August 2010 Sock Yarn Review

August's sock yarn was a bit of a no brainer: Trekking HandArt Flame. This is a European 75% 25% superwash wool/nylon mix with a contrast strand to give the yarn a ragg look. Zitron makes many other very good sock yarns, including the standard HandArt (no contrast strand) and the other lines of Trekking.

It goes without saying that the yarn is consistent, even and at least for my socks, without knots.

My only disappointment (and it's a small one) is that the yarn is not as soft as I might like for knitting, although I expect that will mean that it wears well. This is not a high twist yarn. If you have problems with stitches splitting, this might be a sock yarn to avoid.



Summary:

Yarn: Zitron Trekking HandArt Flame
Colour: 551 - Sansibar
Needles: 2.25 mm
Pattern: Toffee Sock
Gauge: 8.5 sts per inch

A good European source for this yarn is astridsdutchobsessions.com in the Netherlands. She has good service at very reasonable prices.

Next month: a yarn I know already is a favourite.

Vacation gets in the way

Not a lot of knitting - too much needing time off to recharge. Knitting is relaxing, but it's not the same as watching the prairie roll by and wondering what it must have been like for the first people to come to the great white flat.

I did get a few pair finished this month:



Hunter's test knit - we called it Lacy Socks, but it will have another name. Well written pattern and you'll enjoy it. The yarn was Zen Yarn Garden's superwash fingering in Garnet. Good pattern; good yarn; good experience.

This is another test-knit:



Pat Bishop's Bee's Knees. The yarn is Lorna's Laces in SSYC - a custom colourway for Simply Sock Yarn Company's anniversary.

And finally, almost done: Trekking XXL - Simple Ribbed Socks. These are about as easy as you can get - the interesting part is watching the yarn change colour - and watching the prairies go by. I cast on during the drive to Moose Jaw and knit much of it on the way home. There is nothing like Saskatchewan for making your mind wander over all the possibilities of life.



After all that knitting, it's time to do more quilting and writing.

Having fun with a test knit

I volunteered to do a test knit for Hunter Hammersen on Ravelry. It's a quick, good-looking lacy sock pattern that took only a few days of knitting to produce the first sock.



This is done in Zen Yarn Garden's Superwash in the Garnet colourway. It's part of Roxanne's Harmony Semi-Solid club, a monthly offering. I've had some excellent yarns from Roxanne and they work well for lace or cable knitting.

Back to Hunter. This pattern will be a good, easy knit for a summer sock. Her directions were clear. The real name of the sock is probably not going to be Lacy Socks, but that will do for me for now.

Progress

Well, we're off. So far, just about what I expected. The yarn is even and predictable, tightly enough plied to not split and and similar to Trekking HandArt, but with that extra ply.



I"m also going to use this for a test knit for a Hunter Hammersen sock. Zen Yarn Garden is a Canadian yarnie who has a great line of semi-solids.



This is the Harmony Semi-Solid yarn for July 2010 - Garnet. It's redder than it looks in the photo and will knit will for lace socks. Progress will be posted on Ravelry and also in this blog.

August Sock Yarn

The August yarn for the review is Zitron Trekking's HandArt Flamme - in Sansibar.



This yarn is made in Germany by the same people who bring you Trekking and Trekking HandArt. The difference in the Flamme is a ply of (mostly) white that gives the yarn a ragg appearance.

I've always had good luck with Trekking, whether in the skein or in the ball, and I anticipate this one won't be much difference.

Why is this so late? Alex Klein's minotaurs. I volunteered to test-knit them, and so I conscientiously worked away to make them a reality. This is a very different way of knitting socks (or any piece of flat fabric for that matter) and all I can say is that without the stitch markers these would have been an unholy mess.

This is the leg of the sock after knitting but before seaming:



And this is the seamed leg.

July Sock Yarn Review

Both socks done (actually they've been done for a while).



The base yarn for the Claudia is Louet Gems. I don't think I have ever knit a yarn with a Gems base that I have not liked. In this case, the dying is very well done. The colours are saturated and are consistent throughout the skein. No knots, no slubs. The knit fabric is firm. My gauge is a little tighter than what she states on her website, but I like firm socks.

Yarn: Claudia Hand Painted Fingering
Composition: 100% superwash merino
Pattern: Toffee Sock
Needles: 2.25 mm
Gauge: 8 sts per inch

There is a website: www.claudiaco.com - but it's not a retail mailorder site. She gives a list of bricks and mortar shops and on-line shops. I bought mine at Monterey Yarns in Green Bay, Wisconsin. I did a google search and there are many more than she lists for sources.