Miscellaneous Wednesday

Today, since I have to admit I have very little in the way of inspiring knitting or spinning to show off, I'm going to answer some questions that I think deserve airing in a broader forum than the comments and I'm also going to announce the results of my contest to identify the fake man photo from Michigan Fiber Fest.

First, from Beth S., in reference to last week's post about the new superwash merino rovings I bought from Crown Mountain Farms:

Is one hank of pencil roving enough for a pair of socks? I've been wondering about that.

Teyani sells both her Corriedale pencil rovings and her superwash merino rovings in 8 ounce batches. Most sock yarns that I've purchased are sold in 2 ounce/50 g put ups (usually you need two of these for an adult pair of socks) or 4 ounce/100g put ups (usually you need one of these for a pair of adult-sized socks). So, depending on how much you decided to spin up as part of the sampling process, and how big the sock are that you want to make, 8 ounces is enough for at least 2 pair of adult sized socks. Given that Teyani's rovings cost about $15 (before shipping), and the average ball of Opal costs $12-$13 these days, that's a pretty good deal. Granted, you do have to spin it yourself, but, if you're a spinner, that's all part of what makes the socks truly special. It also means that you can create exactly the yarn that you want to have for your socks.

Tamara asked this question, in response to my post about the picot sock top (and there were several others in a similar vein):

I'm looking for instruction on how to do a picot bind off on toe up socks. I started a pair in koigu yarn and they need something special at the top - I really like how yours look. I just wonder if there is no ribbing, will they fall down all the time though?

The picot bind off on the toe up sock is just done in the reverse of the way you would do it for a top down. Once you get to the point where you are ready to create the cuff, knit as many rows as you want the cuff to be tall. You might want to mark the row that is the first row just so you remember. Then you'll do the K2Tog, YO row and then you'll do an equal number of rows to the number of rows you knit from the marker. Then you can bind off loosely and fold the cuff over at the K2Tog, YO row and just tack the bound off row down to the starting rown. Alternatively, I am sure there is some clever way to bindoff while connecting the bindoff row stitches to the starting row. As far as falling down is concerned, the secret is to make sure that the sock top is not loose, so you might want to have a little less ease than you normally have in the top of a sock so that the top grips the leg well. I helped to accomplish this by knitting the first rows before the picot row on needles 2 sizes smaller than the needles I used for the body of the sock, as well as by doing a real gauge swatch to make sure I knew the right amount of stitches to cast on for a sock for me.

And Kim (the Spinning Guy) asked an interesting question about STR in response to the same post:

Now I'm starting to research future sock yarns. What is it you like about the Socks that Rock yarn? The colorways are tremendous. What about the tactile aspects of the yarn? If you were knitting plain black socks, would you use this yarn? If not, what would you use?

What do I like about Socks that Rock. Hoo boy! Let me see if I can think of all the things. First off, all three weights of STR are 3 ply, and tightly spun. This means that they have extra durability (from the extra plies) -- which is important in a sock yarn that is 100% merino and has no extra added nylon to help improve the durability. The three ply also means that the yarn has a delightful squishiness. It is really cushy and comfortable from a wearing perspective and it shows off textured stitches better than a 2 ply will.

The yarn is just wonderful to knit from from the tactile perspective as well. It's very soft and easy on the hands -- at least the light weight and medium weight are. (Julie is working with some of the heavy weight and I found that yarn to have a very different feel to it -- I haven't knit a project with that yarn yet, so I can't really provide a good review of it). The light and medium weight yarns have a nice elasticity as well.

From a socks-in-use perspective, it washes well (you almost can't even tell the pairs I have washed have been through the wash) and it gets even softer after washing. Some yarns loosen up a lot after washing, but the STR does a pretty good job of maintaining gauge and shape. Finally, one of my favorite things about this yarn is that buying it supports a small business person and craft dyer who really works hard to bring a high quality product to market and who has exceptional color sense. We gotta support the artists amongst us, friends, if we want to keep having beautiful and unique yarns out there to play with!

If I were knitting plain black socks, would I use this yarn? You betcha! I made John's dragon scale socks in one of the STR "almost-solid" colorways (Beryl) and I'm knitting my aunt's socks in another almost solid (Amber). Blue Moon's "Almost Solid" series is really beautiful and the subtle variations give the yarn enough depth to be interesting but are solid enough to show off texture. That said, I would determine if I thought the yarn matched the recipient. I know some folks who wouldn't want any yarn but a true solid, and Blue Moon doesn't dye any true solids. So in that case, I would choose a different yarn.

And Now for the Winner of the MFF Picture Challenge

First off, I'll say that this was meant to be tricky, but fun. I loved reading all the guesses and the rationale's that went with the guesses. Secondly, I probably should have reminded you that I was raised by engineers. This means that I am as likely to ooh and ahh over a special car or a cool piece of equipment as I am over a cute fuzzy creature. Finally, my husband and father are pretty eclectic picture takers and I think they found it to be an interesting game to entertain me with the images that caught their attention.

So which picture was mine.... drum roll please...

My picture was the picture of the tractors on the third day of pictures (the one entitled "Four Wheels Good" -- you get extra bonus points if you know what obscure album from the 80's that is a strange refrence to). Initially I was worried that no one would guess this picture at all and that I would have to drop a few hints (or change how I picked the winner). But as it turns out, Gabrielle did guess the correct picture! Check your inbox for an email from me, Gabrielle and we'll talk about how you would like your contest winnings!