It’s all about the handle and durability with sock yarns. While we might prefer to design a strong, hard-wearing walking boot yarn for hand knitted socks you may find it too harsh to work with and instead a lovely soft yarn may be more suitable.
Socks can be made of pretty much anything! So the compromise will be between what you enjoy knitting with and what will work in practice. If you are hard on your socks, you need to consider whether you wear them through all over or at the heels or at the toes and adjust the tension and stitches for added durability in those areas.
We have added some bamboo, as a natural alternative to nylon, to our Bam-boozle yarn for it’s antibacterial, hypoallergenic and thermo-regulating properties which makes it ideal for sock knitting and wearing.
Very soft fine fibres will not wear as well as coarser wools, so Shetland for instance, or Merino are suitable for bed socks but not for walking or welly boot socks. Many of the British rare and native breeds will make a yarn suitable for harder wear. If you are using a woollen spun yarn like our Samite Silk Blend consider making the sock a little roomier and then washing to shrink and felt the fabric, or work more tightly on thinner needles. If you are using a worsted spun yarn like Blacker Swan, also consider making on thinner needles as this will make for a more comfortable result.
From our current Blacker Yarns ranges which are suitable for socks, we suggest the following:
🧦For Bed or Lounge Socks, or Baby Bootees
Blacker Swan or Pure Shetland 4-ply
🧦For Lightweight Socks
Bam-boozle with added bamboo
🧦For fancy knitting/crochet techniques and textures
Lyonesse, Samite or Bam-boozle
🧦For Workaday Wear
Jacob or Tamar 4-ply
🧦For Chunky Boot Socks
Westcountry Tweed or British Breed Rare Aran
🧦For Hardest Wearing results
Check out our latest selection of Socks Project Kits, each one includes a beautiful pattern by an indie designer and the quantity of wool required in your chosen shade. There’s also some Blacker Yarns patterns and Indie Designer patterns, created specially for our pure wool, British-breed wool ranges for cosy, comfy and stylish footwear whether you’re walking outdoors or stepping out on the high street.
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