Socks: March 2007 Archives
No baby stuff today, because I suspect these socks will be much too large for her, at least for the next 15 or so years. But here they are, my completed pair of socks from Regia Silk, in colorway 190.
These socks are my standard operation: ribbed cuff, short row heel, wedge toe. I did start them toe up so that I could maximize the yarn. But other than that, there's no innovation. They are just a simple pair of striped socks.
As far as the yarn is concerned, this yarn definitely felt nice to the touch and moved fairly smoothly over my wood needles. My biggest complaint with it is that it tends to be a bit splitty, and the pointy tips of the double points I was using often would slip between plies if I wasn't paying attention. But this is relatively minor, and certainly not a reason to avoid treating yourself to a little silk for your feet.
On the wear test angle (I wore them for most of the day after I took the pictures, but without shoes, because I didn't really leave the house), they looked fine after a day of light wear. However, one thing I did notice, perhaps because they are longer in the leg than my standard socks, is that they tend to want to slouch just a bit, compared to regular Regia wool/nylon sock yarn. I suspect this may be because of the silk content. Silk is not elastic and there's about the same amount of nylon as in regular Regia sock yarn. So non-elastic fibers make up about 45% of the total fiber content of the yarn. So if you're going to use this yarn, keep that in mind. This yarn might be better for patterns like slipped stitch patterns where the structure of the fabric helps to keep the shape of the garment. Or you might want to use a few less stitches around than you normally use, knowing that this stuff definitely will stretch a bit.
I'm hoping tomorrow it will be cold enough for me to give them a proper "with shoes" wear test, and so I can get a sense about how warm they really are.
Now I better get back to my quilt... I still have a whole bunch of 9 patches that need my attention!
Seems like there's always a sock going on where I am concerned. I started this one the day before my father-in-law's visitation because my husband knew it would help keep me on balance during all the emotional events. As it turns out, very little knitting was done, but it made me feel good to know it was in my bag. And it made me feel even better that John didn't mind me having something along that I found peaceful.
This sock doesn't deviate much from my normal pattern except that it is a toe up sock. Most of the time when I use Regia, I end up with a bunch left over. This time I decided that I would start toe up and work until I had used most of the yarn since it would be a shame to waste much of the Regia Silk. I am definitely beginning to see the allure of knitting toe up. I was able to use most of the skein and the only thing that I had to search to find was a stretchy bind-off for the ribbing - instructions for that bind off (which is very simple) can be found here in one of Grumperina's always thoughtful posts.
By stitching toe up, I ended up with a sock that was 11" tall from heel to cuff. Other than that, it's my standard Regia sock: 64 stitches around, short row heel, wedge toe. I guess now I should cast on the second one... there's a part of me though, that is thinking it's time to work on something else with a little more designing involved. But I also want to finish these up so that I can take them out for a wear-test. I'm hoping Regia Silk might turn out to be one of those yarns that is warmer in the winter due to its silk content without having too much extra thickness.
