In a previous post, I wrote about a non-superwash sock blend I was sampling. The fiber is a blend of 50% Southdown, 25% Dorset Horn, and 25% bio-nylon from Hipstrings, in the colorway Sky Above, Ground Below. To ply, I lined up two of the singles with the color progression in one direction and the third ply in the opposite direction. My ply twist came in at around 3.5 tpi and the yarn has a ply twist angle of around 25 degrees.
I’ve begun knitting a sock to see how the colors work out when knit up. I’m getting a sort of kettle-dyed effect of varying greens with a few flecks of brown, except for one section that is all brown. I’m not sure what to do with the section where the browns line up. My hope was to for the green to be the dominant color throughout, and to have a very blended effect. Interestingly, I’m also seeing a more striped effect, however subtle, on the textured side, which I didn’t expect.
As for the yarn itself, it’s decidedly toothy to knit with – it’s not rough on my hands in the sense of being scratchy, but it’s definitely not soft and silky. It is plenty soft to wear on my feet, however, when I try on the partial sock. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this as a sock fiber unless your feet are particularly sensitive. As you can see, it also has a very matte, slightly rustic appearance.
Bottom line: So far I like this fiber blend pretty well, but I’m undecided about my color management in the sample. I may switch it up when I spin the rest.
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