Wool Socks

I grew up in Florida. We tended to go barefoot, wear sandals, or wear cotton socks with our shoes. We were sweet tea drinkin’, ya’ll sayin’, LSU Tiger lovin’ Southerners!!Now that I’m a knitter living in the Midwest, I have developed a serious love of wool socks – and not just for winter! (And Patrick and I both still love sweet tea, “ya’ll”, and LSU football!)

When people hear about knitting, their minds almost always go first to wool. We think of warm fisherman’s sweaters, wool caps, and wool socks. People today have become aware of the wide variety of fibers for knitting that are easier to care for in our fast-moving lives, like acrylic, rayon, and cotton, but wool still seems to jump to the top of the list.

For about as long as we have records, it appears that human beings have taken the wool from sheep, goats, and other similar animals and found ways to weave or knot (aka knit) it to make garments. Wool is wonderful to keep us warm because it holds in heat. This property actually makes it good for use in keeping is from getting too heated as well. Wool absorbs moisture which is good for keeping feet nice and dry.

Some people shy away from wool socks because they are concerned about the washability of wool. And, in fact, if you throw 100% knitted or crocheted wool into the washer, it is likely to shrink (aka “felt” or “full” if that was what you intended in the first place). The good news is that it’s easy these days to find wool and wool blends that can stand up to the washer and warm water if you don’t want to be always hand-washing your socks.

Most “sock yarns” are made from superwash wool – wool that has been treated so that the natural scales from the fibers will no longer catch on each other and make the yarn shrink. Most also have a percentage of acrylic or nylon – enough to add some strength but without taking away the warmth or water-wicking properties of the wool.

“But wool is scratchy!” The scratchiness of wool is largely dependent on the kind of sheep the wool is from and where the wool is from. Yarn for socks is not the same wool that is intended for rug making!  The softest socks are generally made from wool that comes from Merino sheep (first raised in Spain). Less expensive sock yarn with a higher percentage of man-made fiber and less desirable wool might not be as soft as the more expensive Merino wool, but it still makes delightful socks.

What can you expect at The Knitting Nest? We have Cascade Heritage and Heritage Paints yarns which are 75% superwash merino and 25% nylon. The Drummossie sock on display (our entrelac sock class this fall) is made from this yarn. Absolutely delicious to work with and wear!

I’m also quite partial to anything Regia (especially the Kaffe Fassett color collections). This yarn is 75% wool and 25% polyamide. There’s a pair of blue striped socks hanging in the window made from this yarn and I used some of this as a carry-along for the Wisconsin Winter Sock model in our class display. (Just ask Patrick – he can show you where they are!)

Wisdom Yarns from Universal Yarns has their Poems yarn available in a sock yarn version. This is a 75% wool and 25% nylon lightly spun yarn with a beautiful color pallet. We don’t have any socks worked up in it right now, but check out the triangle shawl by the window – it gives you an idea of how the colors work up!

Debbie Macomber Yarns from Universal Yarns has created a beautiful and luxurious sock yarn from 50% superwash merino, 30% nylon, and 20% angora. We have knitted up a sample of a fingerless mitt and a shawl using this yarn so you can feel how amazingly soft it is! (And, with 30% nylon, it’s still pretty strong.)

We also carry the Universal Yarns Marathon series of yarns which are 75% superwash wool and 25% nylon. These yarns are self-patterning, not just self-striping, so they’re pretty fun to work with! Check out the sample Pocket Sock for our upcoming Hidden Treasures Pocket Sock class to see how a sock using that yarn works up. (Unfortunately, I’m not sure how much longer we’ll be able to carry this yarn, since it looks like it might be discontinued. If you are feeling strongly about it, you might want to git while the gittin's good!)

And what about the unfortunate souls who are truly allergic to wool? We do have some cotton sock yarn from Kollage called Luscious. Luscious is a 63% cotton and 37% nylon elastic yarn. The elastic adds stretch to this yarn, allowing cotton to be a good choice for a knitted sock. (In fact, we didn’t have any cotton sock yarn before this because most cotton is inelastic and doesn’t make for great socks.) Check out the yellow hat on display in the shop – that was actually our main reason for ordering the Luscious. I have some socks on needles and the yarn feels divine – I’ll let you know when I’ve got them finished and on my feet!

You might also be wondering about making socks with something besides sock yarn. I love making projects on small needles and wearing my socks with my regular shoes, but sometimes it’s fun to use larger needles and make socks to go under boots. We have several great patterns if that’s your goal. And, there’s lots of yarn from which to choose. For those making the Wisconsin Winter Socks, I recommend a strand of Cascade’s Pacific yarn knit with a strand of Regia’s sock yarn – mostly because that’s what I knit the model from. We also have superwash wool in worsted weight which would be great for socks. And if you want to make felted socks, don’t forget about good, old fashioned wool – of which we have plenty! (Note: The purple sock in the picture below is made to size to be worn with shoes or boots. The one next to it (Paton’s Shetland Chunky held in two strands together) was Patrick making a “Paul Bunyan” or giant sock for the window. Maybe he’s hoping Santa will fill it up on Christmas Eve?)

If you’re gittin' a hankerin’ for some wool socks (or even cotton socks) this winter, just mosey on down to The Knitting Nest and Patrick and I (Southern as our roots are) will be happy to get you started!!