Socks: July 2007 Archives
Now that I've finished the Sprung socks, it's time to cast on for another pair. But summer does not combine with an overheated pregnant woman to make her want to be working on a wooly socks. So I went to my sock yarn stash to see what else might present itself. And I found some handpainted cotton-elastic yarn that I had almost forgotten about, but was absolutely perfect for my current mission.
The yarn is Greenwood Fiberworks hand painted cotton/lycra yarn. It's a cotton yarn with a fine thread of lycra to give it elasticity -- a bit like a smaller gauge version of Cascade Fixation. It's completely machine washable (I'm not so good with the whole hand-washing socks thing) and a skein is sufficient to make a pair of women's socks.
Because I really didn't want to deal with knitting a gauge swatch, I just cast on onto 2.25 mm needles for a toe up sock and figured I'd see where my usual 64 stitch circumference got me. As it turns out, it looks like it should be just fine -- especially when combined with the exceptional stretchiness of the yarn. Knitting with this yarn is an okay experience. If you don't like stretch yarns, you probably won't like this stuff either, but they don't bother me too much. So far, the yarn is easy on my hands and the fabric feels soft and springy to the touch, so I think it will make for fine and comfortable socks. I have hopes, perhaps, of finishing them in time so that they can come with me and help me lounge around in the hospital after the Z is delivered. But that may be a bit optimistic, given my current rate of knitting!
