A Hand Dyed UK Sock Yarn Sampler

A long time ago -- almost 4 years ago! -- Emma and I established our own little yarn swap. There are no particular rules or requirements or time frames, the idea is just to put together a box full of goodies that we think the other person would enjoy. On Christmas Eve I received a treasure box from across the ocean. Sometimes, it's like Emma can read my mind. This box was a beautiful sampler of hand-dyed UK sock yarns. How could I not love that?

A Treasure Box of Hand-dyed UK Sock Yarns

A box like this is really too good not to share, especially since I know that there are a lot of sock yarn junkies out there just like me who are always looking for wonderful new sources to feed their addictions with. So, starting with the peachy colored yarn at the top center and working my way clockwise...

• Blue Faced Leicester sock wool in peachy-pinks, purples and a bit of red from The Natural Dye Studio. This lovely yarn has been hand dyed with dyes from natural sources. I'm not 100% sure, but I think the colorway might be "Burnt Ruby". No matter what it is, it's a beautiful two ply yarn. And the two skeins are definitely enough for a pair of socks.
• Lucia Sock Yarn from Posh Yarn, colorway unknown (maybe Evening Star?)-- the colors are very similar to the BFL, though. This yarn is 30% cashmere and 70% merino. Yum! I can tell you right now, I'm not sharing this stuff! It's just about as soft as you might imagine it would be.
• Fyberspates Sock Yarn in Heather Mist. This yarn is a 15% nylon 85% wool blend, but you would hardly guess there was any nylon component given how soft it is. Given the way this yarn is dyed, it will definitely have lovely purple and grey stripes. Very fun!
• Peace of Beauty Sock Yarn in Mountain Fruit. This yarn is 100% merino superwash and is 100% absolutely luscious. Of all the yarns in the box, I've probably fondled these two skeins the most. I can't quite explain what draws me so far in with this yarn. The color is extraordinary, it has the quality of being both rich and faded. The presentation is beautiful. The hand is very nice.
• Colinette Jitterbug Sock Yarn in Bright Charcoal. This is also a 100% merino superwash yarn and it was a treat to see because just the day before I got the box I had read about the yarn and was wondering where the best place to find some would be. I guess it surprises me that it took Colinette so long to get into dyeing sock yarn. And this stuff doesn't disappoint. I have a sneaking suspicion that Emma snuck this one in to help me on my quest for man-friendly sock yarn. This colorway is definitely boy compatible. But who knows if I will actually share?
• Curious Yarns Sock Yarn in Igloo. (Unfortunately, their website seems to be down right now). This is a 4-ply 25% nylon 75% wool yarn with some of my favorite faded blue and aqua colors. It's very soft (once again, softer than you'd expect from a yarn with nylon content) and the dying is lovely. Very evokative of early spring mornings.

Tucked under the Jitterbug is a lovely little keychain "sock blocker" with instructions to make a mini sock to put over the blocker. What a fun thing! Certainly beats the metal ring I've been using for a while. That will definitely be a fun little project for a gloomy Chicago winter weekend.

I hope it goes without saying that there's not one thing in this box that I don't absolutely love. And, believe it or not, most of these colors are completely under-represented in my sock yarn stash. This box was a fantastic introduction to a collection of hand-dyers that I had no idea were out there. The world is clearly full of beautiful hand-dyed sock yarns!