the different projects.
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Mullerslanefarm thanks for explaining how sock yarn works, it makes better sense. And I will indeed check out Ravelry for project ideas! Thanks for that book suggestion, salmonmac, that does sound wonderful. : )
Mullerslanefarm, what is a rug mug?