I love sock yarn!
I love sock yarn, yes I do. I love sock yarn, how about you?
Mel here, blogging for Rachel. Like Shawna, Rachel and I go way back. All the way to 1995 at Hyanto, in fact. Which is both scary and really neat. I love the fact that we’ve kept in touch all these years. And while I am not nearly as good at knitting as she is, Rachel and her knitting are very much a part of why I learned to knit 5 years ago.
I started off, as most new knitters do, knitting with worsted weight yarns. Wool, and cotton. Thick and nubbly and solid and variegated. I knit my first ever pair of socks out of worsted weight wool. Then I thought I’d be brave and knit myself socks out of sock yarn. This led me to a discovery. One that feels a little secret and silly, but is true none the less. I hate knitting socks. Hate it. But I love sock yarn!
This here is my sock yarn stash. Not super impressive in quantity, I know. But I make up for it in quality! Some is from dyers that work in very limited quantities. I love it. It’s fine and silky and oh so soft.
What, you may be asking yourself, does one do with sock yarn if you hate knitting socks? My favourite thing to knit with sock yarn is shawls. Here in Canada, it’s almost always cool in the evenings (current heat in the GTA notwithstanding), and shawls are lovely things to have on hand. If they’re small, they fold up inside your purse, ready for evening to fall.
I am currently working on a Multnomah shawl, knit in Three Irish Girls “Sheepnuts” colourway. “Sheepnuts” was a limited edition dye that they did for the 2010 Olympics, and features natural yarn with tones of gold, silver, and bronze. This is what it’s looking like so far:
If you’re like me and have a love for sock yarn and a secret (or not so secret) loathing of knitting socks, be sure to check out the Ravelry group Sock Yarn Lovers Who Don’t Make Socks. These ladies and gents are always discussing great projects, many which only use one skein of lovely yarn. Be out! Be proud! Knit a shawl! Or armwarmers, or a hat, or mittens…
Tags: Guest blogs
