The most important aspect of any knitting project is choosing the fabric. I have chosen the fabric for my running socks:
The yarn is worsted spun, 6-strand, fairly tightly cabled as 3x2-ply. Gauge is ~10 spi.
I knit the sock foot, bringing the ankle up about 4 cm of 2x2 ribbing above the top of the shoe. Then I knit 12" high leggings that overlap the the ribbing on the sock foot. I knit to fit, and the fabric has enough body to stay up while running and protect my lower legs, but it can also be rolled down for extra coolness.
This yarn is ~ 1,700 ypp, knit on 1.85 mm needles. I thought about finer yarns and finer needles, but they are just running socks!!, and not worth the extra effort of finer yarns knit on finer needles, and the thickness is about right for my current running shoes. Over all, I like the fabric a lot, and it is fast and easy to knit.
I think it looks pretty good for hand made yarn. However, as always, I look forward to folks posting images of better hand made yarns that they have made into nicer fabrics.
I knit the sock foot, bringing the ankle up about 4 cm of 2x2 ribbing above the top of the shoe. Then I knit 12" high leggings that overlap the the ribbing on the sock foot. I knit to fit, and the fabric has enough body to stay up while running and protect my lower legs, but it can also be rolled down for extra coolness.
This yarn is ~ 1,700 ypp, knit on 1.85 mm needles. I thought about finer yarns and finer needles, but they are just running socks!!, and not worth the extra effort of finer yarns knit on finer needles, and the thickness is about right for my current running shoes. Over all, I like the fabric a lot, and it is fast and easy to knit.
Tools used (short needles because we
were traveling)
ETA, those were the needles packed for travel, but on return, I seem to have moved on to 1.5 mm needles, which tightens up the fabric a bit.
(Oh, yes, there is a nice 17th century painting in the Huntington Library showing a girl knitting socks with blunt needles.)
I think it looks pretty good for hand made yarn. However, as always, I look forward to folks posting images of better hand made yarns that they have made into nicer fabrics.
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2 comments:
Aaron:
I'm curious what breed you used here?
Thanks.
Ah, for that I cheated! It is commercial 2-ply wool warp @ 5,600 ypp that I cabled up by hand. You can buy mill-end cones of such 2-ply yarn very inexpensively. I think I paid about $8/pound for a few pounds. It has price and uniformity on its side. On the other hand, fibers that have been through the "mill" are not as durable as more gently processed fibers. It is fine for prototypes and tests, or something like running socks that can be knit up quickly. I would not use it for objects where I was investing huge knitting effort.
Mostly, singles of that grist I spin from "Heinz-57" that I get from the Woolery. It has a spin count in the range of 57 to 60, so it is very easy to spin as 20s. It has a very similar spin count to the wool used in the commercial warp yarn. I spin a lot of it for my own warp, and a good bit of it finds its way into my knitting yarns.
Singles intended to be fine sock yarn, I usually spin from Suffolk that I get from Dana over at Royal Fibers in Dixon.
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