November Sock Yarn Review

Perchance to Knit's wonderful 80/20. For most yarns, that's 20% nylon - this one is 80% cashmere. Beautiful, beautiful soft yarn, that I would never put on my feet again. It's too nice.

Yarn: Perchance to Knit's fingering
Colourway: Neon Rainbow Black
Needles: 2.25 mm
Gauge: 8.5 st/inch

I always want to call this yarn Perchance to Dream - obviously the inspiration for the name. I also think it's because it's such a soft yarn that it makes me think of clouds.

Coming up for November: Cat Mountain Fiber Art's fingering. I found this dyer during Ravelry's Dye for Glory contest.

More socks - what a month!!

Quelle mois!! I'm sure the correct expression is that some month in spring is the cruellest month, but I personally think it's November. Now don't get me wrong - we've had an amazing November. Here it is, November 28, on the Canadian prairies and we have no snow. Let me repeat that: we have no snow. When I was a kid, if there was no snow at the end of October, we thought it was a mild winter.

We'll pay for it, of course. Weather never comes free, but for right now, we're enjoying it.

No, that's not the problem with November. The problem with November is that it butts up against December, and December means Christmas. (And I hope, snow.) One minute it's November 1, and all the saints are marching in. Then it's Remembrance Day, and then, somehow, it's November 25 and only a month until Christmas. I'm still not caught up from August!!

I have a little done - my Lorna's Laces Toffee Socks, which turned out exactly as I expected. Lorna's is entirely predictable, because the quality is so high.



The colour is Amy's Vintage Office, one of the Color Commentary series.

I've become a fan of Ravelry's Sock Knitters' Anonymous (which, when you think of it, fits me to a T.) For November, which is mosaic or slip stitches, I've finished one set, am halfway through another and have started a third.

Here's the set that is finished:



One skein Claudia Handpaint's Turquoise Jeans and one skein Louet Gems Merino in Mustard. The double Brick Stitch is from the Harmony Guides. I did a cuffed sock, with a rib section below to keep the sock up and the leg snug. The leg has scattered slip stitches to carry the theme through the entire sock.

As you can see, I didn't quite have enough of the Turquoise Jeans. I had four rows to go on the toe, (and couldn't bring myself to frog all the way back above the heel to steal from from under the leg), so I finished it off in the Mustard. I actually kind of like it.

This is a photo of the leg, showing what the cuff looks like folded back.



Now, back to the needles.

We're done

We're done, we're done. This is absolutely the softest sock yarn I have ever used, and I would never use it for socks again. It's too darn nice. I suspect it will felt like mad and will be awful to wash, but it was a delight to knit.



The black doesn't show us as well in the photos as in real life. This was a 68 stitch sock, and the black was a round plus about four stitches. The colours followed, in the order of the rainbow, starting with red, and lasted for about a round and a half. Even though there is more black than any other single colour, the black rather fades into the background.

Also off the needles: a test moebius because I have to do one for my daughter. Lion Brand Homespun - soft, easy to knit, and a good price for doing a test knit. My problem is that I'm still not at the point where I can cast on because this one is just a bit too small.



Photo isn't the greatest, but you can get the drift.

Over the heel

Up the heel flap and over the heel. the rainbow stripes finally show up -



They're bright, but these I like. The rest of the leg doesn't show enough of the colour - each round is a different colour, and they tend to blend with each other. Not on the heel cap - here is the rainbow:



--- those are really rainbow neon, just like the colourway.

It has been a long day. Two and a half hours into Winnipeg last night and two and a half back this afternoon. Won't find out for a while whether it was worth it - make that, won't find out for a while whether it was worth it for my client. A day in court is always a very fast day, even when we don't break for lunch.

Progress

We're further along on this sock. It's the softest yarn I've ever knit for socks - I can feel the cashmere in every stitch - lovely, lovely, lovely. So far I think I'd prefer it around my neck, but not in this colourway (have I said this before?)



In the sock-compulsive category, I decided to do Ravelry's Sock Knitters Anonymous challenge for November. This month one of the choices is a slip stitch pattern, so I decided to design my own, using a two colour brick stitch.



The cuff is folded over the leg. My real challenge is to make sure I have enough yarn for these socks, as I have only one 50 g of each yarn I'm using, and I know this stitch is a yarnsucker because of the way it draws up the fabric.

We'll see.

Cuff finished

I'd like to say we're off, but as it turns out, it's not just the purl that's lazy, it's the blogger. I've cast on and although it's been a very busy week at work, I've finished the cuff.

This yarn is so soft, I can't imagine using it for socks. Of course, given that I am testing fingering yarn on socks, socks it will be, but I suspect it will felt the minute I put them on. Having said that (lawyers always say "having said that", which is our way of saying we're changing our minds in midstream), these socks would be so soft on your feet, it would be like wearing clouds.

So far, no splits, no knots. I can't say I like the colour, which is what kept me from frogging and deciding I'd change this months yarn. The blind pull is, after all, the blind pull.

October Sock Yarn - Perchane to Dream

This is October's Sock Yarn: Perchance to Knit's 80% merino, 20% cashmere. This yarn is as soft as I would expect and with no nylon, and not being superwash, will become one of my "handle with care" socks.

The colourway is "Neon Rainbow Black" and was distributed exclusively through The Loopy Ewe.

As usual, I'm using 2.25 mm needles and my standard Toffee Sock pattern.