In my never ending quest to search out luscious, man-friendly sock yarn, I bring you today's post. What do you get the man who has (almost) everything for his anniversary? The man who tells you he won't wear any other jewelry but his wedding ring? The man who tells you he wants something for his computer and then gives you the exact SKU number and location to purchase it from? The man who, though he has several hobbies, has no hobby that really allows for stash accumulation?
The answer: handknit cashmere socks.
I've been entranced by all the cashmere blend sock yarns I've seen lately. Stunning hand paints, soft merino blends. But when it comes to my husband, hand paints are not compatible, and merino is nice, but not durable enough to hold up to a daily winter Chicago Public Transportation commute. So a cashmere treat seemed out of the realm of possibility until I got an email from Emily Parsons that her Sophie's Toes line of sock yarn was going to have a cashmere blend that contained an critical component: nylon.
The yarn stock that she uses for her cashmere blend is 10% cashmere, 80% merino and 10% nylon -- a perfect blend of warmth, softness and durability. Not only that, but one of the other reasons I love Emily's yarn is that she has a range of man-friendly colors. The "Charcoal" colored yarn on the left side is both man- and knitter- acceptable. (The other skein, aptly titled "Mossy" is a little treat for me) as well as being delightfully squishy and soft.
The next part of the project will be to pick out a suitable pattern -- I've trolled through my Barbara Walker books and I think I have a good candidate. Something that will be interesting to knit, but not too complicated, and should work well in the round. Once I finish up Damson and Z's Zebra Striper sweater, this project is going to be the next one up.
Lovely yarns!
But what do you do for that same man if he also hates handknit socks? (Seriously. I could use some help, here.)
Mmmm same fibre content as Casbah. That's a lovely gift. And the moss colour is beautiful (for me too!)
Suzanne--I dunno. I guess he doesn't wear hats either. Cashmere undies?
I love the green. I'm finding that for hand knit socks for myself that I really want them bright. Most of the ones I wear most often are simple knits, but wildly bright colors. To go with all the black I wear otherwise.
I made socks for my husband once, and they are still waiting repair. He let the cat snag at his socks with her claws. I wasn't too happy with the time and effort in the socks going so cheaply.
That cashmere sock yarn looks delectable.
Sounds like you are married to the younger version of my John. He is a computer geek & also loves classical music but it is no fun to just get the exact CD (get gives me the exact identifying info like SKU) he wants (really there should be at least a bit of a surprise in a gift IMHO>) He has size 13 EEE feet & didn't like the way the one pair of socks I knit him for Xmas a year go fit (not to mention that you need over 100 gm of ANY sock yarn for those size feet - making $30 socks even with commercial sock yarns.) Last year I bought him a Nikon D40 for his combination Christmas/birthday gift. No idea at all for this yer. That yarn looks luscious - esp the green. I've never been much of a fan of green but over the past several years I've found myself really drawn to those light bright spring greens esp in sock yarns.
I had a feeling when I packed up that box that it was "his and hers"!
Can't wait to see what pattern you pick out!