Sock yarn is not like gansey yarn!

 Alden told me to over spin singles and under ply. For gansey yarn that worked brilliantly. The firm singles endured, and the yarn spread in the stitch to produce weatherproof fabrics.

However, as I scaled down to sock yarns, I found the knitting time for splitty, under plied "sock yarns" going to infinity. This is not much of a problem if  you are just knitting a few pair of socks, but if you want to knit a lot of sock yarn, you need a yarn that can be knit at a reasonable rate.

I love the traditional firm spun hose singles, but and I counter them with appropriate ply and cable twist to produce a sock yarn that is NOT splitty. I do this with full knowledge that all that twist will require steam blocking. Good yarn for good knitting and desirable objects is worth the effort. We can make objects that cannot be made with the yarns in commercial retail channels.

At one time, it broke my heart to steam block Suffolk and other wools traditionally used for hose, but ultimately I decided that the steam blocking was useful in producing better "sock yarns". I waned good yarn, not some romantic dream of how yarn might have been produced in the past.

Sock yarn is not like gansey yarn! Sock yarn needs relatively more ply and cable twist to allow knitting at a reasonable pace.  Splitty gansey yarn can be knit fast. Splitty sock yarn must be knit carefully.  Well plied sock yarn results in beautiful finished objects. Splitty sock yarn results in ugly works in progress.

How big should a knitting sheath be?

 As I began this exploration, I read a lot of discussion about the size of knitting sheaths in collections. Now I know those folk did not know anything about knitting sheaths.

Consider the 2 knitting sheaths below. Both are favorites of mine. The little one is used with  US 000 needles for fine knitting of "sock" yarns. The big sheath on the right is is used with thicker needles for knitting objects suited to cold environments from 5-ply gansey and  10-ply Aran yarns. 

Sure, big knitters need larger knitting sheaths than small knitters, but knitting fine yarns on thin needles is more comfortably done with a small knitting sheath, while thick yarns knit firmly into a weatherproof fabric is better done on a larger knitting sheath.

I started this adventure focused on objects that provide significant warmth. I needed heavy-duty needles and knitting sheaths. I needed a big, heavy knitting bag to carry what I planned to knit in a week.  These days, working on 1.5 mm needles, a week's knitting is smaller and lighter.  And, my knitting sheath is much smaller.  

These days, I am knitting from cakes of  yarn, that are held on the brass "S" hook (clew, or clue).The weight of the hook and yarn helps to stabilize the knitting sheath. This stabilization is more important with the smaller and more delicate knitting sheaths.  On the other hand, I am starting off with cakes that weigh 2 oz. instead of 8 oz. The small cakes are much more convenient hanging from the clew than the larger cakes of gansey yarn.