Sock Yarn Knitting


As knitters and former yarn shop owners, it is our goal to provide everything you ever wanted to know about sock yarn and sock yarn knitting in one place. We will constantly update the information here.

 A great variety of sock yarns have become readily available to most knitters. Most of us became familiar with them when we knit our first pair of socks. There are hand-painted, self-striping (my personal favorite), shaded, tone-on-tone, tweeds, near solids and solids in every color a knitter can imagine.

Hand-painted sock yarns have two to four or more colors that change as you knit with colors that pool or swirl. The self-striping yarns are computer dyed to effortlessly stripe in complicated patterns that look as if you have spent many hours changing colors and patterns in your knitting. Tweed yarns are sometimes considered “manly” and can be used for the men in our lives. The shaded, tone-on-tone, near solid and solids are the best to show pattern and texture such as cables.
 
Along with all the colors of sock yarns; there are several fiber and fiber/blend selections to be made. They come in wool and wool blends, cotton and cotton blends, bamboo, soy, alpaca, silk and cashmere blends. The list of yarn fiber selection is pretty impressive and continues to grow. The first consideration in selecting a sock yarn fiber is usually how well it will wear; sometimes called “wearability”. Wool blends are considered to be the “toughest wearing”. Knitters living in warmer climates sometimes choose a project using cotton, bamboo or soy blends as cooler alternatives to wool blends. The alpaca, silk and cashmere blends are luxury yarns for projects for those very special people in our lives. 
 
After knitting our first socks using sock yarn, we realized we love working with sock yarns! First of all, they are extremely portable. We can easily tuck a sock yarn project into our purse, project bag, attaché, book bag or a plain old zip bag, even a lunch bag and go to a doctor or dentist appointment, Little League games, various dance/sport classes or trips by car, bus, train or airplane.  Second, a sock yarn project is usually a fairly short-term project for most knitters.   Third, many very useful items can be produced with sock yarn. After socks, hats are probably the second most favorite project for most people. The list of favorite projects continues with hand warmers, mittens, gloves, scarves, legwarmers, dog sweaters and adorable baby items. 
 
When you can select a fabulous sock yarn in your favorite color and fiber and knit a beautiful item that will be used and loved by you, family and friends; you have found knitting heaven!

If you are a beginning knitter, one of the best books to have in your knitting basket is Debbie Stoller's Stitch N Bitch.  It is a great resource book for beginning knitters. Instructions are simply stated and easy to understand with stitch diagrams that are easy to follow.  Stitch N Bitch also includes many patterns that have become classics such as the Big Bad Baby Blanket.

You can find her book here  Stitch 'N Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook.

Visit Paradise Fibers for all you knitting needs including sock yarn, knitting needles, fiber and spinning supplies.